Also known as DISSOLVE TO: · lap dissolve
A transition where one image gradually replaces another. On the page, often written DISSOLVE TO: to suggest time passage, memory, or thematic linkage rather than a hard cut.
On the page
Dissolve
DISSOLVE TO:
A dissolve tells the audience the cut is soft on purpose: time has slipped, two images rhyme, or a memory bleeds into the present. If nothing about the relationship between shots needs that softness, prefer a clean scene heading. Empty dissolves are how drafts start to feel dated without earning nostalgia.
In specs, use dissolves sparingly — the same rule as most camera grammar. One well-placed DISSOLVE TO: after a funeral into a childhood backyard can do more than five ornamental dissolves in Act Two. Pair the transition with a clear destination heading so readers never wonder whether time jumped.
Shooting drafts may mark dissolves for editorial intent; development drafts should still prioritize story clarity over optical fetish. If a note asks for "more cinematic transitions," fix the emotional hinge first, then decide whether a dissolve, smash cut, or match cut actually serves that hinge.
Not when the soft link is motivated. It feels dated when used as default scene glue. Reserve it for time, memory, or image rhyme that a hard cut would flatten.
A fade usually goes to or from black (or another solid). A dissolve overlaps two pictures. Fades bookend; dissolves braid.
No. Montages often work with headings, smash cuts, or simple action chains. Add dissolves only when the blend itself carries meaning.
They answer different jobs. LATER (or a specific time) is a heading time cue; DISSOLVE TO: is an optical transition into the next image. You can use both when both are true.
