 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
One of the trailers before LOTR last night was so full of jump cuts, jiggling camera work, fast-zooms-transitioning-into-slo-mo-pans (there MUST be a technical description for this by now!), that I had to turn away from the screen. It was giving me a head-ache--and, I can't even remember what movie it was pushing.Fast jump cutting is not necessarily bad--Psycho's shower scene succeeds primarily because of its fast cutting; Peckinpah packed more cuts into the final scene of The Wild Bunch than I care to count--but the trend today is toward so many editing tricks and techniques that I think it often takes away from the movie's impact.
I've seen some discussion of this in relation to the new digital editing stations and how they allow the editor to perform many, many more edits with much less work. I was also thinking that, what plays well on the small screen of an editing station does not necessarily translate to the bigger impact of a full-size theater screen, but then again editing stations have always had small screens. Maybe it's a combination of the digital and the small screen that results in the current (IMHO) dreck of overly (and POORLY!) edited movies.
Other thoughts?
John K.
Follow Ups:
Echoing what others have said about MTV editing forthe short attention span, for a glimpse on what your children are being raised on, check out some commericals on Saturday AM.
I was almost blinded by the dizzying pace of cuts, explosions (who knew that breakfast cereal and fruit roll ups were so explosive) and neon colors! Go figure, I'm only 25, and already a relic!This is what your films will look like to a larger & larger degree as this generation grows.
Video games are also largely responsible for this type of visual imagery.
Even look at channels like Bloomberg and CNN, talk about short attention span, they have 15 tickers simultaneously running different info, all with a separate video feed.
I agree it's crazy, and very annoying once you wake up and realize how many cuts there are.The absolute worst edited movie, where the director will never allows you more than a second between cuts is "End of Days". Behold the editor's *skill* that is able to use 5 cameras, and 16-20 cuts to show Arnold pouring a cup of coffee. I couldn't finish watching the movie it was driving me so nuts.
"Unbreakable" is on the complete opposite end of the scale. The wonderful camerawork makes for pleasant viewing. Every director/editor should learn a few things from Shamalan(sp?).
It's the influence of MTV and it's consequent effect of shortening the attention span of the youth audience who makes up a large part of the paying public. It's just a pet theory :)
I watched MTV from the beginning for about the first year-and-a half, then stopped altogether. In my memory, many/most of the early videos were in no way jump-cut heavy. I think that what did happen is that there became a sameness to the videos. The desire to be new or "cutting edge" combined with the advent of digital editing technology to produce the current visual chaos. Youth has always had a short attention span, but technology now lets us take advantage of that.I think I remember reading in a book about Japanese manufacturing about the often needless technical complication of many Japanese goods. As the author put it, "Just because they can do it, doesn't mean they should," or some such.
John K.
Yes, you are right, the early videos were not jump-cut heavy. What I was trying to say, though, in my briefness was that MTV has a huge influence in numbing the mind of the youth in their goal of trying to be the guru of hipness by putting out one visual spectacle or controversy or moments of outlandishness and then trying to top itself with the next one. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and even in high school where counless things-to-experience and distractions abounded, I still had time to listen through a whole Miles LP without jumping tracks or sit through Dog Day Afternoon when I had no idea who Pacino was. I think kids today REALLY have shorter attention span, or maybe living in So-Cal too long and seeing what I see all the day has influenced my views.
The one with billions of jump cuts with tiny changes in movement with each cut? Ouch.
Anyway, early MTV videos did feature rather fast cutting for the time, faster than most TV ads back then. It's just been getting more and more out of hand since then. Too many TV shows are cut too damn fast as well.
Dan
...sounds pretty reasonable to me! Remember: Freedom *can be* slavery.clark
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
