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A film transition is a technique used in the post-production process of film editing and
video editing Video editing is the manipulation and arrangement of video shots. Video editing is used to structure and present all video information, including films and television shows, video advertisements and video essays. Video editing has been dramatical ...
by which scenes or shots are combined. Most commonly this is through a normal
cut Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut (ea ...
to the next shot. Most films will also include selective use of other transitions, usually to convey a tone or mood, suggest the passage of time, or separate parts of the story. These other transitions may include dissolves,
L cut An L cut is a variant of a split edit film editing technique in which the audio from preceding scene overlaps the picture from the following scene, so that the audio cuts after the picture, and continues playing over the beginning of the next scene ...
s, fades (usually to black),
match cut In film, a match cut is a cut from one shot to another where the composition of the two shots are matched by the action or subject and subject matter. For example, in a duel a shot can go from a long shot on both contestants via a cut to a medium ...
s, and wipes.


Shot transitions

Every film today, whether it be live-action, computer generated, or traditional hand-drawn animation is made up of hundreds of individual shots that are all placed together during editing to form the single film that is viewed by the audience. The shot transition is the way in which two of these individual shots are joined together.


Caesura

Principally a literary term denoting a rhythmical pause and break in a line of verse. In poetry, the caesura is used to diversify rhythmical progress and thereby enrich accentual verse.


Some applications

The term first gained significance in motion-picture art through the editing experiments of
Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...
. In applying his concept of montage as the "collision of shots", Eisenstein often included caesuras – rhythmical breaks – in his films. The acts of
The Battleship Potemkin '' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by S ...
(1925) are separated by caesuras that provide a rhythmical contrast to the preceding action. The intense, frenetic action of the mutiny, for example, is followed by the lyrical journey of a dinghy to the shore. The three Burt Bacharach musical sequences in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) provide contrasting caesuras that separate the major actions of the film. Several intense action sequences in ''
Master and Commander ''Master and Commander'' is a 1969 nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in th ...
'' (2003), including a raging sea storm and fight scenes, are followed by caesuras – quiet, scenic interludes that are often accompanied by melodic cello music.


Continuity

The continuity is the development and structuring of film segments and ideas so that the intended meaning is clear, and the transitions employed to connect the film parts. In a more specific meaning, "continuity" refers to the matching of individual scenic elements from shot to shot so that details and actions, filmed at different times, will edit together without error. This process is referred to as "continuity editing". To maintain continuity within sequences, the editor will often cut on character action so that the scene flows together without noticeable jump-cuts (see below). Lapses in the flow of action can be avoided by transition and cutaways devices (see below). Music and sound are often utilized to provide a sense of continuity to a scene or sequences that may contain a variety of unmatched shots taken in different locations. For example, in
Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...
(1976), the song "Getting High" served as a continuity device during the highly fragmentary sequence showing Rocky in the various training preparations for his title fight. The song connected the numerous brief shots so that they appeared as a single and complete unit within the film.


Cut

''Le type de transition de tir le plus basique, lacoupeest le moyen le plus courant de joindre deux plans. En substance, c’est la continuation de deux plans différents dans le même temps et le même espace. C’est le plus basique en ce sens que le film ne subit aucun processus spécial pour effectuer une coupe; Les deux bandes de film sont simplement jouées l’une après l’autre. En regardant le film, c’est là qu’une image à l’écran est instantanément remplacée par une autre, souvent sous la forme d’un changement d’angle de caméra. Bien que simple dans la construction, le sujet de chaque côté du montage peut avoir des implications profondes dans un film. YouTube (chaîne)''' ''Le tir A se termine brusquement et le tir B commence brusquement.''


Cutaway

A shot edited into a scene that presents information that is not a part of the first shot. The cutaway shot is usually followed by a return to the original shot, and is often used to condense time in a scene by eliminating undesired action or to cover a loss of continuity in the action. For example, a series of shots of a woman smoking a cigarette may not match correctly in editing because of the varied lengths of cigarette ash from shot to shot. A cutaway to a mantel clock, ticking away the time, would provide enough distraction to cover the loss of continuity. Or the cutaway of the clock could be inserted between a shot of the woman smoking a cigarette and one of the woman reading a book. The cutaway would permit the editor to advance the action in time.


