Monologue-Transitions, Timing and Editing

I edited the film under the monologue on iMovie, using the transitions they offer on it.

The first transition I used is called 'cross dissolve', it moves from the previous frame to the next by making the first clip dissolve into the next, I really like this transition because it is a very smooth one which can show change from one period to another.

I used it at 0:06 in the video immediately after the voiceover says 'thoughts'. I thought this was appropriate because the transition moves from the girl thinking about either throwing the book away or not to going down to throw it. I also really like the effect it gives the girls head as she is walking down as her body is in a slightly different and moving position to the previous frame therefore the dissolve emphasises the girls head is 'all over the place' as a metaphore.

There is also a transition a few seconds after this at 0:09 seconds as the voiceover says 'where you're going to be in a few years'. I used 'cross blur' for this to speed up the time it takes for the girl to walk down the hill to make it more interesting, i also thought this particular transition was appropriate because nobody knows where they'll be in a few years, people may have a rough idea but this idea is blurry, its unknown and due to this I thought the timing of this transition fitted nicely.

After this transition I made my camera slowly go out of focus, representing the way this book has blurred Hazels vision and how it has caused her to be so confused, however as she gets closer to the bottom of the hill (the lake) the focus is regained as she has regained sight of what is the right thing to do.

The third transition is from Hazel holding the book in her hands from a 'mid shot' to a close up side view of her opening the book and then quickly closing it. As the voiceover goes onto say life unfolds in ways you would never expect and the girl quickly shuts the book after being reminded of something bad, I have edited the clips so that the shot goes straight to the girls anxious face. This however is not a transition used from iMovie, I deliberately filmed this scene out of focus coming into focus and I believe this is more effective than what a cross dissolve/blur would have achieved because rather than two scenes merging smoothly - it shows sharp fear as its quick, and the girls worried face going from out of focus quickly into focus adds to the tense and mysterious atmosphere because its almost like a highlight of how the girl is feeling, emphasising the mood.

There is then a 'cross dissolve' transition from a side close up view of the girls face to a low angle shot of her, this is a very quick transition of 0.4 seconds whereas the majority are 1 second, i did this to add to the sharp movements which show emotion in a more raw sort of way rather than making things seem 'softer round the edges'.

The next transition was from the camera movement  moving away from the girls face as the words "or you can hide from them" are used to the girls point of view of the lake - hence why the camera is shaky at this point, again I used cross dissolve because i wanted everything to be sharp for these shots rather than blurry. I will talk about camera movements in a later post; however, briefly, I think 'to hide' shows some kind of vulnerability and the fact the girl is scared which along with the shaky camera, helps to let the audience know how she is feeling at this point. There is then a transition between two shots of the girls point of view of the lake at 0:30 which is her looking at two parts of the lake, because this transition is smooth but also sharply focused this could also symbolise the girl blinking whilst moving to look at another part of the lake - which adds to the realism.

After we see the girls point of view theres a transition where the screen fades to black this symbolises an end, the end of her final decision making process where we then see her throw the book into the lake. I didn't include a transition from the girl throwing the book to the book falling into the water, or from the book falling into the water to the girls final look at it, this is because this is a big step in the story and i wanted to capture the immediate reaction from the girl after she had thrown the book in without anything fading in our out over the top of it or making it blurry - I felt it would be unnecessary.

As the girl looks away from the book for the last time there is then a 'cross dissolve' from her to the scenery behind her, going into a pan shot of the lake moving from dark to light with a final shot without a transition of the book floating away.

You will see, I only often included a transition if it made scenes of the film i wanted to be together, fit better, or if there was meaning behind it. From above you also will have seen that in some places i found it was more effective to have no transition or that i just didn't find it necessary.