The Curse of the Cross Dissolve!

[Alastair Brown]

James and Joanne By Alastair Brown On ExposureRoom

After a long struggle, I have finally managed to shake off the curse of the cross dissolve, that has plagued my work for ever and a day.

The music for this piece totally dictated the look and feel of it. I struggled for footage around the middle, as the photographer wanted time alone with them......grrrrr!

This is quite a departure from my previous stuff i.e.

Kara & Nas By Alastair Brown On ExposureRoom


Would be great to hear your comments.

[Richard Wakefield]

love the title sequence, and the general grading look etc but much more importantly:

good riddance to the dreaded cross-dissolve!!!!! keep taking the tablets and i hope the problem never comes back :)

[Tom Hardwick]

I liked your brave aspect ratio Alastair and I presume you did this in post - shooting and edoiting in 16:9? A word of caution (and the reason I've stopped doing this on my wedding DVDs) is that a lot of people have their TVs set permanently in the 'auto adjust' mode. Fine in that 4:3 material is stretched and zoomed but not so good when the TV senses your black bars and does its best to remove them.

Of course it's ok if the TVs are set to the 16:9 mode, but of course few people know anything about aspect ratios, remote control switching and overscan.

tom.

[Ervin Farkas]

I am not sure I understand why you consider cuts superior to dissolves - they both have a well deserved place in our tool palette. It all depends on what you want to say with your video, and there are situations where a cut or any other transition would not be able to convey your message better than a crossfade.

Where I see significant progress in your work is the color grading - in this latest video you are a lot closer to the film look you're evidently after. Let's not forget that the beautiful UK architecture in general and the churches in special, plus the old cars are heaven sent help for you in your videos - imagine what we poor Americans go through sometimes filming weddings in plain white-wall neoprotestant churches and shiny new Hondas for cars... And talk about picturesque... good grief! Groom in skirt and bride in red - way to go!

All in all very good work, I am sure your clients are pleased.

[Richard Wakefield]

ervin,

hope alastair doesn't mind me clearing this up...it's not cross dissolves in general, as ur right, they absolutely play a major part in some places of the edit. the problem lay in the fact that alastair had a self-confessed habit he just couldn't shake off, of using cross dissolves on everything :)

[Vito DeFilippo]

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

I am not sure I understand why you consider cuts superior to dissolves - they both have a well deserved place in our tool palette.

As they say in film school here (not that I went!):

"If you can't solve, dissolve."

I love the look you are going for (and achieving). The titling is great. I see what you mean about struggling for material, cause the video seems a bit slow, which would be helped if you had more stuff.

Some of the shot choices were a bit off, in my view. Like twice near the end when the groom licks his lips. Not particularly attractive, and the kind of thing I usually avoid.

You seem to have a flash frame after the "The Hotel" title.

Beautiful work. Thanks for posting. What camera are you shooting with? And what program are you using for the titling?

[Miraj A. Berry]

Alastair, I am BEYOND impressed by this piece! Very cool concept!

Love the whole throwback feel!

[Ethan Cooper]

Bold song choice and I love it. I also like the blur pan transition, care to share how you did it?

[William Smyth]

Absolutely beautiful and original. Love the music and the pacing. I particularly like the dissolve to get the groom out of the Bentley. Was that planned or a stoke of brilliance in the editing suite?

[Bill Grant]

what cams if you don't mind?

[Shaun Conner]

I love the music. The colors were a great fit. I have a bad problem using cross dissolves. How do you guys get around it?

[Jeff Harper]

Shaun for variety, try using cuts when going from a wide shot to a closeup of a face. It will really improve the look of your work.

If a jump cut doesn't work it is often because the footage is substandard or the two shots shouldn't be next to each other in the first place.

Alastair, who sang the Pefect Moment song? Martine McCutcheon or Edyta Gorniak? Or was it someone else?

[Shaun Conner]

Originally Posted by Jeff Harper

Shaun for variety, try using cuts when going from a wide shot to a closeup of anything. It will really improve the look of your work. Dissolves are way over used by amateurs. If a jump cut doesn't work it is often because the footage is no good or the two shots shouldn't be next to each other in the first place.

Alastair, who sang the Pefect Moment song? Martine McCutcheon or Edyta Gorniak? Or was it someone else?

Ok I'll try that.

[Richard Wakefield]

Jeff: u reminded me, when i was a bit younger i did a 'remix' of Perfect Moment by Martine McCutcheon, and it got played in all the local bars and clubs in my area... crazy days eh :)

Shaun: IMO cross-dissolves make 'visual sense' when going from one scene to another very different scene, or to represent time passing. If all my shots are from the same scene, and in the same time frame, then you won't see a cross-dissolve in sight. You've just got to try it, and although it might feel weird at first, you'll watch it back and it'll all feel right.

[Jeff Harper]

Richard, that is an excellent general rule for cross dissolves. Using them to transition from scene to scene.

I too was a DJ for many years. I actually had an entertainment business and had an extremely diverse mix of clientele. Those were heady times. I don't know who were crazier, my employees or clients. It was an insane time, the memories are still so vivid it can seem like yesterday that it all happened. Part of me still regrets having sold the company.