Cut-in

A shot that presents material in a scene in greater detail, usually through a close-up shot. A cut-in isolates and emphasizes an element of the mise-en-scène for dramatic or informational value. Each progressive movement through the shot sequence, from long shot to close-up, constitutes a form of cut-in. A cut-in made from a long shot to a big close-up can have a startling effect on the viewer because of this immediate magnification. This technique is frequently an editing method of suspense films. Related, there is the insert shot, which is a shot containing visual detail that is inserted into a scene for informational purposes or to provide dramatic emphasis. A close-up view of printed material in a book, intercut as a character reads, is a type of informational point-of-view insert. The intercutting of a close-up view of a gun resting on a desk within a room where a violent argument is occurring constitutes a type of dramatic insert. Detail shot is another term for insert short.


Contrast cut

An editor can strategically cut to juxtapose two subjects. For instance, somebody dreaming of a beautiful field of flowers, shot A, may 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.


Dynamic cutting

The dynamic cutting is an approach to film editing in which the cutting from one shot to the next is made abruptly apparent to the viewer. In matched cutting or invisible editing, the cuts are not as obvious to the viewer because these approaches adhere to continuity procedures designed to hide the edit -for instance, cutting on action. Dynamic cutting, on the other hand, is self-conscious and will often startle the viewer by moving abruptly in time or space or by rapid cutting within a scene for expressive as well as narrative purposes.
Bob Fosse Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. He directed and choreographed musical works on stage and screen, including the stage musicals ''The Pajam ...
's ''All That Jazz'' (1979), Richard Rush's ''
The Stunt Man ''The Stunt Man'' is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Richard Rush, starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, and Barbara Hershey. The film was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and Rush from the 1970 novel of the same name by Paul Brodeu ...
'' (1980), and Oliver Stone's ''JFK'' (1991) and ''
Natural Born Killers ''Natural Born Killers'' is a 1994 American crime film directed by Oliver Stone and starring Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, and Tom Sizemore. The film tells the story of two victims of traumatic childho ...
'' (1994) employed dynamic cutting extensively. Dynamic cutting is a featured editing element in the films of
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
, from ''
Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward B ...
'' (1992) to ''
Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Ch ...
'' (2012).


Direct cut

Related to the dynamic cutting, the direct cut is an instantaneous change of shots, usually to a new locale or time frame, and executed without an optical transition device. The direct cut serves to replace, dynamically, one shot with another.


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. Even today with the advent of computerized
non-linear editing system Non-linear editing is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by specialized sof ...
s, the digital representation of the film in the program still takes on this L-shaped appearance.


Match cut

The match 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 ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' where the bone thrown by a prehistoric ape cuts to a futuristic space station.


Invisible cut

Like the match cut, the invisible cut attempts to join two shots with similar frames together. The invisible cut, however, is designed to completely hide the transition from the audience. The audience can deduce a cut has occurred, but they would have a hard time pinpointing the exact moment. E.g., should a character walk towards the camera, completely covering it, the cut is introduced when the back of the character is shown walking away. The invisible cut can also be hidden by a
whip pan A whip pan is a type of pan shot in which the camera pans so quickly that the picture blurs into indistinct streaks. It is commonly used as a transition between shots, and can indicate the passage of time or a frenetic pace of action. Much like th ...
, entering/leaving a very dark or very light environment, or by an object crossing the screen.


Parallel editing cut

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 A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
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 villain running in the same direction. Perhaps the hero looks back, out of frame, at his pursuer. At this point, the editor would insert a shot of the villain. Neither character occupies the same screen space, yet the audience still understands that one is chasing the other. This technique is parodied in the film "Naked Gun 2½" where the editing swaps between showing the hero and the villain firing at each other, then finally in a
long shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surro ...
we realize they are in fact only about four feet away from each other.


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 discrepancy between the two shots. For instance, if a character has their hand over their mouth in a
medium shot In a movie a medium shot, mid shot (MS), or waist shot is a camera angle shot from a medium distance. Use Medium shots are favored in sequences where dialogues or a small group of people are acting, as they give the viewer a partial view of t ...
, and not in their close-up, this little detail, which probably was not noticed on set, is now painfully obvious to the viewers.


Defocus transition

The defocus transition is a type of transition accomplished by rolling the lens focus until the scene becomes blurred. Passage of time within a scene can be suggested by refocusing the shot after alterations are made in the scene: change of costume, lighting, and other continuity elements. The defocus device has also been frequently employed in transitions to dream or fantasy sequences.


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.


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.


