How do you use jump cuts to convey time or emotion in video production?

Jump cuts in video production can effectively convey time passage or evoke emotion by abruptly transitioning between shots. To depict the passage of time, use jump cuts to skip unnecessary moments, creating a condensed narrative. Alternatively, for emotional impact, employ rapid jump cuts to intensify a character's reaction or highlight a specific moment. Careful editing and timing are crucial to maintain coherence while leveraging jump cuts to enhance storytelling and engage the audience emotionally.

A jump cut previously would have been seen as an editing mistake, due to the 180-degree (or, crossing the line, which is just another name for it) and 30-degree rules. However, in recent year, particularly since the rise of TikTok as a serious platform, the jump cut has become commonplace, principally due to the initial editing skills of new talent and the restrictive nature of editing on a mobile device. Now, it's not use due to lack of skill or hardware, but simply as an accepted standard of short (And long, in some cases) form video. The most simple explanation is a jump cut is the sharp, jarring cut you see when several takes of a piece to camera are edited together to eliminate mistakes and tell a narrative, instead of reshoots.

More often than not, jump cuts are best used when you want to throw the audience or viewer or watcher a little bit off balance. A sharp jump in time or positioning or message creates energy, and a feeling that the editor is trying to move things along and not afraid of having some fun doing it.

You can easily show a passage of time or progress of an activity through a jump cut. For example, if you have a character cleaning their room, you can do a few jump cuts and in each of them the room gets gradually cleaner and cleaner. Or if you want to show a passage of time, for example, while a character is waiting for a bus, you can have a few jump cuts in which it gets darker and darker. To effectively do this, you need to make sure the camera is locked in on a tripod, otherwise it will be jarring for the audience.

Jump cuts can convey time passage or evoke emotion by abruptly transitioning between shots. Rapid jump cuts compress time, showing a progression quickly. Lengthened cuts emphasize emotions by focusing on subtle changes or prolonged moments, intensifying feelings or building tension. Timing and sequence of cuts strongly influence the conveyed emotions or the sense of time passage.