I was watching the Blu Ray of "Ben-Hur" the other night, and noticed that in Part 1/Disc 1 there were at least SIX jump edits, despite a fine transfer. Does anybody out there have the same problem while watching a D.V.D. or Blu Ray?
Do you mean what is more commonly known as 'jump cuts'?
Of course, they will annoy me if they're unintended, but if they're intended -- like in many French New Wave films -- then they're obviously there for a reason and to attract attention to themselves.
In film lingo, a jump edit is an edit that feels unnatural and gives away that an edit has happened, by either repeating the same shot in a similar angle/frame size or and I think this is what the OP meant by it missing frames which causes the 'jump':
This is not the best of tutorial as IMO there is a jump shot at 1:28, the camera is still on the same line and they just zoomed it in further which also causes a jump. So it's not simply a repeat of the same shot, but if you don't create a different angle for the next shot you get a zoom jump which can be equally annoying. Though I've noticed that a lot of youtube and tv edits now use that a lot. I do find it a sign of bad filming.
What I do notice a lot on movies from any year, is that sometimes the transition between sequences is handled very ruff and they just cut to the next scene which to me is almost like committing a jump cut. It feels like they ran out of footage or didn't find an appropriate shot to end the scene on and just cut to the next. That can ruin the flow for me. I can't think of a recent example but if one pops into my mind I'll share here. EDIT: the scene in Poltergeist:
As has been often noted, there seems to be a bit missing between when Diane is explaining to Steven about the "sliding phenomena" in their kitchen and when they suddenly appear on their neighbors' doorstep; the scene cuts right in the middle of Diane's line. imdb
This is what I mean and it appeared to be a result of a portion that got deleted.
Never knew what a "jump edit" was. I thought it was just sloppy editing. Not a fan of it. Kinda like that time periods "shakey cam" I guess. If it was used in an effective manner to accent "a" scene I may not mind. But for me its a gimmick technique, and once done immediately becomes passe.
Because it's the arch example of how to do it deliberately in an artful fashion. Godard deconstructs time and space. In that clip, the jump cut doesn't only work as a verfremdung-effect, though (like in many other New Wave movies, including those by Godard), it's also done very beautifully to say something about the relationship between Belmondo and Seberg. It's very existential.
Of course, in later years the effect has become more 'gimmicky'. It doesn't have the edge as it used to when it tried to go against the Hollywood norm in the 60's.
I was watching the Blu Ray of "Ben-Hur" the other night, and noticed that in Part 1/Disc 1 there were at least SIX jump edits, despite a fine transfer. Does anybody out there have the same problem while watching a D.V.D. or Blu Ray?
Are there really so many jump cuts? What/where are they? The only scene I'm aware of is when Jack Hawkins and Charlton Heston are on board the ship and the scene jump-cuts closer to the characters, which was due to an edit of Jack Hawkins' dialogue - which was no doubt thought too long.
