Tag Archives: Homework#3

Homework 3: Taxi Driver

This 70’s drama made by directorĀ Martin Scorsese stars Robert De Niro (shown in the clip above) as insomniac ex-Marine Travis Bickle who is a Taxi Driver in New York City. After an encounter with a malevolent fare (played by Scorsese), increasingly paranoid Travis begins to condition (and arm) himself for his imagined destiny. The series of jump cuts used in this scene show us (the silent audience) how paranoia has consumed him and taken over his life .

Homework #3 “The Battleship Potemkin” -Anjali

Jump cuts in editing is a type of editing where the transition between each scene that is abrupt and somewhat lacks in continuity. Itā€™s usually cut in a brief manner between shots and can be represented differently, depending on the content. It can be for a montage, it can show time passing by, it can show certain events and more. A perfect example of a film that contains such editing is ā€œThe Battleship Potemkinā€, directed by Sergei Eisenstein. There is a famous scene in this film where there are explosions from multiple architectures. Meanwhile, thereā€™s rapid cuts to some cupid statues and then to the lions. The expressions from each lion statue shown vary from cut to cut. As the explosions get wilder and wilder, the expressions on the lionā€™s faces gets more and more terrified. This montage is done to show how extreme the surroundings are. It is also done to portray creativity with the editing by the usage of rapid cuts and the style of jump cutting. In addition, the way that the props were utilized and filmed in this scene is also genius. Thus more proof of why this film remains iconic to this very day.