Cuts or dissolves for ceremony footage?
 

When shooting ceremonies with 2+ cameras, I've been using dissolves between shots for as long as I can remember. But I'm reconsidering; are dissolves really better than cuts? I am starting to think about using cuts instead -- it seems more "live" somehow. I know the common logic is that dissolves reflect the elegance of a wedding, but I'm not so sure anymore. Your thoughts?

Each has thier place - it all depends on the content. During a short edit ceremony for example I use a lot of dissolves because the scenes change entirely. But if you're just cutting away to another camera for the same scene like a reader at the podium, a cut is more appropriate.

Again, cutting away to the very same scene using multiple cameras would not generally warrant any kind of a transition IMO.

In the past 3-4 weddings my cuts have been my dominant "transition" even in montage/creative pieces.

Dissolves are, however, good for denoting the passage of time.

I agree with Rick. When you cutting the ceremony for instance where the audio is consistant then straight cut is better. When completely changing scenes from ceremony to reception for example, or dance to cake cutting, desolves work better. Maybe even better for major scene changes, ceremony to reception, is dip to black.

Just MHO---Mike

Sometimes J cuts work better than dissolves, even for scene changes. As long as your mindful of preping the viewer with an audio it's not as jarring as one would think. We see this sort of thing all the time in television and cinema.

J & L cuts
 

I didn't know that is what they were called, but i have been using them from the beginning of my editing experience. I use them for precisely that reason. Very very handy especially when a scene has great audio and I need other video components to keep the scene from being stale.

jason

from memory, i dont ever remember editign a video and using a straight cut.. everything is crossfaded.. from 1 second through to 5.. i sometimes use dissolves and the like, and might use Spicemaster for some special effects, but thats about it.. never a straigth cut.. well i do if the cut goes with teh music.. but thats another issue...

i'm not here to be rude or criticise, and i think that if you've got a style Peter stick with it...but personally i can't stand continuous cross-dissolves and i don't understand why anyone would do that?!

You'll probably say 'it mirrors the elegance of the wedding' or something like that, but seriously, straight cuts really are more than fine with the odd cross-dissolve, and 99% of things you watch on the TV/big screen do that too?

What are your reasons? i'm intrigued!

not dissolves.. lets make it clear that were nto talking about dissolves or any flash filters here.. were talking about straight crossfades from one scene to the next.

The reason i use it, is for continuaity. Its a psychological play on the client to feel that one scene has blended "in good time" with the next

obviosuly cuts are used in sync to beats etc etc, but if im doing cuts to bride, groom, mid, wide, close up a, back to close up b, it makes a difference to the flow of the cut and pace by crossfading (NOT crossdisolving... )
in a a matter of 15 seconds i could have these cuts happening, and by crossfading them, the client doesnt realise that theyve just seen 6 different shots becuase theyve "blended" with the previous.. each to their own i say

oops, i did mean cross-fades!

so EVERY single shot you cross-fade?? it just sounds tedious perhaps? Am I the only person that thinks this? Imagine seeing a movie at the cinema like that, even a slow, romantic one, which you could say has a similar flow to a wedding.

I'm not at all saying that what i do is perfect, but i would only cross-fade between completely different clips to give a sense of time, and maybe from some very wide shots to close-ups, to prevent 'harshness'. That sort of thing naturally seems right when i playback, and when i show clients.

i agree, each to their own. I seriously don't mean to criticise, or offend, it's just something i really don't understand.

Timing
 

Hi Bill,

I agree with Glen - transitions and timing help set the stage to help with your dissolve vs cut question. Aside from other factors, for a quick, rapidly changing pace, I'd go with cuts. Disolves work well for even-paced, deliberate moon establishment and transition setting. Usually consistency between the content, psychological setting/mood, movie theme, talent, etc helps determine how the cuts/disolves work best.

Regards, Michael

On a wedding type video you are creating a mood that is generally serine smooth, quite or something like that for the most part, with soft music generally also. Weddings are usually not done in the "In You Face" style that has become the standard on TV and in the movies.

MHO

so EVERY single shot you cross-fade??

((Almost))

it just sounds tedious perhaps? ((not really))

Am I the only person that thinks this? ((dunno))

the trick is to cut in in a way where the viewer doesnt even notice its happend.. and THAT is the magic to it.. ;)~

I'm similar in that depending on the music etc, I'll use mostly dissolves between 1 and 5 secs. I like a rhythm to what I do, and if it feels out of rhythm, I'll drop a fade etc. It's my opinion that traditional ceremony's should have a soft feel, as opposed to ceremony's which take place under water in a shark tank.

Very good!

Mike