Film Transition – with reference to PROMISE

Emily Capon

CUT The most basic type of shot transition, the cut is the most common way to join two shots. In essence it is the continuation of two different shots within the same time and space. It is the most basic in that the film undergoes no special processes to perform a cut; the two film strips are simply played one after the other. While watching the movie, this is where one image on screen is instantly replaced with another, often in the form of a camera angle change. Though simple in construction, the subject matter on each side of the cut can have far-reaching implications in a film

CONTRAST CUT

An editor can strategically cut to juxtapose two subjects. For instance, somebody dreaming of a beautiful field of flowers, shot A, may be suddenly wake up inside a burning building, shot B. The sound would be serene and peaceful in shot A, and suddenly loud and painful in shot B. This contrast between peace and chaos is intensified through the sudden transition from A to B, something that cannot be achieved through a gradual transition

L CUT An L Cut is an editing technique that results in a cut occurring at a different time for audio than for video. For example, we may hear characters' voices a few seconds before we see them on film. In order to achieve this effect, the editor had to make an L-shaped cut on the filmstrip itself.

GRAPHIC MATCH

The cut joins together two pieces of film that contain two similarly shaped objects in similar positions in the frame. One of the most famous examples of this is the edit in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey where the bone thrown by a gorilla (man in gorilla costume) cuts to a space station

MATCH CUT Like the form cut, the match cut attempts to join two shots with similar frames together. The match cut, however, is designed to completely hide the transition from the audience. If a character were to walk towards the camera and completely cover it, the editor could then choose to cut to a shot of the same character walking away from the camera. The cut is disguised by the character blocking the camera; the audience still knows that a cut has occurred, they would simply have a hard time pinpointing the exact moment

PARALLEL CUTTING

For example, imagine an action scene where a villain is chasing the hero of the film. To spend the entire chase scene trying to keep both the hero and the villain in the frame at the same time will become very difficult and un- engaging after a while. A better way to approach this problem is through the use of parallel cutting. In this example, the scene would consist of several shots of the hero running in one direction, and some shots of the villian running in the same direction. Perhaps the hero looks back, out of frame at his pursuer.

DISSOLVE Like the fade, a dissolve involves gradually changing the visibility of the picture. However, rather than transitioning from a shot to a color, a dissolve is when a shot changes into another shot gradually. Dissolves, like cuts, can be used to create a link between two different objects, a man telling a story, and a visual of his story, for instance.

JUMP CUT

A jump cut is usually the result of a continuity error, and not a stylistic choice by the director. A jump cut occurs when a cut, designed to act merely as a camera angle change (less than 30 degrees), reveals a continuity error between the two shots. For instance, if a character has their hand over their mouth in a medium shot and not in their close up, this detail, which probably was not noticed on set, is now painfully obvious to the viewers.

FADE IN/ OUT A fade occurs when the picture gradually turns to a single color, usually black, or when a picture gradually appears on screen. Fade ins generally occur at the beginning of a film or act, while fade outs are typically found at the end of a film or act

MORPH

Although not always confined to shot transitions, a morph can be thought of as a dissolve combined with a visual effect. Rather than simply blending the colours together, a morph is able to gradually reshape an object to becom another object, creating a much stronger connection than a simple dissolve can provide. One example of this is the end of the film Saving Private Ryan.