★ Editing Transitions ★

                               ★ Editing Transitions ★

Hello, we are currently working on the transitions of editing. Transitions are very important within film, unless you took on the task of making and filming a movie in one whole take, you can't do without cuts/transitions.

What is a transition?  The dictionary definition of a film transition is as follows -

A film transition is a technique used in the post-production process of film editing and video editing by which scenes or shots are combined. Most commonly this is through a normal cut to the next scene.

There are many different transitions, below is a list of them and there main purposes,

★ The Standard Cut -

The cut is a plain and straight forward cut, no sfx. It is an instant change from one shot to another. It is used to move onto the next shot without drawing any attention to itself.

Example - Click Here (Cut Transition)

In the first minute of this film extract you can see several examples of a standard cut, these types of cut of used to simple change shot, from one action to the other etc. In the video the cuts are used to change shots without drawing any attention to the cut its self, this is successful as the viewers watch the scene without thinking about the change of shot.  

★ The Jump Cut -

The jump cut jumps from one action to the next. It is used to instantly change scene, quickly. It purposely draws attention to the cut to create a rushed empathises, typically used in drama or action scenes.

Example - Click Here (Jump Cut)

In this example you can see this type of cut, the cuts in this example are effective as they create a sense of heightened excitement and action, the onlooker is made aware of the intended drama.


 ★ Dissolve -

During a dissolve transition the picture slowly breaks up to reveal the next shot. This is used for many different effects. It can be used to empathise the fact that time has passed by, the change in location or to show that time has sped up or slowed down.


Example - Click Here (Dissolve)


★ Fade -

During a fade transition, the opacity of the clip slowly decreases to reveal the next clip. This can be fast or slow. It is used to again either empathise the fact time has passed by, the change in location or to create an emotion of some sort (usually a depressed atmosphere) after a sad scene.


Example - Click Here (Fade)


★ Wipe -

The following shot 'pushes' the previous off screen, left, right, up or down motion. Again used to draw attention to the fact the time or place has changed.

Example - Click Here (Wipe Transition)



In conclusion, transitions are a useful part of a film. How they are used also is another important matter. They can smoothly continue a films story line without the onlooker being aware or they can draw attention at the right moments to create a sense of passed time or changing of place.