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When Episode VII was announced, I remember hearing fans wonder whether Abrams would use to the screen wipes to transition from scene to scene the way other Star Wars films did.

This BostonGlobe article seems to think Abrams did end up using the Star Wars wipe transition:

Director J.J. Abrams [...] uses old-fashioned screen wipes to transition from scene to scene

However I don't remember noticing any in the film. Were there any wipe transitions in The Force Awakens?

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  • 1
    I’m fairly sure he did. I seem to recall sitting in the theatre watching TFA, and then having a screen wipe quite unwittingly bring back memories of the earlier films. Can’t remember where it was, but even though I’d never particularly noticed the screen wipes in the older films, I was suddenly forcefully reminded of them at some point during TFA.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Feb 1, 2016 at 3:27
  • In the first video only half of the wipes are real.
    – CodesInChaos
    Feb 1, 2016 at 9:36
  • Yeah, that was really annoying not having any indication for what the real vs fake screen wipes were..
    – enderland
    Feb 1, 2016 at 13:43
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    Yes, he did. i.stack.imgur.com/0jbXR.gif
    – Valorum
    Feb 1, 2016 at 18:29
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    Of major interest: youtu.be/8NAhAEQUk8M
    – ThePopMachine
    Feb 13, 2016 at 15:33

3 Answers 3

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Yes, he absolutely did. I just noted them last night. I don't know how to prove this until someone can point to a video on YouTube or a GIF, but he did.

I noted it because there is an iris wipe in at least one instance, which is hard to miss because exotic wipes are very rare outside Star Wars nowadays, so it's quite conspicuous if you're looking for it.

@Richard provided this animated gif, which demonstrates a wipe between BB-8 rolling away lonesomely in Jakku and a ship in orbit.

Here's positive confirmation without the video evidence. This article quotes The Force Awakens editors Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon.

MB: It was fun using the wipes. I’m not a huge fan of that sort of thing, but the wipes were really fun to use. I think the question that was most asked before we started the film was “are you going to use the wipes?” You would think there was something they wanted to know more but that seemed to be the thing. When we asked JJ “Do you want us to do this?” he went “Of course, it's Star Wars, we have to use the wipes.” We didn’t want to overuse them but they are fun. It allows you a certain leeway for transitions.

To tie this up, here is a GIF of a very unusual transition that has become available.

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    +1 for conviction! I agree, they definitely used them. I saw it twice, but the last time was over a month ago, and so it's hard to think of a concrete instance. Since you saw it last night, do you happen to remember a particular scene where it was used?
    – Praxis
    Feb 1, 2016 at 7:08
  • I do remember the iris wipe at the very end when the end credits begin, but somehow I think I'd want more examples, since that one is kind of an obligatory one, you know? lol :) +1
    – RedCaio
    Feb 1, 2016 at 7:09
  • @Praxis I had my computer read your comment out loud and it pronounced your user name as "Prasheez" lol. :)
    – RedCaio
    Feb 1, 2016 at 7:11
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    I’m pretty sure there was an iris wipe to or from Jakku at some point, possibly after Rey meets Finn. I should probably just pop to the cinema real quick and watch it again to check, right?
    – Paul D. Waite
    Feb 1, 2016 at 9:18
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    From this gif, it seems the wipes are just a bit faster than in the original trilogy...
    – Thomas
    Feb 2, 2016 at 8:42
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Yes, Jar Jar Abrams used a wide variety of standard film tricks to cut between individual shots. At the end of each scene, he then used a screen wipe to indicate the major transition.

For ease of reference, I've also included the technical names for each wipe.

Diagonal wipe (right)
enter image description here

Iris wipe
enter image description here

Focus Iris wipe
enter image description here

Bar Wipe (left)
enter image description here

(Reverse) Horizontal Barn Door wipe
enter image description here

Horizontal Barn Door wipe
enter image description here

Bar wipe (right)
enter image description here

Diagonal wipe (left)
enter image description here

Bar wipe (Left)
enter image description here

(Reverse) Vertical Barn Door wipe
enter image description here

Bar wipe (Left)
enter image description here

Iris wipe
enter image description here

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    Did you do that yourself?
    – ThePopMachine
    Apr 9, 2016 at 21:35
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    @ThePopMachine - No, it was a guy called JJ Abrams.
    – Valorum
    Apr 9, 2016 at 21:39
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    Very funny... :)
    – ThePopMachine
    Apr 10, 2016 at 2:31
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    What? No red arrows or hand drawn circles? How am I supposed to figure out where in the image the wipes are? -1
    – ibid
    Apr 10, 2016 at 3:26
  • I definitely looked into the third image, and it is legitimately from the movie. So if you think these images aren't authentic, then you haven't seen my Blu-Ray copy of this movie. And is THAT a world that YOU want to live and in? Didn't think so. Brunches. [peace sign]
    – Justin Force
    Apr 10, 2016 at 9:11
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In the first shot of the official trailer, there is a shot of Rey opening an access panel, which serves as a transition from what appears to be a shot from space. As I recall, this scene was in the film (though I can't remember what happened right before), and I think it classifies as a wipe transition, though it's not as blatant as the ones in Revenge of the Sith.

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    Although I appreciate the attempt, that's not a wipe. It's just a shot from inside the access panel, where the wipe-like effect is a result of the panel moving. The rest of the trailer uses fades to/from black. Even if there were a wipe in the trailer, it wouldn't tell us anything about wipes in the movie since trailers are edited separately from unedited footage.
    – ThePopMachine
    Feb 1, 2016 at 16:22
  • @ThePopMachine Based on the second video in the original question, it looked to me like a 'wipe' could include the use of physical objects as transitions to new scenes, such as Leia's cell door closing or someone walking across the frame. And in the trailer, the shot is preceded directly by what looks to be a shot of stars, so it's a direct transition from one shot to another without fading. Like I said, I can't remember where this happens in the film, but since the star shot is pretty brief in the trailer I assume it was from a longer shot in the film.
    – DaaaahWhoosh
    Feb 1, 2016 at 18:25
  • I guess the 'stars' could just be dust, but they really didn't look like dust to me.
    – DaaaahWhoosh
    Feb 1, 2016 at 18:29

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