Ripple dissolve

A ripple dissolve is a type of transition characterized by a wavering image that is usually employed to indicate a change to flashback material, commonly a character's memory of an event. Sometimes the ripple dissolve is used as a transition to an imagined event or action. A series of three ripple dissolved appeared in '' Mamma mia''! (2008) as Donna (
Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
) discovers her three former lovers in the attic of her Greek villa. The brief ripple dissolved transport each man visually back in time to reveal their 1960's "hippy", "love children" appearances as Donna remembers them.


Washout

The washout is an optical transition used for editing purposes that is similar to the fade. Unlike the fade-out, where the images fade to black, in a washout the images suddenly start to bleach out or to color until the screen becomes a frame of white or colored light. A new scene will then follow. Also, the washout is the most extreme form of
overexposure In photography, exposure is the amount of light per unit area (the image plane's illuminance times the exposure time) reaching a frame of photographic film or the surface of an electronic image sensor, as determined by shutter speed, lens F- ...
, which is the act of exposing each frame of film to more light or for a longer period of time than would be required to produce a "normal" exposure of the same subject. There is little or no visible detail in the highlights - the bright areas of the picture - and images appear bleached, more or less washed out. The effect is accomplished by directing the camera at a bright light source that would wash out most, if not all, of the frame area, or by having the effect processed in the film laboratory. While in 2014 some motion-picture directors were still opting for film emulsion-based photographic materials rather than digitally retrieved imagery, the number doing so was rapidly decreasing.


Some applications

Ingmar Bergman made extensive use of the washout in this psychological film '' Cries and Whispers'' (1972). Bergman varied the technique for both the purposes of transition and for continuing his expressive use of color in the picture. The washouts would bring a single, rich color to the end of a scene to symbolize the emotions and psychological passions at work in the story. Washouts were also effectively employed in the fantasy sequences of ''
Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-ch ...
'' (1970). '' Monster'' (2003) concludes with a washout as Aileen Wuornos ( Charlize Theron) leaves the courtroom after she is sentenced to death. Similarly, a slow washout to white brings '' Hours'' (2012) to a tearful but happy conclusion in a shot where a father (
Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
) cuddles his premature daughter, whose life he has saved in a New Orleans hospital without electricity while Hurricane Katrina rages.


Wipe

A wipe involves one shot replacing another, traveling from one side of the frame to another. Think of a vertical line passing from the right side of the frame to the left. On the left side of this line, we have shot A, and on the right side of this line is shot B. When this line reaches the left edge of the frame, shot B will completely fill the scene, and the transition is complete. This example describes a vertical line wipe, though this is but one type of wipe. Another common type of wipe uses objects in the scene, rather than an invisible vertical line. One interesting application of this creates the illusion of a camera passing through the ceiling of the bottom floor of a multi-story house to the ground of the floor above. In this case, shot A would consist of the camera rising to the ceiling, and shot B would have the camera rising from the ground. A wipe transition gives the impression the camera is passing between the floors of a house.


Natural wipe

A transition technique accomplished by an element within the
mise-en-scène ''Mise-en-scène'' (; en, "placing on stage" or "what is put into the scene") is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, a ...
rather than by a laboratory process. A character or an object is brought to the
lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
of the camera and wipes away the scene by completely blocking or blurring the frame. A closing door often serves as a natural wipe. The natural wipe is followed by a new scene. A head-on, tail-away transition is a type of natural wipe that is used to end one scene and to reveal another.


Iris wipe

The wipe shape can also be circular through the use of the camera's iris. By closing the iris, a blurry circle sweeps inwards to the middle of the frame, drawing attention to the subject occupying this center space.


Morph

Although not always confined to shot transitions, a morph can be thought of as a dissolve combined with a
visual effect Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
. Rather than simply blending the colors together, a morph is able to gradually reshape an object to become another object, creating a much stronger connection than a simple dissolve can provide. One famous example of this can be found towards the end of the film ''Saving Private Ryan''. The face of young private Ryan (played by actor Matt Damon) is slowly morphed back to an older private Ryan (played by Harrison Young), while at the same time the background is dissolved from a besieged city during World War 2, into a graveyard set in the modern day; there is no doubt in the audience's mind about the two men being one and the same.


Sound effects


Overlapping sound

An overlapping sound is usually a sound effect or speech that continues briefly from one shot into the next. Overlapping sound may be a sound advance, where a speech or sound effect in an incoming shot is heard briefly in the outgoing shot. Overlapping sound may be used to connect, dynamically, two separate pieces of dramatic action or to enhance the pace of story development.


