star wars - Did The Force Awakens use any screen wipes to transition from scene to scene?

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?

Answer

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.

edit 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 which has become available.

Comments

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