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Our brains don't "explode" at movie cuts because there's years of evolution about the techniques that makes a cut appear fluid, essentially keeping a continuity

Our brains don't "explode" at movie cuts because there's years of evolution about the techniques that makes a cut appear fluid, essentially keeping a continuity of the movement and position of the main subject of the action. The photographer and the editor take particular pains to ensure that. E.g. if you "cross the line" between two actors, you'll see a "jump" because the actors will swap positions. If you cut in a movement, the next shot will have to show something continuing the movement, or the cut is done when the object stops or is hidden behind something. That makes the cuts a fluid motion even if the whole scene changes. If you break the rules, even if the scene is the same, you'll feel a "jump" between the shots and it will feel unnatural ( For the interested, here is a very detailed description of the common "idioms": http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Film-Language-Daniel-Arijon/dp/187950507X http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Film-Language-Daniel-Arijon/dp... )

snarkyturtle 12y ago
Moreover continuities nowadays are extremely distracting, at least if you know what to look for. Some things like if a chess board completely disappears for a scene pops out to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMM4hCdDyk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMM4hCdDyk
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  Argh. I fully support camera and phone manufacturers adding a feature whereby it stops recording the minute someone tries to point it at a TV. WTF.
  - freehunter 12y ago
    It's the analog hole. If I upload The Simpsons to YouTube, it's taken down immediately. If I upload a video recording of a TV showing The Simpsons, it needs to be taken down by hand. I also sometimes take still pictures of my computer monitor because there's no good way to take a screenshot of a PC and send it in a picture message to someone without uploading to Imgur or Dropbox or something, which takes time compared to just snapping a pic. What I would fully support is having TVs with good enough screens that you can't tell the difference between recording them and recording a real-life scene.
    - anigbrowl 12y ago
      But there are literally millions of Simpsons clips on Youtube. Nobody minds as long as they're very short clips. It's not the look of the screen that bugs me, it's the inability of the person to hold the phone still and stop talking. I suspect that what's supposed to be happening in this scene is that Ace Ventura has swept all the pieces off the chessboard in an excess of accusatory zeal, but I can't tell if there's any sound of chess pieces hitting the floor because the guy keeps talking and waving the phone around.
      - freehunter 12y ago
        Yes, people in general are terrible when they're recorded. It's not as bad in real life, in the moment, but watching it on a video is awful. I recorded a fantastic event once that was completely mindblowing. Could not watch the video because everything that happened seemed so awful. Our minds are machines of context and in-the-moment stimulus that has up performing actions that don't hold up to repeated or out-of-context viewing. That's why actors are so highly trained and respected, because even pretending to be yourself is impossible for most people. Recordings are just so unnatural that we have to get ourselves into a different mindset before hitting the red button.
maxerickson 12y ago
Here's a well known director praising another well known director for his skill in laying out a movie: http://extension765.com/sdr/18-raiders http://extension765.com/sdr/18-raiders
freehunter 12y ago
And once the filmmaker has figured out the rules, they understand that there's precedence to having those kinds of jumps. If a real-life scene is moving quickly and I shut my eyes for a second (or if I am moving and shut my eyes for a second, then open them in a different location), my brain can't 'explode' at that or evolution has failed. Our brain interpolates. And luckily we are intelligent enough to both understand that a series of pictures displayed on a screen is a representation of a real-life scene and also intelligent enough to understand that we don't have to be moving for it to make sense. Unfortunately, understanding those things still takes quite of bit of subconscious brain power anyway, which is why some movies can be exhausting to watch.
logicallee 12y ago
I don't think that's what the author meant at all. I think the author meant any sudden change in the visual field, e.g. cutting to the next scene, an outside shot, or whatever. It's an interesting perspective, but probably has a simple answer: when you dart your eyes, you already lose a fraction of a second and have to re-process everything. It's not hard for the brain to put things back together or interpret a totally new scene. In fact it probably only becomes tiring if it's at a strobe-like frequency, and extended for several seconds (dozens of cuts, several per second, sustained over multiple seconds.) That's something that we really don't experience, and which really does become tiring or disorienting as a visual effect.

snarkyturtle 12y ago

Moreover continuities nowadays are extremely distracting, at least if you know what to look for. Some things like if a chess board completely disappears for a scene pops out to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMM4hCdDyk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMM4hCdDyk

anigbrowl 12y ago
Argh. I fully support camera and phone manufacturers adding a feature whereby it stops recording the minute someone tries to point it at a TV. WTF.
- freehunter 12y ago
  It's the analog hole. If I upload The Simpsons to YouTube, it's taken down immediately. If I upload a video recording of a TV showing The Simpsons, it needs to be taken down by hand. I also sometimes take still pictures of my computer monitor because there's no good way to take a screenshot of a PC and send it in a picture message to someone without uploading to Imgur or Dropbox or something, which takes time compared to just snapping a pic. What I would fully support is having TVs with good enough screens that you can't tell the difference between recording them and recording a real-life scene.
  - anigbrowl 12y ago
    But there are literally millions of Simpsons clips on Youtube. Nobody minds as long as they're very short clips. It's not the look of the screen that bugs me, it's the inability of the person to hold the phone still and stop talking. I suspect that what's supposed to be happening in this scene is that Ace Ventura has swept all the pieces off the chessboard in an excess of accusatory zeal, but I can't tell if there's any sound of chess pieces hitting the floor because the guy keeps talking and waving the phone around.
    - freehunter 12y ago
      Yes, people in general are terrible when they're recorded. It's not as bad in real life, in the moment, but watching it on a video is awful. I recorded a fantastic event once that was completely mindblowing. Could not watch the video because everything that happened seemed so awful. Our minds are machines of context and in-the-moment stimulus that has up performing actions that don't hold up to repeated or out-of-context viewing. That's why actors are so highly trained and respected, because even pretending to be yourself is impossible for most people. Recordings are just so unnatural that we have to get ourselves into a different mindset before hitting the red button.

maxerickson 12y ago

Here's a well known director praising another well known director for his skill in laying out a movie: http://extension765.com/sdr/18-raiders http://extension765.com/sdr/18-raiders

freehunter 12y ago

And once the filmmaker has figured out the rules, they understand that there's precedence to having those kinds of jumps. If a real-life scene is moving quickly and I shut my eyes for a second (or if I am moving and shut my eyes for a second, then open them in a different location), my brain can't 'explode' at that or evolution has failed. Our brain interpolates. And luckily we are intelligent enough to both understand that a series of pictures displayed on a screen is a representation of a real-life scene and also intelligent enough to understand that we don't have to be moving for it to make sense. Unfortunately, understanding those things still takes quite of bit of subconscious brain power anyway, which is why some movies can be exhausting to watch.

logicallee 12y ago

I don't think that's what the author meant at all. I think the author meant any sudden change in the visual field, e.g. cutting to the next scene, an outside shot, or whatever. It's an interesting perspective, but probably has a simple answer: when you dart your eyes, you already lose a fraction of a second and have to re-process everything. It's not hard for the brain to put things back together or interpret a totally new scene. In fact it probably only becomes tiring if it's at a strobe-like frequency, and extended for several seconds (dozens of cuts, several per second, sustained over multiple seconds.) That's something that we really don't experience, and which really does become tiring or disorienting as a visual effect.