Match cuts

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

I make it a rule never to use "Cut to" in my transitions. But when I have a match cut, is it worthwhile, and informative, to break the rule and put it in?

[JoanEasley]

You could, but they should get it even if you don't say CUT TO by the way you arrange your words (e.g. if you end one scene with, say, a snowflake falling, and start the next with, say, a snowflake pendant, or end on a red ribbon and start with a red drop of blood. )

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

That's what I thought, Joan. It is clear from the descriptions that the end of one scene really does "rhyme" with the beginning of the next. So I'll do without the "match cut to" transition. Thanks for the reply.

[DUCPHO]

I usually only employ a MATCH CUT when, and that's very rare, I am undergoing a scene transition and wish to highlight a particular inanimate object... say a newspaper headline that is being read by the last character in one scene and then transitioning to another scene where another character is reading the same newspaper headline. The headline must be intrinsically important to the story however, and using the MATCH CUT enhances your ability to "focus" on that dramatic dot".

But it could be a clock, you know, the detective glances up at the clock and we see it's three o'clock, then we MATCH CUT to a hotel room where the bad guy is also looking at the time... naturally the time must be important to the storyline or the MATCH CUT is useless.

You just don't MATCH CUT because you think it will visually rhyme with the next scene, you do it to highlight something intrinsic to the plot.

At least that's my take on it.

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

In my case they're intrinsic. I just don't like using transitions other than Fade in and Fade out, and was just wondering if I should bother. So I won't. But thanks for the reply, Duc.

[ComicBent]

http://members.aol.com/comicbent/thumbsup.gif What Joan said!