Cuts

Personally, I notice transitions when they seem out of place. I'd be cautious about getting to excited about transitions. Keep them simple unless you really have a reason to do differently.

Sounds like you found a good exception to the keep it simple rule; a slide transition isn't a "simple" transition (disolves and wipes seem to be the standard simple transitions) but it sounds like you've seen a reason to use that transition.

 

Generally speaking, the purpose of making movies, videos, etc. is to tell a story and editing is a huge part of the story telling process. Anything that might take the viewer's focus away from the story is usually a bad thing so for the most part, transitions should be invisible to the viewer ... meaning that the viewer shouldn't notice them.

How many times have you been up late at night watching some B or C rated flick, trying to follow the story line and all of a sudden they've thrown in some wacky transition? It jars your mind - taking it from the story and makes you wonder; "WTF was that?" That's a good example why the flick was B rated in the first place.

As you've discovered, there are exceptions to that 'rule'. But 99% of the time when you're studying a film, all you'll see are fades, cuts and dissolves because when used properly, they help the story telling process by being unnoticed by the viewer.

-DH