Visual shape that covers the screen disabling the sense of vision to the audience
Use of mattes in Ozu’s “Record of a tenement gentleman”
Characteristics:
- Extends the offscreen space in any case
- Previous or consecutive sequence can greatly orientate the audience
- Can potentially lead to a loss of intelligibility if the audio information is not sufficient to orientate the viewer
- Can be considered and interpreted metaphorically
Related induced effect: Offscreen
Opposite effect: Split screen, divided screen, multi image shots
(bordwell, 2009)