Shots > Sequences > Scenes
Three types of connections
Shot FloW
Transitions
Cut | Used as a present tense segue, not meant to be noticed
- Jump cut example: Breathless by Jean Luc Godard
Dissolve | Forms a bridge between disparate times and places, passage of time, meant to be seen
- Example: Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola / Chapter 1 > Slow tracking, cross-dissolves, match shot.
- Example: The Dissolve Video Essay by Kevin Lee
Montage | Compresses time, multiple shots demonstrating long period of time, condensed narrative
- Example: Citizen Kane by Orson Welles / Deteriorating marriage montage.
- Example: Naked Gun by David Zucker
- Example: Notting Hill by Roger Michell
- Example: Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese
Wipe | Recalls Hollywood style of 30s and 40s. A vertical, horizontal, diagonal “wiping” of the frame. Removes one shot and introduces a new one.
- Example: Star Wars > Angular wipes
- Example: Star Wars Wipes from Revenge of the Sith > Push off / push over
Match ShoT / MATCH CUt | Two adjacent shots that share a graphic element.
- Example: Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola / Ceiling Fan & Helicopter
- Example: 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick / Bone-club to orbital nucleur weapons satellite
Focus In / Out | POV transition, loss of consciousness
- Example: Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julien Schnabel
PULL / RACK FOCUS | Changing the point of focus from one character or object in frame, to another character or object that is closer to or more distant from the camera, typically with little or no movement from the camera itself. Used to subtly direct the viewers' attention to a specific part of the screen.
- Example: Time Machine by Simon Wells
- Example: Spider-Man 3 by Sam Raimi
- Example: Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese
- Example: A Woman Under the Influence by John Cassavetes
White Out / In | Dreams, consciousness, blinded by light, ethereal quality
- Example: Six Feet Under deaths...
Freeze Frame | Humor, cast credits, taking a picture, freezing action to stop time
- Example: Harold and Maude by Hal Ashby
- Example: A Day with The Boys by László Kovács
- Example: Out of Sight by Steven Soderbergh
Split-Screen | Explores new ways of telling a story, simultaneous moments showed side by side
- Example: Rules of Attraction by Roger Avary / novel by Bret Easton Ellis
- Example: Time Code by Mike Figgis.
- Example: Boogie Nights by Paul Thomas Anderson