I counted the cuts in 8,770 films from the last century to find out how many shots a movie has now, and how fast we are cutting.
Interesting that faster cuts don’t impress the Academy
Before we go, one more fun fact - Oscar voters haven’t sped up with the rest of cinema. In the 1990s, the median Best Picture nominee cut at 9.7 shots a minute, compared with 12.0 for all films. In the 2020s so far, the Best Picture nominees in my data cut at 9.4 against 15.1 for everything else.
I agree, a lot of movies feel rushed because of the cuts
So like action-martial-arts movies I would say are universally better when they have fewer cuts because that means they’re leveraging the abilities of the actors. Classic example is the ~4 minute single cut from The Protector.
That genre rarely wins Oscars. But I think we can still draw the conclusion that cut frequency’s effect on film enjoyment depends on genre.
I didn’t see a mention of Speed Racer (2008), which frequently edits from shot to shot with layered pans and crash zooms. I really wonder how he counted that movie.
That’s a great little movie, fun for the whole family without being cloying or silly.
No, I retract that, because it’s silly in the best way.
Magical cars, super intelligent monkeys, anti-gravity race tracks, and a 16 year old girl with a helicopter parked in the garage.
My dad took us to that movie when I was 12 and I got so motion sick I threw up in the popcorn bucket. He was already angry because he thought it would be a car movie, didn’t expect an acid trip. Was not a good day for a 12 year old with an abusive father. Never watched it again lmao
It’s definitely an underrated gem from the Wachowski sisters.
