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In Reply to: Re: Fast and numerous jump cuts: what's the deal? posted by thekingpin on December 20, 2001 at 08:45:50:
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.
Follow Ups:
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
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