Talk:Jump cut

Untitled
I deleted the section on literature. I've never heard that expression used in that way and it strikes me as idiosyncratic. If I'm wrong, feel free to put it back in. Deleuze 20:30, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

Hopefully Improved
Hi, I am a PhD in film, and my advisor was David Bordwell (the primary reference of this article), so hopefully I have clarified this article. Many of the examples were simply wrong. Horror films don't frequently use jump cuts, nor do videogames. A pop-out scare is not a jump cut. I am not familiar with all of the examples mentioned in the history of the jump cut, so I left those sections as is. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.71.49.132 (talk) 18:49, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Breathless impossible match on action
Actually, the car scene with Patricia in Breathless is a jump cut scene-- the position of the subject changes as well as the background ‘’because’’ they’re driving in a car. So the match on action isn’t impossible, but a result of the jump cut. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.36.75.146 (talk) 21:15, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Confusing to a layman
I've had a primer on cinematography at best, so the jump cut, which I may have never seen before (the description of a jump cut doesn't evoke for me anything I've seen), is very hard for me to comprehend from this article. It probably won't be easy to write about so visual a technique in order that a layman can visualize it without seeing an actual jump cut, but if someone could, I (and probably others down the line) would really appreciate it.

I can only picture three techniques that may be this 'jump cut' trick. The first would be when the current scene slides off the screen while the next scene slides onto the screen to replace the old scene. The second would be going straight from one scene to the next without any sort of transitional blackout. The last would be overlapping a fade out/fade in. However, I can't be sure article's talking about any of these.

This article also mentions the political use of the jump cut, but even with the example given, it's not terribly clear how this technique works to further a political message. The article says it turns your focus from the emotional content to the political message. That's fine, but why is this technique particularly good at it? It's alienating? Does that mean it fuels apathy or anger at the issue being discussed? I imagine reading the article on Brecht could clarify this, but one shouldn't have to read another big article when interested just on the jump cut and its uses. A better and/or more detailed explanation of its political utility would help this article.


 * I have studied cinema and understand what a jump cut is. It is somewhat difficult to describe. Basically a jump cut is where a shot is taken of something. Say the shot shows a person enter the left of frame and walk across in from of the camera and then sit down on a seat in front of the camera. In a jump cut a section of the film is cut out, and the beginning section joined to the end section, so the person will enter the frame, walk a few steps, and then instantly be in the seated position. The camera position does not move but the middle section of the shot is taken out. People often call any abrupt cut between two different shots a jump cut but this is technically not what a jump cut is. Asa01 07:21, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

I've read through all the comments on this article and agree with most of them. But, a jump-cut is not solely taking out the middle of a shot. When editing in a classical style to perform a proper cut the angle of the camera should change at least 30 degrees (called The 30 degree rule) from shot to shot or at least one shot size if it is of the same person or object. Any cut that does not adhere to this is basically considered a jump-cut. You can simply take out the middle of the shot, but that is not the only thing that constitutes a jump-cut. Obviously a jump-cut is not anything that is simply jarring, and it is a common misconception, but it is also not simply taking out the middle of a shot. There are certain formulas to classical editing and deviations from them such as in Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" which I think was an example in the article, are what make up discontinuity editing and cuts such as this. In fact in Breathless many of the jump-cuts that occur are not simple a matter of Godard taking out the middle of the shot.

Also, a jump-cut is more commonly confused with a cross-cut and using 2001 as an example of a match-cut is confusing. Also, it's not known whether or not the jump-cuts in Battleship Potemkin are on purpose and besides that, a montage is different from a jump-cut. Although it might utilize them sometimes.

I don't know, no offense but this is not a very good explanation of a jump-cut. It's not that anything is necessarily wrong, it's just not well defined. Sorry about anything, this I'm still figuring out how this works. --FruityCheerios 10:37, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Still needs clean-up
I've just reinstated the clean-up template after it was deleted. Why? The examples in this article are random ones (e.g., The New World) and poorly explained. And much of the grammar is clumsy (e.g., "The term jump cut is frequently used to describe any abrupt and noticeable edit cut in a film, however technically this is incorrect."). In my opinion, the whole piece needs to be overhauled and streamlined. --Jeremy Butler 12:41, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't think it's too bad. Some of the examples are less than ideal, as you say, but a little tweaking and copyediting would make this pretty servicable.  I'll try to get around to doing some this weekend.  Deleuze 13:59, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Article lacks clarity
I believe the first sentence is too limiting: "A jump cut is a cut in film editing where the middle section of a continuous shot is removed, and the beginning and ends of the shot are then joined together." The two elements to be joined together could have originated from different takes.

The 2 examples in the first paragraph seem to be untypical.

Also, nothing is said of the technique of using multiple jump cuts in a sequence (often used in a scene with the character speaking directly to the camera, such as in Strange Days or Elisabeth).

I believe the part about the political use of the jump cut is unclear. It should either be clarified or removed. How does the jump cut serve a political use? How is it used in intellectual montage? What is a Brechtian technique?

I don't see how "any abrupt and noticeable edit cut in a film" applies specifically to the cut at the end of 2001's Dawn of Man sequence. It is important to point out the distinction between match cut and jump cut, but the first sentence of that paragraph is misleading.

