Transition Types

Edits have been a way for film makers to tell the audience a story at a much quicker pace than in real life. Transitions have been a way for editors to cut together different parts of scenes to make a story. Some of these cuts are:

Cuts:

These allow the audience to get different angles on the scene, which engages the audience by making the scene more exciting. They pace and speed to the scene and allow the story to be told much quicker than in real life. The cut is the most simplest transition and allows the end of one scene to lead straight to another.

Wipes:

These transitions move from one frame to another very mechanically. They can be used to end a scene and start another. Wipes tend to be only used when there are motions in the scene. An example of this is when a truck drives across the screen ending that scene and starting another. Other ways of using wipes are by using doors, people, grass and pavements. Wipes can also be used to show a passage of time, for example wiping from one scene ending in sunrise, to the next scene starting at a sunset. Wipes are more common in TV than film.

Dissolves:

These transitions are when one frame is place on top of another and they blend into each other. They are both used in TV and film. There is also a transition called a cross-dissolve. These again blend into another frame, however they are very slow paced and often used in montage to demonstrate passages of time. They can also be used to make the audience feel calmer, however the longer the dissolve the slower paced the scene becomes which could be a risk because the audience could lose focus on the film.

Fades:

This transition allows one scene to join to another. They also represent the ending of something. They are usually used at the end of films to tell the audience its finished however they can also be used to represent death and unconsciousness but fading into white. Fading to black can also represent a passage of time.

Jump Cuts:

These transitions represent a change in location or scenery. They can be very disorientating to the audience because there can be a jump in time, scenery or to different characters. However the jumps have to match up together otherwise the editor risks confusing and loosing the focus of the audience.