Wipe (transition)


A wipe is a type of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape. If the wipe proceeds from two opposite edges of the screen toward the center or vice versa, it is known as a barn door wipe.
The following are some specific styles of wipes:
The earliest known example of a wipe was George Albert Smith's film Mary Jane's Mishap of 1903.
George Lucas made sweeping use of wipes in his Star Wars films, inspired by a similar use of wipes by Akira Kurosawa.
Since at least the 1980s, the American game show The Price is Right has made extensive use of wipes, usually from contestants to prizes. In the early-to-mid 1980s, an iris slow was used twice during the opening sequence, transitioning from the shot of the host entrance to the camera panning down from the studio lights, and then from that camera shot to one of the host. Around 1987, this was changed to a star wipe, which the show would end up using for years until 2010.