Natural Transitions

A natural transition is a transition that is achieved using elements of the scene while recording, rather than adding an artificial transition in post-production.

There are many ways to create natural wipes, dissolves and other effects — you are only limited by your creativity. Here are a few simple examples:

• Shoot through a doorway and then close the door to create a wipe to black. Reverse to create an opening wipe.
• In a dark room, turn the light on to create a (fast) fade from black. Reverse to fade back to black.
• To create a fade out, defocus the camera until it is completely out of focus. Reverse for a fade in.
• To create a dissolve between two shots, defocus the first shot and reverse for the start of the next shot, resulting in a dissolve that goes out of focus and then back into focus on the next.
  Note: Usually there will still be a noticeable cut between the shots unless you add a subtle dissolve in post-production to smooth it over. The more closely matched the shots are in colour, shape and lighting, the smoother the transition will be.
• Zoom the camera in quickly to it's tightest point, then reverse for the start of the next shot. If you have a manual zoom ring, this will probably work better than the server zoom lever. Try defocussing at the same time, i.e. a combination of the zoom and focus transitions.
• Allow an object or person to approach the camera until the shot is completely obscured and goes black. Reverse for the start of the next shot.
• Shoot a time-lapse sunrise or sunset to create a fade. Obviously this will usually signify the start or end of a day, unless perhaps it is being used as a metaphor.

Note: For these transitions to work properly you will need to use manual focus and iris.