Media Homework Continuity

Why is Continuity so important?

Continuity in films is very important as, if used incorrectly, it can confuse the audience. The ultimeat aim of the director of a film isto encourage the audience to "enter" the world of the film. By using continuity technques correctly, the audience can "absorb" the film.

Continuity Editing Techniques

Here are some techniques used in editing to keep continuity in the film:

• 180° rule - to reduce confusion of the position of a character in relation to their surroundings in a film by only filming on one side of an imaginary 180° line.
• 30° rule - moving the camera betweeen set ups to avoid "jumps" in a scene
• Use of shot distances - in order to take the audience smoothly through the narrative, certain distances are routinely edited together (Long Shot - Mid Shot - Close Up or vice versa).
• Use of transitions - some transitions (such as dissolves and fades) can be used to signify a change over time, whereas others (such as cuts) can be used to show the scene is moving at a fast pace.
• Eyeline matching - Matching the height of the eyeline between two characters or out of the frame. 
• Matched Cut - the edit matches the action in the previous one
• Match on action - the last action in the previous shot matches exactly to the first action in the next shot.
• Shot-reverse-shot - cutting back and forward between two characters having a conversation, so the audience are literally placed in the action
• Cross cutting - shots are placed together to show that they are happening simultaneously, even though they actually belong to different spaces in the narrative

For my own films in the future, I will try to incorporate all of these editing techniques to ensure that my film is perfect continuity wise. Unless it is needed for the narrative of the film, I will try to avoid confusing the audience by misusing the 180° and 30° rules.