AS1: Task 12: Transitions and Effects

Transition and Effects

Style of Editing:

 The movement from one shot to the next is called a transition. Different transitions suggest different ideas to the audience. It is therefore really important to choose the right one.

Straight Cut:

 A straight cut is the most common and "invisible" form of transition. One shot moves instantaneously to the next without attracting the audience's attention. 

Straight cuts help to retain reality. They are used in continuity editing as they do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief.

Dissolves:

A dissolve fades one shot off the screen while another shot is fading in. The audience will be able to see both shots at the mid-point of the shots dissolves suggest that the shots are connected in some way. It might be two characters, places or objects. It might also suggest that some time has passed between the two shots.

Fades:

 A fade is a bit like a dissolve but instead of dissolving one shot into another. A fade is a gradual darkening or lightening of an image until the screen becomes black or white.

 A fade indicates the start or end of a particular section of time within the narrative.

 The fades used in this music video is seen when the video turn blank for a few seconds and it went back to them again. From duration 0.09 seconds.

Wipes:

 A wipe is quite an unusual transition. It is when one image is pushed off the screen by another.    Images can be pushed in any direction but it is more common for the image to be pushed off the left-hand side. This movement is more consistent with the sense of time moving forward.

 A wipe signals the audience that they are being shown different locations that are experiencing the same time. A visual equivalent of saying "meanwhile..."

Here is an example of a transitional wipes:

 Graphic Match:

  A graphic match is a very specialised type of transition. It is not something an editor ads between two shots but more a decision about which two shots to put next to each other.

 A graphic match is created when two shots similar in shape are placed next to each other. The graphic match tells the audience that there is very important link between whatever it is they are seeing in two shots.

Here is what a graphic match looks like in a film:

This is the graphic match that we see from Psycho. We can see that it matches the circular image of the plughole with the next image of Marion's eye.

Another example where graphic match is used is in the film called 'War of the World'.

The film 'War of the World' used graphic match twice. The graphic match in this film will be seen in the beginning. From the rain droplet on the leaf to the earth and from the sun to the red traffic light.

Another film who used graphic match is the famous film called 'Space Odyssey'. This film used graphic to show the past to future.

Manipulation of Diegetic Time and Space:

Diegetic= In the World of the text

Non-Diegetic= Outside the world i.e films, computer games

Non-diegetic:

- The characters can't hear their own music but the audience can.

- Some transitions can be included as a non-diegetic

- Subtitles and credits in the beginning

Diegetic:

- If characters playing music

- Off Screen 

 Editing "effects" are really important part of film making. They allow a filmmaker to very effectively manipulate of diegetic time and space. For example:

Wizard of Oz

•  To show that a time period has changed in a flashback/forward
•  To show a location is different
•  To show that time is moving quicker or slower than normal

 The wizard of Oz is an example of manipulating time and space because this movie effect goes from black and white colour effect to technicolor. (Technicolor was first used in 1960's).

 An effect can be something really simple such as using a colour or remove it. Or it could be altering the saturation of an image to either enhance the colour or remove it. Making an image black and white is often used for flashbacks. For example: Momento

 The movie 'Magic Mike' used time and space by changing the filter colour of one scene. (as seen from one figure above). They used yellow filter to show different times.

  There are many different effects that can be added in the post production stage (editing). One of the most common technique is alter the speed of the footage.

  A films which uses this technique is The Time Machine. The time traveler enters the time machine and the environment changes as he travels through time

  A more modern  version of this effect is seen in the third of the Harry Potter films. The sequence using layering and altering the speed of the image.

                                                         Harry Potter Time Turner scene

AS1: Task 11: Creating Pace with Cross Cutting

Creating Pace with Cross Cutting

 Editing is vital in creating a sense of pace within a sequence.

 Our Task:

Our task is to film and edit a short sequence in which two characters are approaching each other from different locations.

 We are to film in a small group and we are to assign the following roles:

• Director: Diana and Jasmine
• Camera Operator: Diana
• 2 X Actors: Bradley, Shivam, Samuel

 We are to use the pace of the editing to make it clear to the audience that they are about to meet. The pace of editing should be slower and the start when they are far apart and the pace should increase as they get closer.

  Using our editing skills we have included the use of pace within our video. We started our video in a normal speed and this speed continues until the characters are still at the classroom. From what I did, I had the video we had filmed to go from normal speed then increase speed quite a bit to show something's coming/ something's wrong then go back to normal pace again.

