What is a Jump Cut?

In filmmaking, jump cuts are a common problem that for years videographers and editors tried to hide or otherwise coverup. However, changes in audiences and an adaptation to viewers largely connect with YouTubers and Vlogs have caused an underlying ability for audiences to be less sensitive to jump cuts. But what is a jump cut, exactly? And, how does a jump cut impact the film?

Jump Cuts Explained

A jump cut represents a transition in the film in which time is skipped. A clean jump cut can be used to effectively edit the film and create the sense of a time lapse.

This can help the editor to tell the story by moving the footage forward more rapidly, but a jump cut is not always a welcomed style of editing. 

Some filmmakers don’t like jump cuts at all. They believe that jump cuts draw attention to the level of editing that takes place in a film and takes away from the professional nature of the construction of the footage itself.

In fact, traditional editors aim to create a seamless experience for the audience in which the film appears to be a span of time without any jumps.

Where Can Jump Cuts Be Used?

Jump cuts can be used for a variety of instances. Whereas match cuts are commonly used to draw a comparison between objects or settings in a film, jump cuts have a very different use. If they are used, they are ideal for:

• Amplifying tension between characters in a film.
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• Introducing new characters in a film.
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• Moving documentary interviews along a progression of time.
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• Accenting the mental state of characters in a film.

The Original Jump Cut

The jump cut is not some new editing technique or a new problem in filmmaking — it’s been around since the birth of cinema. In fact, jump cuts originated in the days of George Melies when jump cut techniques were used to produce the illusion of magic on the screen.

A magician by trade, George used jump cuts to produce striking “Tricks” on the screen that would essentially take advantage of the jump to create a perception of magic.

Jump cuts would continue to be popular in the 1920s, through the 1950s. Contemporary use of the jump cut technique would become prominent in the 1960s.

At that time, if you were to ask, “What is a jump cut?” It’s likely that a reference would have been made to the film Breathless.  This was definitely one of the most prominent uses of jump cuts in cinema of its time. 

Today, jump cuts are used by vloggers and YouTubers quite a bit, but continue to have very limited use in cinema. While the jump cut continues to be a “poor” or rejected editing method in cinema, viewers are becoming more immune to them as we find ourselves watching more and more YouTube and less cinematic productions.