Director's Chair: Maintaining Continuity

Dr. Robert Nulph
June 2007

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Shooting a movie over a period of days, weeks or even months can be a very difficult task - especially when it comes to maintaining continuity. When everything in the shot, scene and movie is consistent, then you've succeeded in maintaining continuity. If an actor picks up a cup with her right hand, the cup has to be in her right hand in the next shot, to stay consistent and maintain fluidness and continuity. In this column, we will look at continuity, cite some examples and explain how you can prevent continuity errors in your next project.

When a feature film is shot, there is usually only one camera and the scene is done many times. The director will usually want to shoot the scene a variety of ways. Shooting a scene from various angles and shot sizes is known as coverage. The more coverage, the more options the editor and director have during the editing process. However, the more you shoot a scene, the greater the risk is that you will have lapses in continuity. Think about it. Actors have to do the same movements, wear the same costumes and move the same places, all over many hours and usually days of shooting. How can you possibly maintain continuity?

The person in charge of continuity on a film set is the script supervisor, who must maintain a record of scenes shot and how they may have deviated from the original script. The script supervisor also creates a continuity report and works with an assistant to make sure continuity is maintained.

The continuity report provides a detailed record of the day's shoot, including crew list, camera settings, weather and the acting, audio and picture quality of each shot. The continuity report also describes in detail the action that occurs and any possible continuity problem areas. The assistant will take pictures of costumes, hair and makeup, set dressings, actor positions and props to compare when setting up later takes of the scene. This report helps cut down on the continuity errors, which, if caught early enough, can be fixed, but only through an expensive reshoot. Yes, today filmmakers can fix some errors through digital touch-ups, but that too is very expensive and usually beyond the financial and technical abilities of the typical video producer.

To illustrate how difficult it is to maintain continuity, let's look at some movie examples and talk about how to prevent continuity problems. Keep in mind, movies are shot over a series of days, weeks and even months. Maintaining continuity is very difficult when working on a massive project, and sometimes things get missed.

Let's start with a classic, The Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy and the Scarecrow are fighting the trees, the Scarecrow taunts the trees and gets hit with a lot of apples. The very next shot, Dorothy is wearing black shoes instead of her Ruby slippers. This very quick but obvious continuity error is easily explained and prevented. When making the film, Judy Garland would have worn comfortable shoes except when her feet would be seen. Obviously, in this shot, the frame was a little larger than anticipated or, in the fury of the shoot schedule, someone forgot to look at her shoes. Always check your actors' costumes to make sure they are correct and in the same position. Watch for straps, buttons, zipper placement and other parts of the costume that may change.

Makeup and hair can also be a very big problem. In the original Batman, Jack Nicholson's Joker character rubs a bit of skin-toned makeup off his forehead revealing his dead white skin beneath. This small patch of white skin changes shape and location throughout the remaining series of shots.

In Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Frodo has a wound on his lower right cheek near his chin. Later in the film, it flips to his left cheek. When Sam cradles his head while sitting on the slopes of Mount Doom, the scar has obviously changed positions (or the film was flipped). When working with makeup and hair, make sure you take Polaroid or digital pictures, so that you can duplicate the look days later. Watch for pieces of hair getting into the actor's face or the style falling or slightly changing between takes. If the hair is wet, makes sure it is wet in all subsequent scenes until given a chance to dry. Don't let an actor go underwater without having his hair wet in the remaining close-ups!

Jewelry can also be a bit of a hassle. Sometimes it is so small or insignificant that it is easily forgotten. In Rocky Balboa, Marie's necklace disappears and reappears several times during her conversation with Rocky outside of her home. As with makeup, maintain a series of photos of the actor's jewelry to make sure it is consistent.

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