Come Here for A Second. I’ve Got Something REALLY Important to Tell You!

I’m all about keeping things simple for people just getting started doing their own videos in house. And today I’ve got something really important you need to know.

[intro]

Hey, I’m Larry and you are going to learn something really important today. How to use a simple edit you can use to convey really important information.

The edit is a combination of a specific kind of transition, coupled with a frame change.

If you’re hanging around with friends and talking, if somebody suddenly lowers their voice and leans in, you’re pretty sure they’re going to tell you something important or some kind of a secret. Well if you’re doing simple business videos, with a single camera and no camera operator to zoom in on you, you can still accomplish the same thing during editing.

As a beginner, you should stick to one or two simple transitions for most of your editing. A cross dissolve, like this, is a good thing to use. The other is an abrupt change called a jump cut.

What you do is jump cut to a zoomed in view when you’re going to say something especially important. Then jump back out to the original view for less important information or explanations. There are rules for beginners and later on, when you know a little more or want to experiment, you can bend the rules if you want.

1) The first rule is to always jump between just 2 levels of zoom. Close and wider.
2) Always jump between thoughts. Never do the jump cut mid-word and try to avoid mid sentence.
3) Don’t do it a LOT.
4) Don’t stay on the close view too long. You should mostly be on the wide view and occasionally jump closer to convey something important.

Jump cut edits can be used in other ways of course. But when you use them from a single video, jumping closer like this, you need to be deliberate about how you do it.

I’ve seen some video editors who randomly jump close and wide, just to hold your attention. That’s actually mixing 2 techniques and it’s a little distracting and potentially confusing, on a subconscious level, to your audience.

I created, wrote, and was the on camera person for a B&H video series called FocusEd. We borrowed the frequent jump cut technique used by popular video channels like Mental Floss. We edited out practically every breath I took and did lots of jump cuts. But we weren’t jumping in and out. I would deliver a line. Then I’d move and do the next line. The result was an upbeat, high energy, fun, funny video. But we didn’t jump close and far.

So if you think you want to try the close far jump cut, do it. I bet it makes your videos better if you do it the right way.

If this helped you at all, please tell your friends and other business people about us. And if you want to do your own videos and you’re just starting out, you might enjoy a free gift I made for my viewers. It’s a video called 10 Tools to Help Any Business Do Your First Pro-Looking Video In-House. It’s just 10 minutes and it will help you get started on your very first video for your business.

Just visit LarryBecker.tv/10free