Continuity Homework

To explain the aspects of continuity, I have chosen the example of TV drama Place of Execution on ITV. The episode can be found here.

Continuity is the flow and connection of on-screen action from shot to shot. It makes a media text coherent and understandable to an audience.


During the above episode, there is a scene where the exterior of a car is shot from the front with two characters visible through the windshield. In this scene, there is a moving background. To ensure continuity, the speed of the car - and therefore the speed of the moving background - needs to be the same in close-ups of the driver, close-ups of the passenger and in wide shots because both characters are in the same car. The audience would be left confused if there was a shot of the driver with the car going at five miles per hour, then after a cut to a shot of the passenger the car was going at fifty miles per hour.

Because acting requires concentration, the actress would not be driving the car. The car would be attached to another vehicle in front that has a camera fixed to it. The cameras would roll once the driver of the frontal car has reached the required speed so that there is a constant speed through out the scene.

Homework

The 180 Degree Rule:

There is an imaginary line that connects two subjects in a scene. On one side of this line they will be in a specific left-right relationship and therefore, to provide coherency and flow, the camera should never pass the line. However, if the camera does cross the line, the relationship will be reversed.

Reverse Shot:

A reverse shot is a shot from a reversed angle. It is commonly found during dialogue scenes; in the corner or side of the frame there will be the back of a character who is either listening or speaking to the other character who the camera is focused on.

Match On Action:

When an action is taking place and there is a cut, the second shot must match the first shot in pace and movement. If a character begins an action in shot one, it must be completed in shot two in order to be continuous.

Sample Video:

Here is a dialogue scene in which two characters are conversing at a diner table:



Not once does the camera cross the axis connecting the two characters. There are a variety of camera angles and movements, but the camera is always positioned on one side of the table and therefore one side of the 180 degree line.

There are also some reverse shots in the video too. Because of the 180 degree rule, when over-the-shoulder angles are shot, the back of the women is always framed to the right of a shot, and the man's back is always framed to the left of a shot. This correlates to their left-right relationship in wider shots.

- Freddie