Visual Effects and Transitions

Visual effects are usually added on to a film to enhance its mood and overall tone of the narrative. It can make a romantic scene appear more sensual or an action scene seem more invigorating. Although visual effects are added on to a sequence during the editing stage of the film there is a necessity to plan its use in advance, preferably on the storyboard, so that it does not look as if it was added on as an afterthought. Below are some examples of effects and transitions

Fade effect

For our opening sequence, the fade can be used to great effect. The genre of our film is psychological thriller, and most of the film is based on the mystery of the kidnappings. A fade effect used in the context of our film would add to the mysterious tone, as it connotes that there are several layers of information to be uncovered, as the images and shots are literally faded into one another.



Dissolve effect

The dissolve effect also connotes mystery and suspiscion as a fade effect would. As they are very similar, the audience may not realise the difference between the two is they were both used. Therefore, it may be best to use one or the other effect, so as not to overload the use of visual effect and make the overall tone appear less subtle.

Wipe effect

The wipe effect is altogether not as subtle as the other two effects previously mentioned. A wipe is a gradual transition from one image to another. The previous image is replaced by another with a distinct edge that forms a shape. The most common are and expanding circle from the centre or a turning page corner.

This effect does not suit the tone and mood of our opening sequence so it is not likely that we will use it. If our film were of of more light hearted tone, we could use a wipe effect for our titles as that would be more subtle than using wipes on our shots and images.

Jump cut

The jump cut is when two sequential shots vary only slightly in angle from one another. It is usually considered a violation of the 30 degree rule.

The clip below is a demonstration of the jump cut, from Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960). The camera angle on the boy in the passenger seat of the car varies slightly in angle. This was not accidental and was created by Godard to disconcert the audience.

Watching the clip, I find the use of the jump cut distracts my attention from the narrative of the film itself. If'we used this, the audience's attention on the film would be disrupted and they would not be fully immersed in the film as we would like them to be.

Slow motion

The use of slow motion in film editing can help add mood and tone in many different ways. If we were to use slow motion in our sequence, by slowing a shot down we would heighten and increase tension by keeping the audience on the edge of their seats as we delay the events following them.

The clip below shows a bullet moving in slow motion. As the bullet passes through the objects we can see clearly the effect it has on those objects. We could use this technique on the shot were the bottle of red juice spills on the ground in our sequence, to show the significance of it falling on the ground and to show the audience that something bad to will happen following the spilling of the juice.