Okuzeka
Film & Television vocabulary · Editing and Post-Production

Transition

Meaning in film & television, with examples

/trænˈzɪʃn/nounCommon term

In film & television, transition means: The way one shot or scene changes into the next in editing, such as a straight cut, a fade or a dissolve.

In Turkish: geçiş

How it is used

Common transitions: cut, fade in and fade out (from or to black), dissolve (one image slowly replaces another), wipe and match cut (two shots linked by a similar shape or movement). Screenplays write them as FADE IN: or DISSOLVE TO:.

Example sentences

  1. Use a slow dissolve as the transition from the young woman to the old woman.

  2. Too many flashy transitions make the video look like a wedding film.

Common collocations

  • smooth transition
  • scene transition
  • dissolve transition
  • match cut transition
  • cutAn instant change from one shot to the next in editing. It also means a version of an edited film, such as the director's cut.
  • jump cutA cut between two shots of the same subject from almost the same position, so that the image seems to jump forward in time.
  • editingThe work of choosing, ordering and joining shots so that they tell the story with the right rhythm, emotion and meaning.
  • montageA sequence of short shots edited together, often with music, to show a lot of time or many events quickly, such as a character training or a couple falling in love.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Editing and Post-Production

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: