Editing Slit-scan photography (section)

==Use in cinematography==

Originally used in static photography to achieve blurriness or deformity, the slit-scan technique was perfected for the creation of spectacular [[animations]]. It enables the cinematographer to create a [[psychedelia|psychedelic]] flow of colors. Though this type of effect is now often created through computer animation, slit-scan is a mechanical technique.

[[John Whitney (animator)|John Whitney]] developed it for the opening credits of the [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcock]] film ''[[Vertigo (film)|Vertigo]]''. After he sent some test sequences on film to [[Stanley Kubrick]], the technique was adapted by [[Douglas Trumbull]] for ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]''  in 1968 for the "star gate" sequence, which required a custom-built machine.<ref>{{cite speech |last=Trumbull |first=Douglas |date=2010-12-09 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBaZQojd1_s |location=TIFF Bell Lightbox |access-date=2025-01-25 |title=Master Class with Douglas Trumbull}}</ref>

This type of effect was used in other films and television productions.  Slit-scan was used by [[Bernard Lodge]] to create the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' title sequences for [[Jon Pertwee]] and [[Tom Baker]] used between December 1973 and January 1980. Slit-scan was also used in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (1987–1994) to create the "stretching" of the starship ''Enterprise''-D when it engaged [[Warp drive (Star Trek)|warp drive]]. Due to the expense and difficulty of this technique, the same three warp-entry shots, all created by [[Industrial Light and Magic]] for the series pilot, were reused throughout the series virtually every time the ship went into warp. Slit-scan photography was also used on ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]'' for scenes in the [[tesseract]] at the end of the movie.