Continuity editing

Continuity editing

Continuity is vital in filming. Shots that belong together should be continuous and should create an ease and flow for the audience. 

Shot Reverse Shot- a staple of editing used to show dialogue between characters. It uses the 180 degree rule, the eye line match rule and rule of change among others. Person A( the man) is shown looking at person B (The women) The shows a shot of person B (the woman) looking at person A. This shows there conversation and each other's emotions at each point in the conversation. Both are in a over the shoulder shot. Eyeline is important to consider in over the shoulder shots and the eyeline must match from staying on the same side of the shoulder for both shots. In point of view shots the eyeline should also be considered. If an actor is looking down at something on the floor the point of view shot must be looking down at the same angle and view as his eyes to give the impression we are seeing the action through the actors eyes.

Match on action- a shot that cuts from one shot to show another shot that portrays the action that was happening in the first shot. Portrays a continuous sense of the same action. Important for keeping the audience interested in the action and creating a smooth continual  edit. Similarly with directional continuity if an actor leaves the shot on the right side when they enter again the should enter via the left side of the shot. 

The 180 degree rule- The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline/  rule that states that the camera must stay on the same side of the imaginary horizontal line, perpendicular to the camera's lens from where the shot is filmed. This is most commonly used when showing a shot reverse shot of two people having a conversation. For example, if the first shot shows character A addressing character B left to right, the next shot must keep this perspective by staying the same side of the imagery line. This will assure getting across to the audience the conversation character A and B are having. If this rule is broken it will disrupt the shot and have the look of a broken unconventional conversation and not have a flowing edit.