What's the technique called?

C

cbkernow

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****Newb alert****

I'm trying to research techniques I come across in films but sometimes its hard to know what to look for - eg what is a particular technique called?

technique 1:

horizontal tracking across a scene, an item in the foreground 'covers' the screen and the background switches to a different scene but with the same foreground item to cover the edit. Often a wine bottle!
Of course I can't think of any specific examples off the top of my head!

technique 2:

snoricam on actor as they walk through a scene but the scene behind them is sped up
(the only example I can remember is this animated intro : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQvIR1oL1vE

do these make sense, can you see what I'm trying to explain?

thanks
 
cbkernow said:
****Newb alert****

I'm trying to research techniques I come across in films but sometimes its hard to know what to look for - eg what is a particular technique called?

technique 1:

horizontal tracking across a scene, an item in the foreground 'covers' the screen and the background switches to a different scene but with the same foreground item to cover the edit. Often a wine bottle!
Of course I can't think of any specific examples off the top of my head!

technique 2:

snoricam on actor as they walk through a scene but the scene behind them is sped up
(the only example I can remember is this animated intro : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQvIR1oL1vE

do these make sense, can you see what I'm trying to explain?

thanks
Click to expand...




Your first question is a good one. Generally it would be called a transitional wipe, except you describe using an additional visual element (something in the first scene) to make a smoother transition by hiding the otherwise obvious transition border (hard or gradient.)

Hiding a transition in this way can also be useful if you were discussing two shots that are to be tied together as if they were one. In this case it would generally just be called a hidden cut (edit.) Children of Men got away with some big ones.

If I were to call it something, I guess I would say it is a "hidden transitional wipe".


Regarding technique two; in your example, the background isn't sped up but rather they use the art of jump cut editing to cut around to other places/time. The example you gave makes it easier, as the character can jump cut with the background; i.e. clothes changes, and etc. So in this case I'd not be too worried about getting exact lighting, just get exact alignment in the frame.

What to call it? Not sure... The background is jump cutting and the subject is match cutting..... Good question!
 
Last edited:
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Any other thoughts? I liked the question and was hoping to see what people thought about this as well. .
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I think the first question (as I understand it) relates to the technique originally developed by Alfred Hitchcock in his Rope, a 1948 thriller. After the name of the film, this type of cuts sometimes called "rope" cut. The origins of the style are half in art half in the costs of stock (Rope consists of just 10 cuts), but, regardless, the style adds to the thrill of the film. Long takes are getting more popular these days (think Gravity or Children of Men already mentioned in the thread). Interestingly, some of these are indeed long takes without any hidden cuts.
 
silyn said:
I think the first question (as I understand it) relates to the technique originally developed by Alfred Hitchcock in his Rope, a 1948 thriller. After the name of the film, this type of cuts sometimes called "rope" cut. The origins of the style are half in art half in the costs of stock (Rope consists of just 10 cuts), but, regardless, the style adds to the thrill of the film. Long takes are getting more popular these days (think Gravity or Children of Men already mentioned in the thread). Interestingly, some of these are indeed long takes without any hidden cuts.
Click to expand...

Just found this - https://vimeo.com/104419794

But it seems these are just very precise edits.
 
From memory Rope used 'Invisible Edits' and some clever use of an optical printer . The technique in the dropbox is kind of similar and can be achieved with a custom wipe using a garbage matte.
 
I don't believe there are any hard-and-fast names for either technique, so this thread is probably all conjecture (but still fun)...Ryan, I think you terms are as good as any that may have been used historically, so, let's all start using those and cementing Ryan's place in history!

When I was on "Scrubs" we used to do a lot of foreground transitional wipes that we would repeat in both the outgoing and incoming scene, and the editors would do fast dissolves between them to create a seamless edit. Never had a name for it though. Sometimes it was a person, sometimes we'd dolly off to a 2x3 solid (I always thought that was a boring one). Some of them got pretty elaborate, and I ended up putting together a recording system for the video tap and playing back through a basic switcher to ensure we were matching the size of the foreground wipe element, the speed of the move etc. as it would sometimes be days between shooting the A and B sides. The post department was VERY happy with me for doing that.
 
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