Are you thinking about creating some video content for your brand, but you’re not sure how to make it look slick?
You can capture some seriously swish video with a phone nowadays, provided the camera is high-quality enough, and one great example that is popular on social media is a transition video. If you’ve been thinking about creating a transition video for your brand but aren’t sure where to start, this post is for you. Here, we’re going to show you how to film a match cut transition video.
If you have ever scrolled through TikToks or Instagram reels, you’ve definitely seen this type of transition video before. It’s easiest to think of them as a transformation video, as that’s what they’re most commonly used for. Examples are a bare-faced beauty influencer swiping a hand across your view to reveal a fully made-up face, or a travel guru ‘stamping’ on their phone while in an airport, and when their foot lifts, they’re on a beach in Thailand.
These types of transition videos are well within most people’s skill set, and we’re going to teach you how to make one. Better yet, we’ll offer our top tips on how to nail your future transition videos, too.
If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, we recommend reading our guide to video transitions. In there, you’ll find all the foundational details, including what a transition actually is, the different types of transitions, and why you should be using them in your video content.
Our step-by-step guide to filming a transition video
Right, let’s get into it. Here’s how to film a transformation transition video, using a simple click of the fingers as the transition trigger. With each step, you’ll find a visual example from our content creator, Emma, and videographer, Tony, and the full video at the end.
1. Set up the camera or phone
Whatever you’re using to record must stay in the same position for this type of video, as this is a composition match cut. That means it’s a transition that matches two visually similar compositions, e.g. a face or a table. The focal point stays in the same place, even if the background or other elements change.
2. Start filming
Your starting shot should be of the ‘before’ of the transformation, such as an empty piece of land where you’re about to build a house or yourself dressed in plain clothes before a spectacular outfit change. In our example, it’s a table in our meeting room, covered in our camera and audio equipment.
3. Film the transition trigger
While the shot is filming, move your hand (or someone else’s) in front of the camera, and click your fingers – do this several times so you have options. If you’re doing a quick transformation, we recommend that the person with their hand in front of the camera keep their hand still, while someone else performs the transformative action. For us, that’s Emma keeping her hand still, and Lauren tidying all the equipment into bags on the table.
If the transformation will take time, like doing a full face of makeup or building a house, we suggest either taking a photo/screenshot of the shot and hand, or simply using the end of your recorded content as a guide, then recreating the same position when needed.
4. Continue the shot
For those doing a quick transition, click again and move your hand away. For those continuing the video later, get everything lined up, including your hand, start filming again, click, and move your hand away. Once again, film this a few times so you have options.
5. Edit your transition
The magic comes once you edit the clip or clips in your video editing software of choice. If you don’t have any software, hit your preferred search engine and find the best one for your skill level, needs, and budget. There are many popular, easy-to-use options out there, such as CapCut and Premiere Pro. If you don’t fancy downloading something, you can use the in-app editing tools on Instagram and TikTok.
If you recorded one long continuous shot, cut out the time between the first click and the second, so the shot changes when you snap your fingers. Make sure that you make the cuts at the exact same moment in each click so the two clips line up perfectly.
If you recorded two different shots, trim any footage after the first click and before the second (again ensuring that you’re removing footage after/before the same moment), then line them up in the software.
The goal is for the first clip to run as seamlessly into the next as possible, which is why your shots must be cut at the right time during each finger click.
6. You did it!
You should now be left with a video showing a setting or subject that magically transforms at the click of your fingers.
Match cut transition video ideas to try yourself
We’ve taught you how to create a click trigger match cut transition, but there are so many more examples of how to use this method. Here are some other ideas for you to have a go with:
- Blink: Use a person blinking as the trigger to change the shot. Maybe you’re transitioning from no makeup to a full face of makeup – ensure your face is in the same position and the same expression, then ‘blink’ the makeup into existence.
- Clap: Use a clap as the trigger to change the shot. Very similar to the click transition, you could use a clap to transform the scene behind the hands, or transform yourself/the background behind you as you clap.
- Swipe: Swipe a hand over the camera quickly to reveal a changed shot, such as a graffiti-covered wall transforming behind the swipe of a hand into the same, now-clean wall.
- Block: Block the camera with your hand, or anything else that will change the scene to ‘black’ for a very brief second, before that block moves away to reveal a changed shot. This is a very easy match cut transition to do, as you don’t need to worry about getting exact positions right for the second shot.
- Object switch: Replace an object with a similarly shaped one to connect the two shots, such as a shot of a round plate of ingredients that then instantly snaps to the same round plate with a piece of food made from those ingredients.
- Object change: Keep the same object, but change it slightly. If you sold burritos, you could start with a shot of a burrito in someone’s hands, then with each shot change, another bite is taken out of the burrito, which stays in the same place in the person’s hands.
- Background switch: Keep the focus of the shot the same, but change the background. This could indicate something like a change of season or time of day. Perhaps you make caps, and you want to show that they can be worn in any weather – have a person wearing the hat be the focus, and take numerous shots of them in different weather scenarios, with them in the same position within the frame for each shot.
Want Ginger Pickle to do the transition videos for you?
If you don’t fancy doing transition videos yourself, that’s totally fair. Fortunately, we bloody love editing content (and recording it, too). Get in touch if you’d like the Ginger Pickle team to tackle your content creation, and manage the social accounts those videos will be going on, too.