Task 12

Transitions and effects

Transition

A transition is a movement which goes from one shot to the next. For example in a movie there could be some sort of cliffhanger during the film then it goes onto another scene which can be linked to the previous scene.

Straight cut

A straight cut is probably the most common and unnoticed type of a transition in a film. Unlike some other types of transitions, this type moves instantly from one scene to another without getting the audiences attention or any waiting time between the scenes. Straight cuts have been believed to help keep the reality within the film. You mostly see straight cuts in continuity editing because they do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief.

Disolves

What a disolve does is fade in one shot out whilst another shot is fading in. By doing this, the audience will be able to see both of the shots at the mid point of the disolve. The scene fades in because it suggest that the two different scenes/shots are some how connected to each other, this could be because it might be two different characters who eventually meet each other or already know each other or something like an object.

Fades

Fades are very much like disolves apart from the way that they disolve. A fade is recognised when there is a gradual darkening or lightening of the scene or image and the fade ends by the entire screen turning black or white. A fade is significant for indicating the beginning or end of a scene within the narrative.

Wipes

A wipe is an unusual transition because it causes one image to be pushed completely off the screen by another image or scene. It does not matter which direction the images are pushed but it is usually pushed off from the left side. A wipe is usually used to show that the time in the film has or is moving forward. A wipe is understood as showing signals to the audience that they are been shown different locations which are being experienced at the same time, or in other words the film is saying "mean whilst"so that you know what another character is doing.

Graphic match

A graphic match is a special type of transition because it isn's something that an editor would add between two shots but is more of a decision of which two shots to put next to each other. A graphic match is when two different shots look similar and are placed next to each other, hence why it is called a graphic match.

Effects
An effect is a manipulation of diegetic time and space.
Effects allow the film maker to effectively manipulate the diegetic which means the telling of the story and narrator is manipulated. Effects are usually used to do things such as: to show that the time period has changed in a flashback or to show that the location is different from the last or has changed. An effect can be made very simple by doing something such as using a different colour filter than the original. Or it could even be altering something such as the saturation of an image which will cause the colour to be enhanced or either remove it. An effect that is commonly used and recognised to show that the scene has gone back in time would be simply making the scene black and white. Also during the post production stage there are many effects that you can add. A common technique is altering the speed of the scene or footage. an example of when they alter the speed of the scene/footage is in the movie "time machine". He enters the time machine and then everything changes e.g. the environment and surroundings because he is going back in time.