To Flip or Not To Flip? 

gotta be honest, i 100% prefer the film's edit. flipping it back to "normal" physically moves her across the screen wayyyy too much. in their version, since she's almost perfectly framed in the flip, 99% of people would never even think about it. not worth the re-shoot with how good of a take it is (Stone is seemingly perfect there), and how closely the flip just happens to frame her identically

My first student film I had to flip a shot. The main character is carrying a bag of groceries and then suddenly in one shot the groceries are on the wrong side, and then in the next shot they go back to the correct side. When it was screened I was trembling in terror that the professor would notice and call me out on it. Never happened. Nobody noticed. I was actually kinda disappointed, so I pointed it out myself during the debrief after the screening. We rewatched it, and _still_ nobody noticed!

I think the flipped shot is better. The audience is looking at the face, not the body, so the face is what needs to stay lined up and oriented properly. And I don't think the shot lasts long enough for most audiences to notice much besides the face.

On an episode of LOST, they shot in Hawaii, but a scene was set in Australia. Instead of procuring vehicles with steering wheels on the right side, they manufactured signs that were flipped. Then, when they flipped it in post, everything looked normal, and the signs were legible. Seems like a roundabout way to me, but I don't know how hard it is to transport a car overseas.

This is great, never noticed this when watching the movie. The choice to film Sebastian stopping from behind also serves the story. We feel his shock physically, as we have to stop with him, because otherwise the camera would just... hit him. It also has the advantage of hiding his face, adding suspense to the scene. How is he going to react? How would we react if we were him? We then get the satisfaction of seeing him react and be surprised by his performance. I can see why they chose this angle, it really serves the story there!

Omg babe wake up a new Jesse tribble video essay

Wow, the ability to explain and literally show you everything is a gift. He really does know what he is talking about.

I feel that, in these kinds of scenarios, it's about holding the audience in the moment. What's going to feel the least weird? What not interrupt the audience's subconscious and say "hey, there's something wrong here". And it usually has to do with where the eyes go.

This is a fantastic video essay -- a lot of great touches in the edit/motion graphics etc. I loved 7:08. I do prefer the original cut to yours though and that's where the essay veers into a territory i really don't like...the 'here's how *I* would've done it' lane. I've seen La La Land 4 times and never noticed the flip but maybe that's just me. Regardless this is well researched, written and edited, congrats and nicely done.

I'm so glad my algorithm led me to this video.

As someone who studied film and is a voice actor, this channel is just amazing. I loved your prior videos and this one is no different. Please keep up the great work!

I love that you explained the 180 degree rule, it's one of the most important yet overlooked principles in filmmaking! Regarding the shot, I've changed my mind 3 times while watching this video over and over again 😂....I think that the building is what's bothering me the most

Great video, loved the editing in this. Being honest though, I wouldn't consider flipping the shot a mess. I hadn't even noticed it right until now. Just like you said, making the flip was a cheap, practical solution; they got away with it pretty much undetected.

Man, I have inhaled every film related video essay on this site for a decade now, I didn't think there was anything new under the sun for me when it came to topics, but you've proved me wrong yet again with another singularly unique video

I kind of liked the flip because it subtly adds to the sensation of the conversation being ‘flipped’ on Mia’s character, knocking her a little off balance

not sure why but I do prefer the flipped version. looks more natural even though it's not. and they do tend to overcomplicate things, definitely. nice content!

Seeing this while editing a project is a mind-boggling thing to experience. I love you

This is one of the best RU-vid videos I've seen about single edit, but also the best video I've seen on film-editing as a whole. You walked through how a seemingly simple and inconsequential change in the editing process has a butterfly effect that adds to the narrative story. Great work and very nice video!

There are so many video essay film guys out there these days that I'm almost reluctant to click on a recommended video for fear of being met with yet another mediocre analysis. This, however, was a very well made video! Thank you :)

3:26 lmao always good to see Partners show up.

One additional advantage to flipping is that the background actually resembles the original background more when flipped. I think that there’s maybe a corner where they shot the closeup, but we never see this corner in the other shots, so the unflipped version’s background would feel unexpected. Flipping it makes it look like we’re looking at the original building still.

that house dream sequence is so good, such a good show

In Casino there is one close up where the camera visibly shakes, but I never noticed in over 20 viewings. I found out in an article. I was too engrossed in De Niro's performance to noticed and I'm sure Scorcese knee that that take was too powerful to cut or retake. So glad he kept it. TL DR. The performance matters WAY more than continuity.

I saw La La Land like 7 times and i never noticed this 😅

The shot in La La Land could also have been flipped to stress the disconnect between the two characters over Jazz.... Seems more probable that it was due to technical reasons, but I like the thought :)

I always wonder why they did this in Harry Potter with the scar on his head changing sides every few scenes

I have only one problem with this channel: there are not enough videos here. I love your essays, they are so engaging. I can only imagine how much work it takes to make such high quality content, but i sincerely hope to see more and more. Keep it up :) Btw I love the subtitles! That way I can learn English while discovering new point of view on watching movies

Wow, I don't think I've realized how many flipped shots I've seen before and never batted an eye. I think the decision to go with the flipped shot was right.

The same thing happens in Spider-Man (2002) during the unity day festival when Peter’s spider sense is going off the whole shot is flipped and it always bugged me

i love, love, love this video essay! i'm not a professional editor, i love making fan edits in my free time out of fun and i have to say i almost always notice when there is something "off" with the shot and it's flipped; there are actually many flipped shots in the lord of the rings, but for some of them i assume it was a conscious choice on the filmmakers' part; for example, in the council of elrond scene, when the characters are looking at the one ring, many of their faces are flipped, but that makes so much sense to me beacuse the ring is supposed to mess with your head and create a distorted image not only of yourself but of the world so, as you said, there are many reasons why editors could choose to flip a shot i really enjoyed watching this, great work!

You're that sub that if they upload once a year I feel blessed. Love your analysis and especially the way you write your scripts. You always have something to say and it never feels like you made a video for the sake of content. Keep up the good work!

This is one of the most underrated channels on RU-vid. Keep up the great work!

Unflippingbelievable! I never would have noticed most of these!!

The unflip puts an RV in front of them that wasn’t there in their previous shot. I could forget there is no RV behind them because we’re now a little bit away from the shot showing behind them. I go with flip.

5:50 - 6:10 I just had to like the video. Well done

I'm with you in preferring the unflip version. I think that the audience has been prepared from the previous shots to understand the change from back to front, and, also, that accentuates the contrast in their disagreement: he stops in the back shot, she stares in wonder from the front, holding that tension between their opposing directions.

My theory, the flip happens because at that point in time the story’s universe splits into two timelines. One “flipped” timeline where Mia goes with Sebastian and says nothing and from there the sequences in the *spoilers* ending imagination/dream sequence take place where they end up together and living in Paris, versus I flipped where Mia says she’s busy and they go their separate ways ending up apart like how the “real” story goes. So I’m pro flip.

Love your Videos so much, thank you for these insights!

Great deconstruction! Loved how much simple blocking told a more effective story.

I noticed all these flips the first time I watched La La Land. Can’t believe someone made a whole video on it, amazing!

I enjoy your work very much. Thank you!

I watch all your videos but this type of content specifically just hits. I rewatch the 180 degree rule video all the time. As someone who isn’t a filmmaker, learning about the language of cinematography is fascinating and I love noticing things in shows or movies that I’ve learned from these videos. Very few things compare to the hit of dopamine I get every time I see a dolly zoom and I have to stop myself from explaining the mechanics of it to whoever I’m watching with

Always nice to see a new video of yours Jesse

Every video you release is just amazing

Flipping feels generale Better for me. I hardly ever notice when objects move in between frame, even After ive been made to notice, and It never feels jarring at all for some reason. However a cute that breaks the 180 rule Always feels more jarring

YES, finally another video. keep up the great work :D

I find the film's edit smooth and unobtrusive. I never noticed it before

i loved this. i prefer the flipped and honestly never noticed it before.

One of the best vids I’ve seen in a while!

Great video as always!

Maybe a good middle ground for that shot would have been to flip the image then CGI the strap to the other side. Would be a fairly straightforward thing to change (cost less than a reshoot), and would have made the mirroring almost imperceptible. ....I've seen CGI used for much more mundane things than this.

incredible break down! thank you

I really enjoyed this and I don't know much about filmmaking at all, thank you :)

loved this video Jesse! U got a new subscriber!

briliant brilliant essay!

What a fantastic insight!

Finally Jesse found his account password 🙌

This was a very well edited video!

great to see another Jesse Tribble drop 🙏

I hope you do more movies videos. Scene analysis, reviews, whatever you can up with. Ive seen your Broken Dreams. It was honest, it was brilliant. I like your editing and your voice is enjoyable for movie essays. I think you should consider it, if its something you enjoy and have time for it.

There's also something that just feels "wrong" about her hair part in the flipped version. I thought this was an artistic choice about how saying she hates jazz "made her look uglier" to Gosling's character.

Great movie and great video!

"Screen direction is preserved... or is it?" *hard cut to a White Claw ad* Something about the timing there really made me laugh. Quality video. It's a great example of the minute yet critical decisions an editor needs to make.

At first Amazing Video!!! I say something, maybe very provocative: Anyone who has never flipped a shot, has never been a real editor!

Come back man, you're videos are awesome 👌👌

Amazing!

I like that this video is about explaining and not blaming.

I think the flip is fantastic, and works on a thematic level as well. After Sebastian stops walking in response to Mia saying "I hate jazz", his perspective of her changes - it flips. He no longer views her the same way; something is backwards. This is what (at least indirectly) I think the flip helps get across. Hating jazz is a deal-breaker for Sebastian, so this can almost be seen as the first point at which they start to clash with each other. I could drone on for a while, but you get the point

This was dope 🤩

Good job! One more subscriber 🙌🏻

Great video, I never thought about any of this! I like their version better, though.

This is an incredibly made video to illustrate a point. That said, I 100% would take the flipped version everytime. Once I saw the unflipped version it was so jarring that I immediately understood why they flip scenes to preserve flow.

Really enjoyed the vid

i've seen la la land about 50 or 60 times and maybe i'm just a bad movie watcher but i've literally never noticed the bag moving from one side to another

This video is brilliant but to be honest I have seen la la land a million times and I never noticed the flipped shot but I catched the wig the first watch 😂

I always knew there was something weird about that shot and it's finally answered

Now i have to watch La la land again

Very interesting !

The un-flipped version is so jarring. It definitely feels like some teleportation is going on.

great video

Jesse making us starve

Hero video.

you know who else is a great editor? you, when editing the whiplash clip

Thanks 😊 Интересная тема

i really like what u make

Hey, I really love your videos and I was wondering if you could do a video on black swan as I love that movie and I think it’s a perfect movie for you to do a video essay.

Fun fact also in the movie whiplash in the bar scene Miles Teller scars where on the other side of his neck

I noticed that the artful and competent crossings of the 180 rule you showed were both cuts to close ups

1:06 I was not ready to see a flipped Ryan Gosling. Man looks strange

Where did that truck and the traffic cones come from? You can’t see them in either of previous shots, so both the flipped and non-flipped versions look wrong. Without the flip, the cut is from a wide shot to a close-up from a similar angle, but the background jarringly changes as a truck and a bunch of traffic cones magically appear. With the flip, there is still a discontinuity, but it’s only noticeable if you remember that three seconds earlier the truck wasn’t there; it’s not as jarring.

Cool video bro

Still starving 😔

Only problem I have with this channel is that there are so many references from other movies I haven't seen lol, I'm afraid I'd get spoiled. Either way, that's more of a me problem. Keep doing you.

"What? You want continuity?" LMAO

That’s so funny, I notice this stuff all the time and just assume it’s a mistake. It never seems to take me out of the movie so I just figure it’s not worth fixing if it’s noticed by the editor.

Was rewatching the Mandalorian in prep for season 3 and noticed a flipped shot in episode 1 with his shinny new shoulder armour on the wrong side when trying to ride the blerg.

Jesse can you make a video about my favorite movie? Chinatown! Or maybe an essay or essay series about Film Noir in general? Could include movies like: Maltese Falcon; LA Confidential and even Basic Instinct which in my opinion is a seriously under rated member of the genre.

I don't think it's that complicated. Here's what happened, like you said. They shot two masters - front and back - and only mediums from the A Master. Because that's how you often shot list this stuff. For that one little moment, it makes much more sense to have character direction be preserved. The flow of the scene was changed when they flipped to the B Master, but then, of course, Mia is on the right--so you keep hero n the right. It's that simple. And likely 99/100 missed it even up rewatching [ I know I did and I have edited features, series, music videos, etc.] More often than anything, it's a story telling decision. Just like with the Star Wars shot flip. Protagonists in Western media usually go left to right, just like we read. In Eastern media they often move right to left, because that's how a lot of those languages read [arabic, japanese, etc.] and so the Star Wars shot was likely flipped because it made more story sense. Just like here, they wanted Mia to be on the "right", but the 180 was effectively flipped. The changes aren't jarring and that medium of her is only a button on the scene anyway. It's one line, not even a medium they cut to regularly. The button is more effective when it feels natural, especially after wet ust got major visual shift with the "I hate Jazz" Master Flip. I think it's as simple as that.

"PARTNERS!" -- Jack Packard

I agree with their choice