How To Create Meaning In A Film (Part 1)

How To Create Meaning In A Film (Part 1)

What is a Film?

A film can be recognized as a movie, motion picture, or anything that is a form of entertainment that creates a story by sound and a sequence of images.

The Power of Film 

• A film can tell a million stories whether it is through a motion picture or a movie. 
• A film can also create a movement. For example, a Black Lives Matter motion picture can tell a million words. 

Meaning & Examples

Dissolve

Definition: 

Dissolve is the gradual transition from one image to another; this edit can be nice and smooth, unlike a straight cut which is a rough transition that jumps to the next scene. A Dissolve edit can essentially link two related shots together creating a sequence that remains consistent. 

Creating Meaning: 

• Connecting two shots with a dissolve tells the audience that they’re related and belong back-to-back. 
• This indicates that the next scene takes place in a new time and/or place, whether later that day or later that week, because of its strong sense of finality. Introduction to a more surreal, abstract scene. 
• Use one to indicate when you’re initiating a dream sequence, triggering a flashback sequence, or going inside of a character’s head.

Fade-In and Fade-Out 

Definition:

A gradual increase in a motion picture or televisions image's visibility at the beginning of a sequence.

Fades can be used to let your audience know there's a huge change in the film's timeline. It can be used to jump forward or back. It is a visual way of letting them know that there's a change, without having to explicitly tell them.

Creating Meaning:

• Fades can show a change of time, help us get inside a character’s head or imply parallelism.
• Dissolve video transitions can also be used to visually show what is going on in a character’s head. 
• When utilized correctly, the fade can actually use the attention it draws to further the plot and emotional impact of the scene.

Definition:

An optical effect in which a shot slowly disappears into the darkness. a gradual reduction in signal strength in a radio or television broadcast. Fade out is used to move from a dramatic or emotional scene into another scene, or can be used to create a sense of ambiguity or a sense of hope.

Creating Meaning: 

• Is a dramatic transition that often symbolizes the passage of time or signifies completion.

• Fade to blacks implies action, depending on the clips before and after the transition.

• A fade symbolizes the passage of time.

Wipe

Definition:

Is a type of film transition where one shot replaces another by traveling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape. For example, the wipe effect is one of the most common Star Wars film editing techniques used throughout the franchise. It's used to establish that the story is jumping to a different plotline, possibly in a different part of the galaxy.

Creating Meaning:

• Is used to impart a sense of "extra specialness" or "added value".

• It makes it look like one shot is literally wiped away to reveal the next.

• Makes the scene important and draws attention to it.

Superimposition

Definition:

Is when two or more images are placed over each other in the frame. This effect can be accomplished by exposing the same piece of the film more than once as we see with double exposure. In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also sometimes to conceal something (such as when a different face is superimposed over the original face in a photograph).

Creating Meaning: 

• Creates layers of action allowing the audience to see two or more shots simultaneously.

• This may be used to show the connection between various elements of a shot.

• to reveal something hidden about a character or situation or to simply alter the viewer's perception of reality.