Continuity Editing

Basics
of Continuity Editing
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Continuity Editing
“Editing shots together imperceptibly so that the action

of a sequence appears continuous.”
source: History of Narrative Film, David A. Cook

Continuity Editing
THREE BASIC CONCEPTS
1. Use multiple takes from different angles/takes

2. Follow the 180 degree “rule”
3. Utilize subject or action’s sight lines/eye trace

Continuity Editing
A CUT is the “instantaneous change from one shot to

another”
source: Sight, Sound, and Motion, Herbert Zettl
In the early era of film, filmmakers often used a single

shot for an entire film, would turn the camera on and
off to establish a cut or scene change, or would overlap
action from cut to cut.

Continuity Editing
View From An Engine Front, Ilfracombe, (1898)

Continuity Editing
View From An Engine Front, Ilfracombe, (1898)

Continuity Editing
Continuity Editing established a way for filmmakers to

use the ‘CUT’ to join pieces of film and make action
seem continuous.
“The mysterious part of it…actually does seem to

work, even though it represents a total and
instantaneous displacement of one field of vision with
another”
In the Blink of an Eye, Walter Murch

Continuity Editing
Silent era filmmaker Edwin S. Porter began to make

films that told stories ‘in continuity form’ such as the
Great Train Robbery.
Using cuts to take viewers from one scene to

another, time begins to move forward and the shots
used begin to illustrate a course of related events,
your cinematic narrative.

Continuity Editing
The Great Train Robbery, Edwin S. Porter (1903)

Continuity Editing
The Great Train Robbery, Edwin S. Porter (1903)

Continuity Editing
This method evolved over time and became the

Hollywood model of narrative storytelling.
In a typical scene from a movie or television, multiple

‘takes’ have been shot from different camera angles
and perspectives, then pieced together to create a
dynamic representation of a scene.
Individual scenes/events are used to further the

narrative of the story.

Continuity Editing
Technical standards/rules of shooting and editing have

developed into a complex art form.
Multiple takes on a shoot gives the editor something to

work with in a scene, and many possible directions to take
the story.
Cutting on dialogue, action, and following sight lines within

a scene gives the illusion there is no camera, no multiple
takes, that the viewer is a silent witness of a scene.
Continuity Editing, when done well, is invisible.

Continuity Editing
How many individual takes make up a continuous edit in

a single scene?
Arrested Development, FOX, (2003)

Continuity Editing
How many individual takes make up a continuous edit in

a single scene?

Continuity Editing
ESTABLISHING SHOT
“Typically a long shot at the beginning of a scene designed to inform

viewers of a change in location and to orient them to the general mood and
relative placement of subjects in the scene.”
source: Film Directing, Shot by Shot, Steven D. Katz

Continuity Editing
MASTER SHOT
“The viewpoint of a scene in which the relationships between subjects are

clear and the entire dramatic action could be understood if no other shots
were used (as opposed to the wider, establishing shot)”

Continuity Editing
INSERT SHOT
“Usually a close-up showing an important detail of a scene.”

Continuity Editing
OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT
“A shot in which a subject who is facing us is composed using the back of

the head and the shoulder of another subject in the extreme foreground as
a framing device.”

Continuity Editing
POINT OF VIEW CLOSE UP SHOT
“A subjective viewpoint, one that is understood to represent an

individuals vision.”

Continuity Editing
REACTION SHOT
“In a dialogue scene the shot of a player listening while another

player’s voice continues on the soundtrack. Most reaction shots are
close-ups.”

Continuity Editing
HOW MANY TAKES WERE THERE?

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

a.k.a ‘The Line of Action’
a.k.a. ‘the Axis of Action’
a.k.a. ‘The Triangle System’
The theory of the 180 Degree Rule is that it “organizes camera

angles to preserve consistent screen direction and space.”
source: Film Directing Shot by Shot, Steven D. Katz
Characters and elements on the screen should maintain the

same spacial relationship to each other throughout the scene,
shot by shot.

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE
Illustration painted by grm_wnr for en:180 degree rule.

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE
Rushmore, Wes Anderson, (1998)

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE
Rushmore, Wes Anderson, (1998)

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE & CHARACTER PLACEMENT

Continuity Editing
180 DEGREE RULE & CHARACTER PLACEMENT

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES
“An imaginary line that is drawn between a subject

and the object he or she is looking at. When
individual CUs of the two subjects in conversation
are joined together in a sequence their sight lines
must match in order that they appear to be looking
at each other.”
source: Film Directing Shot by Shot, Steven D. Katz

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES
Tracking shot – last scene of Boogie Nights

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES
Tracking shot – last scene of Boogie Nights

Continuity Editing
TECHNICAL ELEMENTS
Combining the multiple takes, character placement

within the frame, the 180 degree rule, and the
character sight lines in your edit should be able to
make a fairly sophisticated continuous sequence.

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES & 180 DEGREE RULE AS EXTREME
Peep Show, BBC

Continuity Editing
SIGHT LINES & 180 DEGREE RULE AS EXTREME
Peep Show, BBC

Continuity Editing

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Basics

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

“Editing shots together imperceptibly so that the action

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

THREE BASIC CONCEPTS

1. Use multiple takes from different angles/takes

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A CUT is the “instantaneous change from one shot to

In the early era of film, filmmakers often used a single

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

View From An Engine Front, Ilfracombe, (1898)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

View From An Engine Front, Ilfracombe, (1898)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009