This week we are going to talk about Dissolves.
I found a story in which I use dissolves in several different ways. This story has dissolves used
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For Transitions in Time
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For Transitions in Space
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Shots that don’t cut together
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For creating a feel
This week I’ve decided to go shot by shot and explain why I cut or dissolve.
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The first 4 shot are dissolves.
The first two shots of the ocean are compositionally similar. If you cut those two shot together it’s a compositional jump cut. What a compositional Jump cut?
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Compositional Jump Cut is when you place two shots together with similar visual perspectives together
- First Shot
Look in the middle of the shots. See where the ocean meets the horizon. In each of these shots that line is virtually identical. Another thing that’s similar in perspective is the amount of sky relative to ocean and sand. The sky shares the same amount of space in both shots.
- 2nd Shot
That’s why if these two shots were cut together I would refer to them as a compositional jump cut. Compositional Jump cut by the way is something I kind of came up with. I’ve never actually heard or read this phase. I just think it’s an easy way to explain why you don’t cut these kinds of shots together. So, why didn’t I choose another shot.
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I wanted to show those two beauty shot and didn’t want another shot. It’s as simple as that.
From the 2nd shot above to the first time we see Tom [At :09] I dissolve again. Those two shot actually cut together fine. Why did I dissolve here? It’s a feel thing. I just felt like I needed to keep the dissolves going as almost a theme in the beginning of the story.
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Sometimes multiple dissolves simply are there because they are complementing each other
From Tom coming down the ramp [At :12], I dissolve to the interview shot. Why? Because they are both tight shots.
Out of the interview, to the reveal of Tom [At :17] in a wheelchair I cut. From [:17] to [:35] I cut because I have created a sequence.
At [:35] I cut back to interview. You just see the wheelchair so the cut works fine.
At [:37] is a tight shot of Tom’s leg and I use some natural sound to transition to Tom in the swimming pool training. From here to [:48] is a sequence of Tom training in the pool which all cuts fine.
At [:49] I dissolve from Tom training to a wide shot of the Ocean. You know what, looking back these two shot cut together just fine. But I wanted an almost dreamy feel. It’s Tom’s dream to dive, so from training to the ocean is almost a dream. The dissolve helps convey it. So, why didn’t I dissolve into the training. Training is something he has to do but training is not his dream.
From [:51] to [1:12] are cuts. It’s a sequence of Tom on the boat and then a reporter stand up. From the reporter stand up back to Tom I dissolve. Why? She’s talking about how he got paralyzed. I want to create a feel of time. The time when he got paralyzed back to Tom in the interview.
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Dissolves can create a transition in Time
I Dissolve [1:26] from the interview back to Tom getting ready to dive. Again part of creating a dream feel.
From [1:28] to [1:55] I’m cutting with sequencing.
At [1:58] I dissolve and 3 more dissolve follow to [2:07] Again, back to the dream of diving. I’m continuing with creating that dream feeling.
From [2:09] to 2:38] I cut. I’ve already created the dream feel as he begins the dive. Now I’m sequencing. I don’t need to keep dissolving. He’s living the dream so you don’t need to create a feel anymore.
At [2:39] I dissolve from a wide shot of Tom underwater to a tight shot. Why here? I didn’t like the way the shots cut. I’m kind of anal when it’s comes to match action (as you can see from Part 5. Match Action).
At [2:48] another dissolve. Same reason, the match action doesn’t cut right.
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Here’s a place where I’d rather dissolve that use a cutaway
So why not just show a cutaway? First of all the reporter is talking about Tom. So, there is no cutaway that would be relevant. Second I try not to use shots unless they are relevant to the story. Earlier I showed a cutaway of a fish [2:20] because it’s relevant to the story.
At [2:55] is another dissolve to an interview. This is another feel thing. I’ve just done two dissolves of Tom underwater. Yes, I’m dissolving because I don’t like how the shots cut together. But with those two dissolve I’m again creating that dream come true feeling and the reporter track says
Underwater, his dive buddies see he has discovered so much more.
Followed by the interviewer saying
It’s just so cool. It’s just an awesome feeling…
Another dissolve just felt appropriate here [2:55]. It’s a feel thing. I’m actually amazing myself explaining feel here.
From [2:59] to [3:24] I sequencing again so I cut.
At [3:24] I dissolve from a shot of the bird flying next to the boat to Tom on the dock (it’s a tight shot of his hand) This dissolve is simply a time transition dissolve.
The rest of the story finishes out on the dock so I sequence. No reason to dissolve anything here.
In this story I dissolved
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To create a feel
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A transition in time
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A transition in space
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Because I didn’t like how the two shot cut together
This has been the most difficult post yet. Trying to justify feel is an interesting topic. Thanks for reading.
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on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 at 8:31 am Filed under Feature Editing and.
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