Continuing with my new series of resource links – from video essays, to cinematographer interviews, how-to tips and the like – today I want to take a look at a short video essay by Baltimore-based editor, filmmaker, and fellow cinephile Jacob T. Swinney. For a wide range of cinematic reasons, the “fade from black” and the “fade to black” are ubiquitous in film and television. As such, the less frequent use of a “fade from white” or a “fade to white” makes for quite the visual impact upon a viewer. Where black offers transition and/or closure (and additionally these effects are subtly controlled by the amount of time taken to complete the fade) – Swinney has postulated in the description of today’s video essay that “the much less common fade to white seems to create a sense of ambiguity.”

The fascinating thing for me is that doing a Google search of the term “film fade to white” predominantly returns various bloggers sharing this very clip. Prior to its release last week, it seems that about as many people were talking about this film-makers tool as those who happened to use it. So it is excellent to see such extra interest being generated for a simple – albeit quite evocative – effect! Without further ado then, may I add to the conversation by sharing the same video that many others have already shared. 🙂