What makes a particular film burn more effective in regards to constructing a non-narrative?

Link: https://vimeo.com/123546851

There is a multitude of different film burn effects, I was interested in what components of the film burn define its effectiveness and how that may alter the presented non-narrative. To explore this, I captured footage of my friends riding BMX bikes and used post-production editing techniques to insert a standard film burn effect template over the top of the footage. The effect template was designed by Dean Bryant and distributed through YouTube with permission for non-commercial use without copyright restrictions.

The film burn is a popular transition technique that originates from the way super 8 camera film would burn during a malfunction. The transition has been used in sporting videos and music videos for decades as a way of blending two images together for a seamless and appealing transition. The use of the film burn effect in skate videos has become increasing popular to the extent that the film burn can be viewed as a stereotypical technique of skate video. Moreover, the film burns presence in skate video is so grounded that is has become somewhat of an expectation in skate video. In the case study, the film burn does not contribute toward the narrative form of the video, however it functions as an element of aesthetic appeal. The way it blends two separate images together to form a visual relationship creates visually appealing results. By doing so, the film burn functions as an element of non-narrative, where the narrative connections between the transition and other aspects of the video are not the intentions of its presence. Rather, the film burn not only appears pleasing but also creates a smooth flow between images.

After using two different film burns between three shots, visual analysis indicates that the more active and variable film burn created the desired effect more succinctly. In other words, the film burn that moved around the most was more effective. This is because the movement in the film burn can be used disguise the cut between two images and creates a flow as one image is woven and washed into another. The more stagnant and less variable film burn is not as effective at producing the intended aesthetic. I further emphasised this discovery by increasing the playback speed of the more active film burn so that it would also move quickly and emphasise the contrast between the two film burns in regards to the flow created.