 In the scene when the two characters meet up outside the classroom, I had the speed quicken to show something went wrong. And another scene where i had the pace quicken was when i showed the 'drug' on the floor and then the teacher comes out right after the second it had appeared.

Plot:

The idea for this sequence is that there's two friends who are into 'drugs' and they go to school with it. Bradley and Samuel came in late to their lesson and they were to explain themselves to their teacher, Shivam. In class, they were talking about what they were going to do later on and one of them, Samuel, decided to head out first but to be able to get out of the class he will need the permission from his teacher. On his way out, he went and gave Bradley a signal to show that he needs to follow him. Few minutes after, Bradley asked his teacher, Shivam, if he can go to the toilet but his actually going to follow Samuel. 

When they were out of class, they drop the 'drug' without noticing and when the teacher came out of the classroom, he picked up the 'drug' and heard his students, Bradley and Samuel, talking about it and they were in trouble.

  

AS1: Task 10: Understanding Pace

Understanding Pace

Speed Editing:

In a film each scene may last a matter of seconds, or it could continue for minutes but the length of each sequence establishes the pace of the film moving the action along.  The speed of editing will help to determine the mood of what is taking place on the screen.

Speed of Editing- Creating Pace:

  If the audience is to feel anxiety and suspense the editing will be quick - the scenes/shots changing frequently. 

This is an example in an action sequence:

                                                         The Bourne Ultimatum

  The Bourne Ultimatum is an example of a fast pace because it shows lots of different scenes that  last either a matter or seconds or continue for a minutes. You can see that this scene goes really quick from scene to another.

Speed of Editing- Creating Pace:

 If a relaxed mood is desired, the scenes last longer and change less frequently.

Here is an example in a romantic comedy.

 In contrast, The Notebook is different to The Bourne Ultimatum since The Notebook is much slower and last longer since the director of that film would like to have their audience to feel relaxed. And by doing that, they are to make the scene slower and last more than a minute.

Speed of Editing:

 Nevertheless a film need not have any editing. The film Russian Ark was filmed in one take using a steadicam and a digital camera. This required split-second timing and organisation.

Steadicam- A lightweight mounting for a film camera which keeps it steady for filming when handheld or moving.

          

                                    

 The Russian Ark didn't have any editing in use since they film it using the steadicam and a digital camera. This is a continuos movie. Every character(s) are to stay in the exact same place while being film otherwise they will have to start from the very beginning.

Speed of Editing:

 A trailer for a film needs to pack in detail from throughout the film. Therefore the editing will be very fast. 

 

 The Catching Fire is an example of a film that has a very fast  pace because the trailer of Catching Fire contains lots of editing which is why there are lots of different scenes in a few minutes. They have compressed the film to turn it into a trailer.

Speed of Editing:

 Try and view the extract from Pyscho where Marion (Janet Leigh) has checked into the Bates Motel and is about to take a shower..

 The Pyscho film had lots of editing before and during the attacks. Around 11-12 edits are done before the attack happen and about 17-20+ edits are done during the attacks. However, during the attack it didn't show the face of the killer and we didn't see where the woman was being stabbed.

Speed of Editing:

 Scenes at the beginning of a film- as it begins to tell its story- must be long enough for us to be able to understand where we are and what is going on. It also slow to introduce the main character(s). As the film progresses scenes may become shorter as the editing cuts between telling two or more story lines at the same time.

Cross Cutting:

 To cross-cut is to edit together two sequences that the audience need to know are connected in some way. Something is happening at the same time in different locations. A character reliving a memory

Developing Drama:

 Cross cutting can be used to very effectively develop a sense of drama. In the film called 'Scream' the death of Casey in the opening of scene was made more dramatic by the cross cutting to her parents approaching and almost making it home in time to save her.

  The cross cut in this scene is when Casey's parents are inside the house and it jumps to the scene where Casey was continually being stabbed while her parents were looking for her. 

Cross Cutting: 

 In the Film called "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"  we can see how the cross-cut comes in. The film had started really slow until the scene when 3 characters are in their position. It still continue with a slow pace until the scene whey they were showing the gun slowly.  As time goes by, the pace speeds up until we can only see their eyes creating eye-on match

                                                  The Good, The bad and The Ugly