# JUMP CUT > A cut between two shots of the same subject from nearly the same position, so the subject seems to jump forward in time. Usually an editing choice; written as JUMP CUT TO: only when the skipped time is part of the story. Also known as JUMP CUT TO:, jump cuts **On the page** ``` JUMP CUT TO: ``` ## In practice A jump cut is a cut between two shots of the same subject taken from almost the same position, so the subject seems to jump forward in time while the frame barely changes. A person sitting at a desk is suddenly in a different pose; the light outside the window has moved; the pile of paper has grown. The cut is meant to be noticed. Classical continuity editing tries to hide cuts, and one of its rules exists to avoid exactly this effect: when the camera stays within about thirty degrees of its previous angle on the same subject, the cut reads as a jump. Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960) broke that rule on purpose and made the jump cut a deliberate style, and filmmakers have used it ever since to compress time, unsettle the audience or show a mind coming apart. On the page, a jump cut is usually the editor's decision rather than the writer's. When the jumps are part of the story, such as a long night compressed into a few seconds, write them into the action or use JUMP CUT TO: between the moments. Do it rarely, because a reader takes a marked transition as a deliberate instruction. ## Jump cuts on the page **One night compressed into three moments** ``` INT. MAYA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT MAYA (30s) sits on the floor, surrounded by unopened envelopes. She opens the first one. JUMP CUT TO: Same spot. Forms cover half the floor. Maya has a pencil behind each ear. JUMP CUT TO: Gray dawn at the window. Maya is asleep on a pile of receipts, a calculator still beeping in her hand. ``` Each cut keeps the place and moves the clock, which is what makes it a jump cut rather than a scene change: there is no new scene heading. The writer marks the cuts because the compression is the joke. Without the transitions, a reader might imagine one long continuous shot of a woman doing her taxes. ## How a jump cut works Continuity editing aims to make a cut invisible. When it changes the shot of the same subject, it also changes the angle or size noticeably, so the eye accepts the new image as a new view. The thirty-degree rule is the usual guideline: move the camera at least that far, or change the shot size, before cutting back to the same person. A jump cut ignores that rule. The two shots are so similar that the eye catches what changed between them, a head turned, an object gone, a shadow longer, and the audience feels the missing time. That jolt can be clumsy when it is accidental, which is why editors once treated it as a mistake. When it is chosen, the jolt is the effect. ## Breathless, and what came after Breathless is the film most often cited for the jump cut. In one scene Michel drives Patricia through Paris while he talks about her, and the film cuts repeatedly within the shot of her in the passenger seat: her pose barely changes, but the streets behind her do. The cuts give the scene a restless, impatient rhythm that matches the character, and they announced a break from the smooth editing of studio films. Since then, jump cuts have become ordinary. Music videos, comedies and dramas use them to compress a montage of work, a long wait or a sleepless night. Thrillers and character studies use them to show disorientation or a mind out of joint. Online video made them routine, because cutting out pauses in a single talking shot is the fastest way to keep it moving. ## How to write a jump cut Most jump cuts are invented in the edit, so a script does not need to mark them. Write one when the jumps carry the meaning of the scene: time compressed for comedy, exhaustion, obsession or panic. The clearest way is to describe each moment as its own short action paragraph and mark the cuts with JUMP CUT TO: as a transition, flush right, without a new scene heading. Some writers prefer to describe the effect once and let the action carry it: "A SERIES OF JUMP CUTS as the night wears on:" followed by short beats. Either way, keep the place and the framing constant in your description and change only what time has changed. If the location changes, the cut is no longer a jump cut, and a scene heading or a montage is the better choice. ## Jump cut, smash cut and match cut A jump cut stays in the same scene and skips time. A smash cut moves abruptly to a different scene at a jarring moment, so the contrast between them is the point. A match cut moves to a different scene too, but links the two shots through a shared shape, movement or sound, so one image seems to become the other. All three are cuts a screenwriter may choose to mark, because each changes how a moment reads. But they solve different problems: the jump cut compresses or unsettles, the smash cut shocks or contradicts, and the match cut connects. Choose the one that matches what the moment needs, and leave every ordinary cut unmarked. [Read your scene rhythm with Pacing Analysis](https://www.inkwell.software/skills/pacing-analysis) ## Common questions ### What is a jump cut? A cut between two shots of the same subject from almost the same position, so the subject appears to jump forward in time. It makes the missing time visible instead of hiding the cut. ### What is an example of a jump cut? The car scene in Breathless (1960): the film cuts repeatedly within the shot of Patricia in the passenger seat, so her position stays almost the same while the Paris streets behind her change. ### How do you write a jump cut in a screenplay? Write each moment as a short action paragraph in the same location and put JUMP CUT TO: between them as a transition, with no new scene heading. Mark jump cuts only when the time skip is part of the story. ### Is a jump cut a mistake? It used to be treated as one, because continuity editing tries to hide cuts. Today it is a recognized technique; an accidental jump cut still looks like an error, while a deliberate one is a style choice. ### What is the 30-degree rule? A continuity editing guideline: when cutting between two shots of the same subject, move the camera at least about thirty degrees or change the shot size. Ignoring it produces a jump cut. ### What is the difference between a jump cut and a smash cut? A jump cut stays within the same scene and skips time with nearly the same framing. A smash cut jumps abruptly to a different scene so the contrast between the two is as sharp as possible. ### Why do online videos use so many jump cuts? Cutting the pauses out of a single talking shot is the fastest way to keep it moving without a second camera. Audiences have grown used to it, so the jumps read as pace rather than as errors. ## Related terms - [SMASH CUT](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/smash-cut): An abrupt cut from one scene to another at a moment the audience expects the first to continue, so the contrast hits as hard as possible. Written as the transition SMASH CUT TO:, flush right, and best kept for the few cuts whose timing is the point. - [MATCH CUT](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/match-cut): A cut that links two shots through a shared shape, movement, composition or sound, so one image seems to become the next. Written as the transition MATCH CUT TO: when the connection between the two moments is part of the story. - [Montage](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/montage): A run of short beats or shots in quick succession — often under a MONTAGE heading — used to compress time or braid parallel action. - [Transition](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/transition): An editing instruction between scenes — CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO:, SMASH CUT TO:. Modern specs use them rarely; most cuts are assumed. --- Canonical page: