Glad to finally hear you guys put an end to this constant search for flipped shots. they are flipped for a reason, as some posters above have clearly explained.
It doesn’t matter. The flipped elements can be partially or wholly flipped back and maintain composition. It’s just as distracting to see R2 mirrored as having him move counter to the flow of the action.
I disagree on your second point (flipped elements are only noticed by obsessive fans on repeat viewings, whereas a bad cut is obvious to anyone, whether or not they understand why), but yes, if the offending elements can be changed without flipping the whole shot back, then that should absolutely be done.
As someone with a fine art training in my experience people generally notice these things at a gut level. I noticed the flip shots in the phantom menace on first viewing.
I’ve seen that film more times than I care to admit and I don’t even know what they are off the top of my head. Also, since I guess we’re listing credentials, I work as a video editor.
Well, as someone with no relevant credentials, I can confirm that I often spot flipped shots on the first viewing of a film (and not just Star Wars). Naturally there will be many, many more occasions where I have not spotted them, but often they stick out like sore thumbs to me, and I find them extremely jarring.
Continuity errors bug the hell out of me as they smack of, at the very least poor planning, and at worst, poor film-making, and I place flipped shots firmly in the continuity error category for being deemed ‘necessary’ in the first place to avoid jarring 180 degree rule breaches. With more competent planning, most flipped shots should be completely avoidable, but if the director hasn’t got the footage shot, the poor editor is screwed and has to make do with what they have.