June 20, 2020 : L & J-Cuts And Animation
L and J-Cuts are commonly used editing transitions to make two shots more seamless. Fun fact – I first studied them while watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. They are prevalent in that show because there is so much dialogue; and those cuts help the flow of a scene, preventing it from being too rigid.
However, I’ve realized L and J-cuts are not commonly used in animation, and I am still not sure why. Perhaps it’s because animation tends to be a more visual medium that needs to be more rigid and that expectation contradicts the cuts’ effect?
I’ve been thinking about this recently since I’ve been able to get a few more sequences done for my short. I’ve used these cuts in previous projects, but very sparingly. There have been times when I thought they would work, but during editing they seem off. As such, I don’t use them.
With the current project, I have identified a few potential spots; but I’ll need to see how things look in editing. It’s very possible they get nixed. Bottom line: we’ll see.
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:50 pm
Tags: MeAndMe