Sound advance / sound bridge

It is the advancement of a sound, to be heard in a new shot or scene, taken from the end of the preceding scene. Sound advances, common in modern films, are actually combined with cut transitions to pull the action of the story forward in a dynamic manner.


= Some applications

= Alfred Hitchcock fairly well patented the sound advance in his 1929 classic '' Blackmail''. A young woman (
Anny Ondra Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married German boxing champion M ...
) wandering the streets of London in shock after killing a man, comes upon a drunk lying on the pavement, his arm extended in the same manner as the artist just murdered by the woman in his studio apartment. The image of the arm seems to precipitate a scream from the young woman. A cut, however, reveals that the scream is coming from a landlady who has just discovered the dead artist's body in his apartment. The sound advance also has conceptual, satirical, and dramatic possibilities. In ''
Five Easy Pieces ''Five Easy Pieces'' is a 1970 American drama film directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Carole Eastman (as Adrien Joyce) and Rafelson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. The film tells the s ...
'' (1970), the unexpected sound of a bowling ball rolling down a bowling lane is heard in the final seconds of a scene in a motel room where Jack Nicholson has taken a girlfriend. Just as the ball strikes the tenpin, a cut is made to a new scene where Nicholson is bowling with the woman. The combined sound advance and the cut transition together serve as a sexual metaphor.


Asynchronous sound

An asynchronous sound is a term for sound that has not been synchronized with the screen image. Asynchronous sound also includes aesthetic use of sound for expressive purposes. Because of the composite nature of film art, the element of sound (music, dialogue, sound effects) is highly manipulative. The sounds of a clucking chicken can be juxtaposed with a shot of a ranting politician for satirical effect. A popular variation of asynchronous sound in contemporary filmmaking has been in the use of sound advances in the editing scenes. An asynchronous sound advance can occur when the editor shows the face of a character screaming in horror, and instead of using the natural sound of the character's horrified voice, inserts the piercing, shrill siren of a police car, to be seen in the following scene. The device of the sound advance combines asynchronous and synchronous sound in a uniquely cinematic way. Francis Ford Coppola made extensive use of combined synchronous-asynchronous sound in the baptism scene of ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...
'' (1972). Near the end of the film, shots of a solemn religious ceremony are juxtaposed with scenes of a vendetta occurring simultaneously in various parts of the city. The sounds of the grand church music and priestly intonations of the baptismal rite continue uninterrupted as the gunmen carry out their tasks. Phone Through the use of synchronous-asynchronous sound, and visual crosscutting, an ironic, psychological linking of past, present, and future occurs. Asynchronous sound can serve to create irony between sound and image, to satirize and parody dramatic situations, and to link separate moments of time in expressive ways.


Psychological time

Psychological time is a term referring to the use of filming devices that, in the continuity of a motion-picture narrative, suggest not chronological time but time as it is perceived by a character's mind. A dissolve (see above) for example, most commonly reveals a passage of time when used within an ongoing scene. The dissolve, by tradition, serves to include intervening time and action. If however, a dissolve rather than a cut is used in a continuing uninterrupted action, its unconventional placement carries psychological implications. Subjectively inspired psychodramas by experimental filmmakers, such as '' Meshes of the Afternoon'' (1943) by
Maya Deren Maya Deren (born Eleonora Derenkowska, uk, Елеоно́ра Деренко́вська, links=no;
, often exploit the psychological dissolve for a mind's-time effect. Psychological time can also be suggested by the repeated use of a piece of action. The condemned traitor's final, desperate effort in '' An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'' (1962) to reach his wife is conveyed in psychological time by a repeated telephoto shot of the man running down the road to his home. He appears suspended in time and place, which in fact he is; shortly after these shot repetitions the viewer discovers that the traitor's entire flight has been a fantasy revealed through an extended use of psychological time. A particularly engaging and sometimes bewildering use of psychological character perception accurs in Memento (2000), a film about a man who is searching for his wife's murderer. The search is complicated by the fact that the man has lost his short-term memory. Events come and go on the screen without their meaning being clear at first revelation. Psychological time is a distinguishing element in Shane Carruth's 2013 experimental science-fiction film '' Upstream Color''. Avoiding a well-made narrative structure, the plot of Upstream Color centers on a man and woman who are targets of parasitic engineering and whose lives dissolve into mental and psychological disarray. Time is rendered in abrupt, discontinuous fragments, with daily reality intermingling with mental apparitions and abstract imagery.


References


External links


Adobe Premiere Pro Help , Video effects and transitions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Film Transition Film editing