One of the groups had used a jump cut in the bedroom climbing wall scene, which is something Alex and I also tried in our film but dismissed.
When I started this course I bought a really good book about film making, which has a no jargon approach to all aspects of film making including funding, equipment, planning, shooting, editing, production and releasing. It is very informative and simple to follow. To me it feels like the next level after reading In the Blink of an Eye. Whereas Walter Murch talks of his experiences and his practice this book acts more like a manual explaining the actual processes of which Murch speaks. I use this book a lot to keep dipping in and out of.
When we were talking about jump cuts (and cross cuts) in class I researched both a little further. I know that there are good examples of jump cuts, such as those used by Edgar Wright in the TV series Spaced and in his film Shaun of the Dead. Mixed with quick cuts and incredibly well planned zoom shots and camera moves, these speed action along picking out the poignant parts of a scene, in particular when a character is describing or relating a scene.
The Get Started in Film Making book picks out the example of the 2005 film version of King Kong where Naomi Watts's character is seen in the mirror trying on a succession of dresses to see which one she would like to wear.
This scene has been done several times before in other films. I remember it well from Educating Rita, which I have seen many, many times as it is one of my favourite films of all time. In Educating Rita, Susan conducts exactly the same scene, appearing in front of the mirror in different outfits in jump cuts, albeit, using two mirrors.
There is also an interesting online demo of a documentary maker's use of jump cuts in editing. The clip is narrated by the editor and also tells of his decisions, such as use of music and which shots to use when editing different scenes. I really like his simple opening definition: "a jump cut is a moment of discontinuity in an edit". I think that definition reminds me that a jump cut isn't just a device for taking out unwanted visuals or audio, but can be planned in advance and used appropriately to good effect.
Another example that I can think of, where jump cuts work really well is from the TV series Max Headroom. Because the character was supposed to be computer generated, the editing in the programme included jump cuts to imply that the character's image was being downloaded and the authenticity of that meant the inclusion of the stops and starts that a slow, early digital download would incur.
I loved Max Hedroom because it was different and modern and because he was a loveable character. I also love the work of Anne Dudley and Art of Noise, so imagine how thrilled I was in 1986...
We also talked about cross cuts in a previous session. These are used a lot in films and TV but I have only really started noticing them since I started this course and seem to look at films differently now. A good example was one I noticed while watching The Silence of the Lambs recently. As the FBI SWAT team are closing in on a suspected murderer, FBI agent Clarisse Starling is already in the house of the suspect and has just realised that she is in danger. As a viewer we believe that she is going to be saved by the SWAT team as we see them surrounding a house. The action cuts from the exterior showing the SWAT team preparing to go in, armed, then we cut to Clarisse inside the house needing help. These cross cuts continue as the tension builds, only for the viewer to realise, once the team has gone in, that they are in fact at two different locations and agent Starling's life is still very much in danger and the SWAT team are at the wrong house.
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