Since the cut is the one type of edit almost all of you can make, it's the transition you should start with when trying to improve your videos.

But beware of the jump cut. A jump cut is a cut from one scene to another that is very similar. It is very distracting. You can cause a jump cut by cutting from a scene at one camera angle to another shot of the same scene from a similar camera angle, or by cutting from a shot where the subject moves in one direction, to a shot where the subject moves in the opposite direction. In either case, the effect of the cut is that the subject seems to "jump around" inside the frame, hence the name. Jump cuts leave viewers confused and unsettled. Make it your editing goal to avoid them.

The easiest way to fix jump-cut problems is with cutaways. Cutaways visually move away from the main storyline for an instant to show details about a different but related part of the story. They give you a great way to "hide" or eliminate jump cuts. Although a cutaway interrupts the flow of the main visual story on screen, it leaves the story intact in the viewer's mind. As long as the cutaway itself is short, usually a few seconds or less, a viewer will perceive that whatever happens in the cutaway appears to happen simultaneously with the main story. You can use that effect to your advantage to show the audience extra details about your story while avoiding jump cuts.

Another way to solve a jump-cut problem is with a neutral cut. Instead of cutting away from the action with a cutaway, use a neutral cut to diffuse the edit's jolt, yet stay with the main action. In a neutral cut, also called a z-axis cut, you cut from a shot where the subject moves across the screen, to a shot where the subject moves either toward or away from the camera. Aesthetically, the neutral cut diffuses the jolt of a directional jump cut. It lets you cut scenes with action moving in different directions without disrupting the action or confusing the viewers. If you sandwich a two- or three-second shot of a group of runners heading away from the camera between two shots of them taken from different directions, the action will appear continuous, moving in the same dire…