Transitions

Rossing · Jul 31, 2012

How do you handle them?

Sometimes they feel too abrupt. First my characters are having a romantic moment over breakfast, and then the wife is driving a pickup toward a forest fire.

Do I worry about transitioning, or just make it as hard and sharp as a new slug line with DAY attached?

Too much of that _reads_ a little jarring to me, though I suspect it _looks_ just fine.

Advice?

Rossing · Aug 2, 2012

Thanks, chrischance!

And sorry: my question was incredibly poorly phrased. I don't mean transitions like DISSOLVE TO or whatever. Format or shot transitions.

I mean _story_ transitions. Obviously, this all depends on the style and voice and genre. But I'm talking more like:

1) Do you try to find an interesting visual way into a new scene? So a scene begins with 'a pair of dice roll across a cracked sidewalk' instead of

EXT. SIDEWALK - NIGHT

A bunch of thugs crouch on the sidewalk. The TOOTHLESS THUG rolls a pair of dice

2) Do you offer establishing shots (almost) every time you're in a new building--and do you try to make them more interesting than

EXT. DOWNTOWN HOSPITAL - DAY

A busting hospital in a city on the cusp of prosperity--but not there yet.

3) To handle issues of pacing, do you insert scenes between your Hero killing a man in Cairo and having breakfast with his boyfriend in Tuscon? Or do you tend to think that, unless those scenes progress the plot, it's better to go from the former to the latter without any story in between?

WriteKnight · Aug 2, 2012

Every scene should advance the plot, or illuminate character. Preferably both. I use what you are describing as 'transition shots' - only to do either or both of those. IF they don't do that - drop them.

In terms of 'establishing' the scene - in your example. FIRST we see two thugs, then we see the dice - OR we see the dice rolling, then the wide shot of the thugs. That's really a stylistic choice based on the voice and pacing of the screenplay. Neither is right or wrong - it will depend on the context. And when the script is being shot - in all likelihood, the actual shot to be used in transition will have been story-boarded out by the director - and might not be anything you might have imagined. (Because, what the hell - they put it in a warehouse, instead of on the street - because it was raining that day.)

Write the most visual compelling story you can SEE in your mind.

dennis7490 · Aug 12, 2012

Writeknight is right. Think visuals and how they link together. Read as many contemporary scripts as you can get your hands on and study the way they transition. It can be very abrupt. Remember you're telling a story visually. Once the characters are in motion the second they are on screen the audience is with them. Think about THE BOURNE IDENTITY and how it shifted from a control room to the streets of Paris, to a car chase, etc. but we never get confused.

Transitions

Rossing

Rossing

WriteKnight

Arranger Of Disorder

dennis7490