Style of editing

Styles of editing
There are many different ways of editing a film, and transitioning between shots. The most popular ones tend to be the most simple types as they are seen as more professional.

Straight cuts
Straight cuts are the most popular form of transition. They are seen as invisible as one shot instantaneously changes to another with out a break in between. These types of cuts keep the scene realistic, and they don't break the viewers concentration.

Dissolves
Dissolve transitions are also very popular. They feature one scene fading out into another scene, and at the mid point both scenes can be seen together. Directors may decide to use to link characters or objects.

Fades
Fade transitions are when the shot gets darker or lighter of a scene. The scene will either get darker until the screen is completely black, or lighter until its completely white. These can either indicate passing of time or death of a character.

Wipes
Wipes are when a shot is pushed off the screen by another scene. Often these are pushed from left to right, to indicate a passing of time. And can be used to link two different locations with things happening at the same time.

Jump cut
A jump cut can be used to shorten the length of a long scene, but cutting out different parts without changing the scene or the camera shot. This breaks continuity and can be known as discontinuity. It can draw the audience attention because it appears that the scene has changed but it hasn't.

Graphic Match
Graphic matches are when the director uses a particular shaped item, and connects it to another scene with an in the same shape as the one in the first scene and uses a dissolve to link them together. This was made popular by Alfred Hitchcock in psycho during the shower scene.