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Take 5 (page 2)

5. Focus, Then De-focus

When shooting musical events, I'll shoot a focused shot of one musician for a few seconds, until the end of a riff, then quickly pan across or down the stage, blurring the shot. When editing, instead of cutting the shot right before the camera moved, I'll cut it less than half a second into the swish. Then I'll edit the next shot with a similar shot. This time, though, the shot begins with a blurred scene that pans across the stage to be framed up correctly on the next musician. It's harder to pull this one off, because you have to go from a blurred moving shot to a still, focused and framed shot. But it's pretty nifty when you dissolve the "A" shot and the "B" shot together, it's seemingly seamless!

A final tip: When you insert the 4-to-6-frame swish clip on your timeline, experiment with a short 2-to-3-frame dissolve going in and out of the shot, to make the swish appear seamless. Have fun: swishes are creative ways to make transitions without needing to rely on the same ol' software transition. But as with all effects, use them in moderation.

Jennifer O'Rourke is an Emmy award-winning photographer and editor and Videomaker's Managing Editor.

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