3. Fade – the preceding shot fades into black from which the following shot emerges.

4. Fade – the preceding shot fades into black from which the following shot emerges.

5. Fade – the preceding shot fades into black from which the following shot emerges.

6. Dissolve or cross fade – the preceding shot merges into the following shot, resulting in the two shots being superimposed. The longer the dissolve the more noticeable the superimposition becomes.

7. Dissolve or cross fade – the preceding shot merges into the following shot, resulting in the two shots being superimposed. The longer the dissolve the more noticeable the superimposition becomes.

8. Dissolve or cross fade – the preceding shot merges into the following shot, resulting in the two shots being superimposed. The longer the dissolve the more noticeable the superimposition becomes.

9. Shot duration The duration of a shot will usually reflect the narrative context. Click here for a chase sequence from Die Another Day (Tamahori, 2002) What is the effect of the fast cutting in this sequence? Click here for a dialogue scene from Secrets and Lies (Leigh, 1996) What is the effect of the very long duration of shot in this sequence?

12. In this example, the two characters appear to have swapped places when the 180 degree line is crossed. Click here to see this ‘rule’ explained further.

13. 30 degree ‘rule’ This convention dictates that when film is cut the camera should move more than 30 degrees otherwise it creates an awkward abrupt cut known as a jump cut . What is the effect jump cutting in this scene from Erin Brokovich (Soderburgh, 2000) ?

14. Match on action The Maltese Falcon (Huston,1941) In this scene a cut is used on a point of action as the the female character enters the room. This is called match on action