I Will Show You a Transition (Not Really, Just Here to Talk About It)

Posted on by Jay

In film, transitions are the work of moving onto another scene, whether that scene happens just minutes later, or in a montage sequence, or years after the setting of the initial scene. It’s a way to help tell the passage of time within a film, no matter the length of time there is in between. It also helps in showing information to the viewer within just moments, rather than showcasing it over the course of however long it takes to get to a good bullet point in the story. A transition can also be used to showcase a change in a person; how they look, how they identify, how they react to the world around them, and many more like that.

Outside of film, we can use a transition to change from one topic to another, tying the two topics together in a way that’s easy for people to understand, and making it easier for them to grasp. We can use things that relate to each other as a way to transition from one thing to the next, all while keeping the flow of the scene or topic, and while making sure that the audience is on the same page as everyone else.

“Project 365 #133: 130510 Cut To The Chase” by comedy_nose is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0 .

You Too Shall Succeed – Rube Goldberg and Inspiration

Posted on by Jay

“The Way Things Go” is a short film, directed by Fischli and Weiss, that showcases a Rube Goldberg contraption—a contraption that depicts a chain reaction to complete a simple task. Rube Goldberg contraptions, in my opinion, are very dramatic in a very positive way; the way that they can become intricate, and need a keen eye to make sure that everything will work out to completion, is absolutely incredible, and makes me appreciate the dedicated time it takes to create something so incredibly absurd—again, said with positive connotations.

“The Way Things Go” instantly reminded me of a music video I had watched during class last year: “OK Go – This Too Shall Pass – Rube Goldberg Machine – Official Video”. The entire music video consists of watching their Rube Goldberg machine unravel in real-time, and often in-beat to the song that plays in it. I think the song choice to use the Rue Goldberg machine on was a perfect choice; things like this take trial and error to complete, and therefor it can get very frustrating at some points. A nice reminder that, despite all your hardships and the things that come with it, everything can be okay by the time morning comes, and you can reset yourself each day to try again and keep going.

(to be quite frank, this should become a reminder for myself as I enter the new year)

I consider these video, amongst other videos created and inspired by this concept, to be art. It’s a thing that these creators took out of their day—in fact, quite possibly many days—to complete, especially including the trial and error that comes from testing it out to make sure each section worked completely. I have personally never have done something like this in my entire life, but I know that it’s not an easy thing to do, and especially one that takes up more than a minute to complete smoothly and perfectly. The dedication it takes can also become inspiring to others, and therefore can help keep this domino effect of inspiring others to accomplish their own tasks—and so on and so forth.