time shift within a scene

[HerzogisGod]

how do I accomplish this:

character is in his bedroom dressed in his work clothes. He's talking on the telephone. He hangs up and looks across the room over to where his bed is and smiles.

Audience does not see the bed or who is in the bed just yet

Now...I need to show a shift in time, a few minutes. Just long enough for him to have changed out of his work clothes and into a new outfit. I need to do this instantly, in a flash.

the very next shot will show him approaching his bed, and the girl in it, with his changed clothes.

How do I accomplish this transition so the audience understands that the character has changed his clothes and a few minutes have passed?

I see this type of thing in films but haven't studied it deeply enough to figure it out?

I do not want to waste time showing character changing his clothes. i want the transition to be instantaneous and very clear to the audience because done poorly, this will come across like some weird discrepancy leading to confusion

 

[cyclone]

Nattress has a great plug-in called Film Flash. It is pretty sophisticated. It not only flashes the frame (controllable as to the amount of flash, and whether you want to affect the incoming or outgoing frame, or both), but also ramps up the speed of the action under the flash (just as would happen with film slowing down in the camera gate). I have used this effect with good results both at the end of a scene and, also, right smack in the middle of a scene to infer passage of time.

 

[Davdo]

If you don't want to draw attention to the time shift, a simple cut would work. Perhaps have the character start to unbutton his shirt and then just cut to him, in his house clothes (I assume), walking over to the bed. If you use this, try blocking it in a way so that the shot of him walking to the bed doesn't have any similar elements to the shot on the phone and the cut should come as he's walking. Also, try to frame the shots differently (for instance, if he's favoring the left, the shot after the cut might work better if he's then frame right).

If you don't like this, you could dissolve. While a standard convention to indicate the passing of time, it usually implies more time than just a couple of minutes. I think a simple cut would work really well and remain inconspicuous.

Good luck.

~~Dave

 

[HerzogisGod]

thanks.