What Is a Jump Cut? 5 Ways to Use Jump Cuts in Film

Jump Cuts in Film Explained

Like match cuts, jump cuts are an effective film editing technique used to depict jumps in time. When used well, they can support the narrative. We’ll start with a definition of the jump cut, then look at some creative ways filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Guy Ritchie use them.

What Is a Jump Cut?

A jump cut is an edit that interrupts a single shot so that the subject appears to jump forward in time. While most editing techniques are designed to “hide” cuts, a jump cut is a stylistic choice that makes the edit completely visible.

Some filmmakers consider jump cuts inherently bad because they draw attention to the constructed, edited nature of a film. They’re seen as violating typical continuity editing, which aims to give the story a seamless sense of time and space.

A jump cut differs from a match cut in that the latter is meant to create a seamless transition between two separate scenes. The usual goal of a match cut is to create a metaphorical comparison between two different objects, subjects, or settings.

How to use jump cuts in film:

• In a montage
• To heighten tension
• When introducing characters
• To emphasize a mental state
• In documentary interviews

Where Did Jump Cuts Come From?

Jump cuts have existed since the birth of cinema. No definition of the jump cut is complete without mentioning one particular filmmaker: Georges Méliès. He used the technique to create magical illusions on screen. As a magician, Méliès took full advantage of this method to create striking and memorable “trick shots.”

Méliès’s experiments with editing techniques essentially made him the father of special effects in filmmaking. From a novelty standpoint, Méliès’s jump cuts were perfect—but how could filmmakers incorporate this technique naturally into narrative film? Radical editing ideas emerged from Russia under the banner of Soviet montage, but Hollywood took a very different path.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, as the Hollywood studio system rose to dominance, the mainstream approach to filmmaking valued “invisibility.” Also known as classical Hollywood cinema, its goal was to “hide” the film’s construction. In theory, this would fully immerse the audience in the movie.

Breaking that illusion and reminding viewers they were watching a film was essentially forbidden—at least until the French New Wave came along and threw the rulebook out the window. Any definition of the jump cut would be incomplete without crediting the French.

Jump Cuts and the French New Wave

The modern use of jump cuts began with Jean-Luc Godard and his groundbreaking 1960 film Breathless, which is undoubtedly one of the best French New Wave films. On the surface, Breathless is a criminal love story, but every expectation of such a story is systematically undermined.

At one point the two leads are driving together. The camera remains fixed on Patricia (played by Jean Seberg), but we jump cut multiple times to seemingly random, uncertain moments in the near future.

Godard deliberately attacks the “invisibility” so highly prized in Hollywood and mainstream French cinema. The editing here creates a jarring effect that is clearly intentional. By today’s standards, these examples of jump cuts might not seem especially radical, but in 1960 they had a huge impact.

How We Use Jump Cuts Today

While you still see jump cuts frequently in movies, the technique seems to have exploded in popularity on the internet. It is widely embraced by vloggers. Jump cuts in vlogs have become so common you might not even notice them anymore.

You’ll see many vloggers record an entire video of themselves talking to the camera. The shot cuts, signaling a new idea or a jump forward in the story, but the vlogger’s position in frame is the same.

When it comes to cutting footage, the ultimate goal should be to convey what’s most important. Knowing how to use jump cuts is therefore a crucial skill that can help you make the best possible film.

Using Jump Cuts in a Montage

Schindler’s List (1993) is one of Steven Spielberg’s finest films. It tells the story of businessman Oskar Schindler, who saves more than a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factory.

There’s a moment in the film that uses jump cuts in a way you might not expect in this kind of movie. It’s essentially a playful, comedic montage in an otherwise grim Holocaust drama.

Jump cuts are used here for two reasons. First, they convey the passage of time. Schindler meets with many women in his office. As with any montage, we can run through this entire process quickly and efficiently—but that’s just the practical consideration.

Second, the cuts are used for humor. These women clearly don’t know how to type, and by presenting them in this continuous way, the film provides a light moment in an otherwise dark story—a brief interlude that still pushes the plot forward.

