Continuity
Definition
Continuity refers to the consistency of all the visual and narrative details of a film across different shots and scenes. Continuity encompasses the positions and movements of actors, the state of props and set dressing, the appearance of costumes and hair and makeup, the direction of lighting, and the spatial relationships between characters and objects. Maintaining continuity is the primary responsibility of the Script Supervisor, who takes detailed notes and photographs during filming to ensure that shots filmed at different times can be cut together seamlessly.
Contextual Usage
The Script Supervisor flags a continuity issue between two shots: "In the master shot, the actor's jacket was buttoned. In the close-up we just shot, it was unbuttoned. We need to go back and reshoot the close-up with the jacket buttoned, or we won't be able to cut between the two shots."
About this section
Production — or "principal photography" — is the phase in which the film or video is actually shot. It is the most visible and, typically, the most expensive phase of the entire process. Every day on ...
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