Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

 Continuity editing is the type of editing that ensures that everything runs smoothly within the film and that everything is in chronological order, that is if the film is not intended to be out of order and in irregular patterns. Also, it is vital that there is a blatant transition between the times, shots, and events. We are able to split continuity editing into two groups: temporal continuity and spatial continuity. Temporal continuity is when different shots occur in fluent movements, such as two shots of someone having a fight and throwing a punch we might see it from afar in a long shot, and then, from the same point in terms of where the persons arm was, have a POV shot of the punch. POV is a point of view shot where the camera is like a persons eyes and what we see is what they're seeing. This means that the shot will happen in one continuous shot, with a punch from a long shot converting into a POV shot. Spatial continuity is where there is a 180 degree rule for the filmmaker to consider and carefully watch out for. The way to do this is draw an imaginary line across the set that the camera will never cross in order to avoid confusion and to ensure that the scene smoothly progresses as time goes on. If one actor is on the right hand side of the camera and the other actor is on the left hand side of the camera, then they will have to make sure that they do not switch sides at any point because this will effectively ruin the scene and cause much confusion among the audience. This precaution should only be taken if you are trying to maintain continuity throughout the scene. Shot reverse shot is where two people are talking and the camera keeps going back and forth to each person to get their reaction or to get them talkin. Match on action is when everything flows from one thing to another. For example, walking through a door, filming on one side of the door, and then switching to the other side of the door during one flowing movement.