Jump cutting

Jump Cutting

The idea of a jump – cut edit is to skip from one shot to another in an unsmooth motion, it shows a character from one angle and then from another unappealing angle.  In most cases jump cutting is not done deliberately and is actually an error in continuity from the editor. Some editors will deliberately put a jump cut edit in to challenge codes and conventions. Most jump cuts happen when the framing for a shot is not right so it may look like a continuity error. However, the framing just wasn’t set up to look like it is one shot into another. This is where the name jump cut comes from, as it looks more like the shot has just jumped forwards.

The video is  a clip from Taxi Driver it shows a prime example of a deliberate jump cut. The reason the editor has deliberately chosen to put this jump cut in is to show the fractured state of the characters mind, it shows the audience that the character is mentally unstable. The jump cut happens at 1:17

The pictures below shows an example of when a jump cut has occurred but was a mistake and turns into a continuity error.

Combining shots into sequences

This is the process of combining different footage together to create a clear linear storyline. For example there could be an establishing shot to a medium shot to a close up. A wide establishing shot establishes the background space and environment, it covers broad strokes of action. medium shots show body dynamics and close ups show facial reactions and for psychological conditions and states. combining the shots together it creates a sequence of shots which show continuity. When all of the shots are combined together you can tell if it is a good quality edit because you won’t be able to notice that anything has been edited. It will be as though the edit is invisible. Once you have finished editing all of the shots and footage together there will be a sequence of smooth flowing shots.

3:27 - long shot to establish  the scene  - flying across the space and hitting book shelf, this shows the force at which he is thrown and shows the speed he is thrown at, it establishes the energy that is happening in the shot.
3:28 - cuts to a medium shot- shows his body crumpling into the books, this shows the impact of his body and how many books are falling on top of him.
3:35 - it cuts to a close up - shows his concussion, you can tell this from the body language.

Development of drama

Producers of drama and film can choose between using cuts or more prolonged scenes to gain a reaction from the audience. Different shots and cuts are added in during the editing process to help the development of drama. The editor will put different cuts in depending on how he/she wants their audience to feel when they are watching a film. Western audiences tend to ‘need’ cuts to remain attentive to the text. Years of numbing from Hollywood has arguably established this need for cuts. In contrast non-western texts such as Iranian film do not rely upon editing to develop the drama. Rather they use prolonged static shots to make western audiences feel uncomfortable to ‘feel’ the drama. For example in the film Ten (Abbas Kiarostami ) the producers use longer scenes without cuts to make the western audience feel the oppression women are going through. The director does not believe that editing is required to develop the drama. In the case of most Hollywood and mainstream films narratives will have a combination of different scenes and a wide variety of cuts within those scenes to develop the drama. There are various reasons for this: the relatively young mainstream audience watching the film might become bored and unengaged if a wide variety of shots were not used; A list stars often expect a scene to lead to a close-up where they deliver their best performance; scenes in action films have a tendency to follow standard model, we start with big sequences with a lot of production value and we lead up to the intensity of action shots. An example of a film that has used a variety of different cuts would be CSI. This particular drama uses a range of shots and cuts; this is done to establish all the characters and the setting. If there were minimal cuts the audience would become uncomfortable with not being able to see all of the characters talking and engaging with other characters.

As you can see from this link there are a variety of cuts to establish all of the action happening and being able to follow it.

David Mamet an acclaimed theatre and film director in "On Directing Film" says that the way to develop a drama is through cuts, specifically through a "juxtaposition of images that are basically uninflected" images can be inflected or unrelated. Agreeing with the great soviet master of montage editing Sergei Eisenstein, he says that the best image is an uninflected image. He gives us the following example A shot of a teacup. A shot of a spoon. A shot of a fork and a shot of a door. Mamet advises us to let the cut tell the story because otherwise we do not have dramatic action we just have narration.

Splicing

Splicing

Splicing was a method of editing that originated in the early 1900’s. It was one of the more complicated and time consuming techniques of editing. The method itself was very simple. However, it was a very lengthy process compared to the forms of editing software we have available to us now. A splice film editor would take reels of film and cut the film up into scene sections, separating out the various coverage; he/she would then cut a desired section of film down to size, storing any unwanted parts, and splice it together the remaining film with splicing tape. When the form of splicing editing came around film editors would physically do this with scissors and tape, as time has gone by the technology has advanced and there are now splicing machines that can achieve the same outcome.

Storytelling,engaging the viewer,relationship to genre

Storytelling - drama

Once all of the footage is filmed it does not become a story until the editor edits everything together. When telling a simple storyline in a TV programme or a film there are 3 key shots that are frequently used. These shots enable us to understand the basic plot of a story. These three shots are establishing shot; an establishing shot is to establish what is happening around the character and what type of scenery the character is in. It gives the viewers a good idea of what type of story it could potentially be. From an establishing shot the editor will then cut into a medium shot of the character, the medium shot is used to get closer to the character and tell the audience more about the character. The third shot is a close up. When an editor cuts into a close up this is to show in detail what the character is feeling. For example, if we do a close up shot on someone’s face we can see more about what they are thinking. It gives the audience watching an idea of what might happen next.

Engaging the viewer - drama

When editing footage together there are lots of techniques that can be used to engage the audience watching. Some of these techniques consist of playing music before something is about to happen to build tension, playing music when something is happening, speeding up the cuts of shots and taking sound out completely. All three techniques give a different feel to the audience but are all to do with sound. Sometimes in media text the removal of sound is often as powerful as the inclusion of sound. The reason for this is because taking sound out completely often engages a viewer to watch closer to what the character is actually doing in the scene. It gives the audience watching an opportunity to understand how the character feels as there is no sound to tell the viewers what the mood of the scene is. When sound is played over a scene in most cases there will be an action shot taking place. Sound is played over and the cuts of shots are sped up to make everything seem quicker. When there are more shots and sound is playing over the top this engages a viewer and prevents them from getting bored. If sound gets played just before a scene is about to take place this builds a lot of tension in the audience watching which then engages the viewer. When an editor is editing a film together, they will use longer shot types when tension is trying to be built up in the scene. The reason longer shots are used is because when there are loads of shots it doesn’t give the viewer a chance to take in what is happening. Whereas, when there are longer shots there are often more silences and this gives the audience an opportunity to feel what the character is feeling.

Relationship to genre - drama

The conventions of drama are, a fight happening, something dramatic taking place and relationship issues. When filming these conventions different shot types are used to carry out these scenes in a proper way for the viewers to understand what is taking place. A shot type used when a fight happens is normally a long shot or a tracking shot. A long shot is to establish both characters and be able to see the action in full. A tracking shot is in case the action is moving the audience is able to follow the action. When there is a relationship scene taking place there are often over the shoulder shots used. The proximity of characters within dramas is essential in drama texts. This is why over the shoulder shots get used to establish that two characters are talking to one another.