T:5 Continuity Editing - Unit 16:P1, M1, D1

Continuity editing became known as the popular 'classical hollywood' style of editing, which had be developed by early European and American directors. In particular D.W. Griffiths, as in his films such as 'The Birth of a Nation' and 'Intolerance'. The classical style ensures temporal and spatial continuity as a way of advancing narrative, using techniques such as the 180 degree rule, Match on Action, and Shot, Reverse Shot.

It helps to make sure that the film feels like it is moving forward, it doesn't mean you can't use a flashbacks or flashforwards, as long as the narrative is still seen to be progressing forwards in an expected and realistic manner.

In continuity editing, there are four types of shots you should use: Eye-line match, The 180 Degree Rule, Match on Action and finally Shot, Reverse Shot.

The 180 Degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements and objects) in the same scene should always have the same left / right relationship to each other.

Eye-line match
This technique links two shots together. We see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut to a shot of what they are looking at. This allows the audience to experience an event in the film just as the character is experiencing it through his eyes.

Match on Action
This technique links two shots together, when we see a character sarts an action in one shot, the camera then cuts to a different angle and we see the character finish the action in the second shot. This technique ensures that the action seems like one natural and realistic movement even when the actor may have already performed it twice.

Shot, Reverse Shot
This technique links two shots together, the first shot reveals one character and then the second shot reveals the second character. This allows the audience to connect the two characters and realise that they are interacting with each other.





Our Match on Action went really well, as in the end of the first scene we see Luke start to open a door, which is the beginning of his action and then in the beginning of the second scene we see him from the other side of the door, opening it and letting it close behind him, which is the end of the action.

My Eye-Line match went good as well, as in the fourth scene you see David point and say your book is over there, and then in the fifth you see a close up of the book he was pointing at. He then starts to walk towards the book that we zoomed in on. The shot is quiet dark and blurry as we had the caerma facing a window with light shining on it, if we could change it, we would have closed the blinds to get a clearer picture.

Our Shot, Reverse Shot happens during our third and fourth scene, during our conversation between our two actors. This scene was effective as it showed you both characters, but also told you the relationship between them (student and teacher). This went well as we showed the first character (luke) speaking and when finished we showed the second (david) with his resonse.

First of all we got it wrong as during those scenes we crossed the 180 degree rule, so to fix the problem, we 'flipped' the scene to fix the problem to make sure that the characters stay on the same side.

After we fixed the problems we made, i believe that our clip was successful on showing the key continuity techniques.