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Video Production Glossary
Jump Cut
A jump cut is a cut in video production where
the middle section of a continuous shot is removed, and the beginning and
end of the shot are then joined together. The technique breaks continuity in
time and produces a startling effect. Any moving objects in the shot will
appear to jump to a new position.
In classical continuity editing, jump cuts are considered a technical flaw.
Most cuts in that editing style occur between dissimilar scenes or
significantly different views of the same scene to avoid the appearance of a
jump. Every effort is made to make cuts invisible and unobtrusive.
In informal contexts the term jump cut is sometimes used to describe any
abrupt and noticeable edit cut in a film. However, technically this is an
incorrect usage of the term. A famous example of this is found at the end of
the "Dawn of Man" sequence in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. A primitive
ape discovers the use of bones as a weapon and throws the bone into the air.
When the bone reaches its highest point, the shot cuts to that of a
similarly-shaped space station in orbit above the earth. This edit has been
described as a jump cut, including on the box of the DVD release of the
film, but it is more correctly a match cut because the viewer is meant to
see the similarity between the bone and the space craft and not the
discontinuity between the two shots.
The jump cut was an uncommon technique for television until shows like
Homicide: Life on the Street popularized it on the small screen in the
1990s.
The jump cut is also sometimes utilised, particularly on children's
television shows, as a very cheap special effects device to give the
impression that a character or item can suddenly 'appear' in a scene,
usually accompanied by an appropriate sound effect to show the audience that
the visual discontinuity is part of the story. A truly convincing visual
effect of this nature would need to involve some variation of chroma key
visual effects or some form of digital or optical compositing, and so the
jump-cut is often used as a 'passable' quick-and-easy and moderately
effective technique.
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