What it is…
Dissolve (or Lap Dissolve) is a device in film editing in which one shot grows progressively dimmer as the subsequent shot becomes increasingly brighter. The total brightness of the screen, during the transition, remains the same. Fade-to-Black and Fade-from-Black are special cases of the Dissolve where the second or the first shot, respectively, is blank/black.
Why it is special…
The Dissolve is one of the editing effects that is strongly connected to an emotional response. The duration of the Dissolve – the time it takes for the transition – is directly tied to the type of reaction the technique evokes. A slow Dissolve to an outdoor location after an intensely dramatic indoor scene, for instance, provides a huge relief whereas a brief one provokes a moment of reflection.
When it is deployed...
The Dissolve, deliberate and protracted that it is, seems to have fallen out of favour with modern mainstream filmmakers. At a time when individual scenes are giving way to a single, ‘unstructured' narrative experience where even establishing shots are a luxury, the dissolve, when not used in special fantasy sequences, is but an anachronism relegated to TV dramas.
Where to find it...
At the end of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), we see Norman Bates, now captured, smiling at the camera. The shot ephemerally Dissolves into the skull of his mother and immediately into a shot of a car being retrieved from quicksand. This twin Dissolve arouses both a relief that his menace is over and an unsettling feeling that all might not be well and good yet.
How it is used…
Time & place
Dissolves are predominantly used when a change in geography or narrative time is to be established. When it comes to representing time, a quick Dissolve often implies a minor ellipsis – a short passage of time – and one lasting several seconds usually suggests an ellipsis of months, years or decades. Similarly, Dissolves between monuments can be used to present a significant change of location, such as a character’s tour to a new country.
Dream sequences
Since the Dissolve presents itself as an amorphous form which stands in direct opposition to the sharpness of a simple, straight cut, it becomes the natural choice for sequences involving dreams, fantasies and magic, where the imagery is conventionally fluid and formless. For example, the use of Dissolve for the transformation of a ghost into a man or the dream of becoming a millionaire is commonplace.