Overall the article needs a lot of clarification.(JFR)


 * Sorry but "A jump cut is a cut in film editing where the middle section of a continuous shot is removed, and the beginning and ends of the shot are then joined together." is the precise, exact, and ONLY thing that a jump cut can be. If the start and ending bits of film originated from different shots, then it is not a jump cut but merely straight cut. Asa01 21:39, 23 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I said "The two elements to be joined together could have originated from different takes", not "different shots". I mean alternate takes of the same shot (same angle, same action); that is why it is wrong to say that the two elements of a jump cut must come from a single continuous shot. If editing 2 elements from alternate takes of the same shot is not a jump cut then what is it? And how could anyone (not involved in editing the film) ever know if the elements came from the same take or from alternate takes? (JFR)


 * Yeh I don't disagree with that - i didn't quite notice that distinction in your argument. Nothin' stopping you from changing the article. Asa01 08:43, 26 May 2006 (UTC)


 * The 2001 bit describes how in popular disucssion people loosely use "jump cut" for any noticeable or bold cut. If people notice a cut enough and want to describe it, they will often call it a jump cut - and that 2001 edit cut is one of the most famous and most discussed edits cuts in cinema history. In most films using classic editing regimes, the cuts seem invisible. I once thought that any noticeable cut was a "jump cut", but having consulted filmmaking handbooks and cinema books, realised it is completely wrong. But in popular situations the term is frequently used in this way. Asa01 21:48, 23 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure the cut in the "Dawn of man" sequence is called a jump cut simply because it is abrupt or bold. The story-line leaps across a million years from apes to space ship. That cut is all of these at the same time - visually bold, temporally discontinuous (the biggest such discontinuity on film possibly) and visually matching. Does the included David Bordwell reference talk about this not actually being a jump cut? If not, then please at least provide a reference when such a thing has been said. Srikumarks (talk) 10:45, 28 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I generally agree with Asa01's comments about jump cuts--particularly the 2001 edit--but there is a small problem with this definition. And that is: alternate takes of the same shot.  Or multiple shots taken at the same location.  Take Godard's Breathless (1960), a couple of frame grabs from which are over here, midway down the page. In one scene, Michel and Patricia drive around in a car.  Godard shot numerous shots of her and then cut them together without regard for continuity.  Those instances are definitely jump cuts, but they were not created by removing the middle section of a shot. --Jeremy Butler 11:56, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Guiness lawsuit
Perhaps it bears mentioning of the use if jump cutting in the Anticipation (Guinness) ad campaign, and Norowsian's lawsuit about it TheHYPO (talk) 09:58, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

corrections welcome
As a lecturer in Film Studies I am very glad this page has been corrected. The new definition is correct and the examples which have been removed were, indeed, uniformly misleading. 220.240.36.86 (talk) 00:24, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

2001: A Space Odyssey example
The 2001 example is a little confusing. The bone->satellite cut is indeed a match cut, but it is immediately preceeded by what looks like an actual jump cut from the bone flying through the air to another shot of the bone still flying through the air. (It goes  bone =jumpcut=> bone =matchcut=> satellite). Kjl (talk) 23:01, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Russ Meyer
How can this article not site Russ Meyer? His films are ripe with this technique. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.246.64.251 (talk) 01:53, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * If you know of specific examples, you should add them in here.MilkStraw532 (talk) 21:17, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

philip defranco
watch one of his videos on youtube. Is he using the jump cut technique, or is it just noticeable editing (that he doesn't care to hide)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.81.54.237 (talk) 09:45, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

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Replace Static Image Example with an Animated GIF/Movie
A jump cut is an effect of motion/time, a static image does not convey the full effect. I feel like an animation or movie would be more helpful for illustrating a jump cut. I would be happy to make an animated gif from the referenced scene in Breathless. Please let me comment on whether there are issues with this change. (Lucas(CA) (talk) 21:10, 26 September 2019 (UTC))

Removal of original research
I removed the following two paragraphs as they seem to be original research and not reflective of actual editing conventions. I've taught filmmaking and film history for 40 years and, to my knowledge, "match cuts" are always meant to be seamless and invisible—never abrupt or discontinuous, as the first paragraph claims. And, regarding the second paragraph, it has been tagged as needing a citation for over four years, with none forthcoming. If you do a Google search on "impossible match on action" or "impossible continuous action" you will mostly find references back to this Wikipedia article and no citation that authoritatively supports the use of these terms. Also, as some editor improperly interjected into the paragraph in boldface, the Breathless example as used here directly contradicts a use earlier in the article. --Jeremy Butler (talk) 11:53, 9 April 2020 (UTC)


 * A match cut (a.k.a. graphic match) may also be abrupt, but the viewer is meant to see the similarity between two scenes with disparate subjects rather than experience the discontinuity between the two shots.


 * Jump cuts are also distinguishable from an impossible match on action (a.k.a. impossible continuous action), where the action of the subject seems continuous and fluid but the background suddenly changes in an impossible way. Several of the cuts, sometimes mislabeled jump cuts, in the "Patricia in the car" sequence from Godard's Breathless are actually examples of impossible match on action.  ( Contradicts example illustrated above  ? )  Other infamous examples include Resnais' Last Year in Marienbad, the "air mattress to Mrs. Robinson" cut in The Graduate, and the very last cut in Pal Joey where Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak instantly walk from a street in San Francisco to a location with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.