Transitions and Visual Effects Flashcards

What is the 'rule of six' in film editing, as described by editor Walter Murch?

Answer: A hierarchy of editing criteria with emotion as the most important factor

Walter Murch's rule of six prioritizes emotion, story, rhythm, eye-trace, two-dimensionality, and three-dimensionality as criteria for every cut, in that order.

What is 'motion blur' in video effects?

Answer: The visual smear of fast-moving objects that simulates natural camera behavior

Motion blur is the visual smearing of fast-moving objects in a frame, simulating the natural blur a camera captures during exposure.

What does 'compositing' mean in video post-production?

Answer: Combining multiple visual elements from different sources into a single image

Compositing is the process of layering and combining multiple video or image elements to create a seamless final image.

What is a 'matte' in visual effects compositing?

Answer: A black-and-white mask that defines which areas of an image are transparent or opaque

A matte is a grayscale mask where white areas are opaque and black areas are transparent, used to control which parts of a layer are visible in compositing.

What is a 'cutaway' shot in film editing?

Answer: A shot that cuts away from the main action to show a related or contrasting subject

A cutaway is an editing technique where the editor cuts to a shot of something other than the main action to provide context, pacing, or to hide a continuity error.

In video compositing, what does 'alpha channel' refer to?

Answer: The transparency information channel in an image that controls opacity

The alpha channel stores transparency information for each pixel, where white means fully opaque and black means fully transparent.