Transition between different scenes

mmoattack

mmoattack

Member
Hey Guys, just a quick question. We are doing an 'The Office' style show, and are curious what your thoughts are of transitioning between two different scenes. Like, how would you lead into a new scene that takes place just a short time in the future, to show that some short amount of time has changed?

Example: Look around 1:50 in this video to see where i'm talking about. watch?v=Xb8Or6dPgiM

We ended up using a coffee machine dripping coffee into a cup, but maybe there is a better way? Any thoughts and ideas are helpful! Thanks.
 
Breaking Bad did it well with timelapses, you can try that. Or just show a clock. Jump cuts work too! As long as you make sure you let the audience know some way that it's in the future.
 
Well, I guess what i'm asking is if just doing a cross-dissolve is enough to show that some time has passed between a scene? Or should there be more?
 
Cue transition music a few seconds before the cut - then cut to a new establishing shot (the outside of the building, or something to give context to where we're moving to) then transition into your new scene.
 
Tipsy Tricks said:
Cue transition music a few seconds before the cut - then cut to a new establishing shot (the outside of the building, or something to give context to where we're moving to) then transition into your new scene.
Click to expand...

In our video, since the next scene is just on the other side of the office, is an establishing shot necessary? Maybe our coffee machine, or a printer printing may just be the trick.
 
I think a cross dissolve mixed with certain actions by your characters is definitely enough to show that time has passed. We did it in one of our older videos that way to show a character working on a car all night! :)
 
mmoattack said:
In our video, since the next scene is just on the other side of the office, is an establishing shot necessary? Maybe our coffee machine, or a printer printing may just be the trick.
Click to expand...

If the location is known/obvious, you can easily nix the establishing shot and just use the transitional audio to help segue, I'd think...

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mmoattack said:
Well, I guess what i'm asking is if just doing a cross-dissolve is enough to show that some time has passed between a scene? Or should there be more?
Click to expand...
That is what it's traditionally used for. A fade (with or without dipping to a color) = time has past. But no matter what kind of transition you end up using: don't overdo it. Only do it when it's really important for the story to tell that time has passed.
 
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