Using Jump Cuts to Heighten Tension

In Run Lola Run (1998), we see a very different use of jump cuts. Lola’s boyfriend was supposed to deliver 100,000 marks to a crime boss, but he’s lost the money. Lola has 20 minutes to find a way to get the cash and save his life.

In this scene, Lola panics and considers every possible way she might raise the money. We see a series of jump cuts as she wracks her brain.

As the synopsis suggests, Run Lola Run is a fast-paced film with no time to waste. These edits emphasize that fact and drop us directly into Lola’s state of mind. She’s just received devastating news. She’s anxious and disoriented.

Humans aren’t meant to process information this way. The human eye wants smooth, continuous movement, so jump cuts go against that aesthetic expectation. Many films want to avoid this effect, but here it works perfectly. The editing creates an emotional experience for the audience, making it preferable to standard shot–reverse-shot cutting.

Using Jump Cuts to Introduce Characters

Snatch is a 2000 crime thriller directed by Guy Ritchie about a group of criminals trying to track down a stolen diamond and a boxing promoter who works for a sadistic boss.

The film features many of Ritchie’s signature techniques, including his preference for rapid-fire cutting, which is showcased best in the opening sequence.

The intro contains numerous jump cuts along with other stylish flourishes. The entire sequence runs less than 90 seconds, and in that time Ritchie has to convey a lot of information.

It takes real work to introduce characters on the page, but Ritchie finds an efficient way to do it through editing. His job is to introduce 12 characters, each with unique personalities and goals. To keep the pace up, he uses these cuts to fast-forward time and build real narrative momentum.

The clearest example of a jump cut in this sequence is the introduction of Mickey (played by Brad Pitt). He receives a wad of cash, and his friends try to touch it. Mickey slaps their hands away, and in between slaps there’s a jump cut. In just a few seconds, the audience gets everything they need to know about this character. Coincidentally, it’s also one of Brad Pitt’s best performances.

This jump cut serves a dual purpose. The rest of the film will be fast and energetic. Using jump cuts at the beginning lets the audience know exactly what kind of movie they’re watching and that they should be ready to buckle up.

Using Jump Cuts to Emphasize Mental State

One of the most surprising and affecting moments in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) is when Richie (played by Luke Wilson) attempts suicide. Right before this, he starts cutting his hair and shaving. In this somber scene, we see multiple jump cuts.

On the surface, this might seem like a practical choice—to compress time and move quickly through the process. But consider the emotional impact while watching the scene.

Jump cuts in film are often used to create excitement or energy, but here they become a poetic way of visualizing grief. Wes Anderson doesn’t need to show Richie cutting his hair. It’s a clear choice to share an extremely intimate moment with a character at his lowest point. The jump cuts are a visual expression of Richie’s unstable, fragmented emotional state.

Axial Jump Cuts

One subtype of jump cut has a similar effect but is executed slightly differently. A standard jump cut jumps forward in time within the same shot, while an axial jump cut only jumps the camera’s viewpoint, not time.

In other words, from the same camera angle, the editor immediately changes the focal length, either longer or shorter. Put simply, with each cut, the subject in the frame suddenly becomes larger or smaller. An axial jump cut functions very much like a zoom, but without the gradual change—the shift is abrupt and dissonant.

For example, when Elliott and his friends are hiding from the authorities, E.T. starts to panic. In this sequence, axial jump cuts are used.

Alfred Hitchcock was also a fan of this technique, using harsh, disruptive jump cuts in moments of pure horror. If you’ve seen the famous shower scene in Psycho, when Marion turns to face the killer, the camera moves closer and closer to her screaming mouth.

There’s a similar moment in The Birds when Lydia discovers her father’s corpse after the latest deadly attack:

Hitchcock was always searching for new ways to give the audience an experience that matched the characters’ (see also: the shower scene above and the “Hitchcock zoom” in Vertigo). In this moment, by using axial jump cuts to bring us closer and closer to the dead body, the shock of discovery is made just as overwhelming for us as it is for her.