Transitioning through time and space continued...

an Director/editor who's work I find highly inspirational is Anime editor Satoshi Kon. what i found most interesting was the transitions he creates to get from one scene to another, especially in the (2006) animated film "Paprika". This film is about a dream machine in which therapists use to enter patients dreams gets stolen. the film begins with Detective Toshimi Konakawa unintentionally travelling between 4 different levels of a dream, the transitions between each of these levels are what I found interesting.

each transition is different between each level of the dream. The first is a POV of the detective swinging represented by the moving camera into the whirling plate which is then blurred into the next scene which turns into a motion blur of the detective continuing to swing but through the trees of jungle. This transition of blurring two scenes together is mostly used if either the camera or subject is in motion meaning the blur can seamlessly hide the cut as if it is motion blur deriving from either the character or the camera.

The second transition is a simple cut but it relies on the actions going on within the scene. Detective Toshimi Konakawa is hit by a rope which slightly wraps across his neck this then cuts to the next level of the dream in which someone is strangling him with a wire.

The third transition is a match cut which cuts as Paprika hits the strangler with a briefcase, this cuts a few frames before impact to a guitar in the third level of this dream. Similar to the first transition, this transition relies on the characters movement to create the seamless cut.

The transition to the final level of this dream is very dramatic which is most likely why it has been used for the last transition. as the detective runs through the door the background fades to black leaving just him and his reaction in a close up, there is then a cut to a high angle wide revealing the last level of the dream. similarly to the 2nd transition, this relies on the characters actions however this is enhanced in this transition with the background fading to black forcing the audience to focus on the characters emotions seconds before the reveal of what the character is looking at from the wide. 

 

Satoshi Kon also used transitions focusing on objects rather than characters and motions which are more related to the transitions we are likely to have in the See You Soon project. 

for this transition a lorry drives into the frame which is used as a screen wipe and is merged with someone walking past frame in the next scene to create a seamless wipe effect using objects within the scene. This is used a lot in live action films, especially through walls to another room. Edgar Wright is a director who likes to use this transition in a lot of his films as seen below.

another transition which is also highly relevant to the See You Soon project is another of Satoshi Kon's signature transitions which is again to match two scenes by focusing on an object rather than a character in both scenes, however the objects connect in this transition whether they're in both or appear to be in both scenes. for example the transition below match cuts a blood dripping to the drip landing in a puddle of blood in the next scene.