Hide Your Jump Cuts

Unless you are intentionally filming a video in one take, or you’re comfortable with a raw, unedited smartphone clip, most of your videos will contain cuts. This is when you remove all the awkward pauses and mistakes, leaving you with one cohesive story. The only problem then is that you’ll have a bunch of jump cuts which can be highly distracting to your message, and make your video nearly impossible to watch. Luckily, there are several ways to hide these cuts that don’t require advanced editing skills to achieve! In fact, here are 3 easy ways to hide your jump cuts.

#1 - Punch-in on your subject

For those filming with a single camera, one of the easiest ‘transitions’ you can use to hide your jump cut is the “punch-in.” Far less aggressive than its name suggests, to punch-in simply means to scale the image up (make it larger) in post-production. For example, if you’re filming a talking head style video, just zoom in tightly on your speaker’s face at the time of the cut. This will create the illusion that there is a second camera angle, and you’re viewer won’t even realize you’re hiding a cut. 

As your editing skills progress, you’ll find opportunities to punch-in even when there are no cuts, because this intentional move will help strengthen or emphasize an important message. Soon, the punch-in becomes part of the overall storytelling process, rather than just a means to clean things up.

#2 - Cut to camera two

This next method only works if you're filming with multiple cameras. The effect not only keeps the energy of your video going, but it also raises the level of professionalism. Here’s how it works: Begin your video with your main camera (often referred to as ‘camera 1’ or ‘camera A’). At the moment you need to make a cut, simply insert the footage from your second camera angle (camera B). Hold here for a few seconds, then cut back to the main camera.

This strategy is incredibly beneficial because it allows you to make large cuts, and since the camera angle changes, your viewer won’t notice the subtle position changes made by the speaker. It will appear as though the video was seamlessly filmed in one take, making your speaker look much more credible, and because there is visual movement, your video will immediately become more interesting.

Similarly to the ‘punch-in,’ you will eventually find areas where it makes sense to change camera angles even when there is no cut to hide. If there’s a long stretch of dialogue with no cut, switching to a second camera angle will ensure your viewer’s attention is not lost. It will also help emphasize important statements, especially if that second camera is tighter on your speaker’s face.

#3 - Show me what you’re talking about with B-roll

Out of the three strategies listed here, this one is certainly the most complex, but don’t let that deter you! Adding B-roll to your video just requires one additional step after you wrap up your primary footage. Ideally, the message in your video will have a loose script of some kind. This could be as simple as a few talking points bulleted out, but even if this is not the case, you should always be paying attention to the story being shared. While your subject is speaking, be on the lookout for key words or phrases that can easily be captured visually after the fact.

For example, if your speaker is promoting their new book, you may want to shoot some additional b-roll clips showing the cover of their book, or perhaps footage of them signing the title page to a fan at a local meet-and-greet book launch. This way, you will have interesting and relevant footage to jump to in post-production when you need to make a cut. Anytime you can shift the perspective and lend a visual aid to your viewer, you will immediately grab their attention and encourage them to continue watching.

Get creative with your cuts

My favorite part of the video production process is getting to edit the puzzle pieces together. As the editor, YOU get to decide what goes, what stays, and how the final story will be delivered. It’s a fair amount of pressure, but also how exciting that you have full control over the outcome!

Hiding cuts is practical to sharing a clean, viewable video, but how you hide them can be the difference between an amateur video and a professional one. Get creative with how you hide your cuts. Rather than sticking to just one of the options above, use some combination of all three to tell the story and draw your viewer in. With some intentionality and a little ingenuity, you’ll have no problem creating something amazing.