Continuity Editing

WJEC GCE AS Film Studies Stuart Grenville-Price FS1Making Meaning –

Editing Deep Focus Photography - Keeps several planes of the shot in focus at the same time (foreground, mid ground and background) allowing several actions to be filmed at the same time = decreasesthe need for editing to present actions in several shots.

The Long Take-

In Hollywood

1940’s average shot length 9 seconds 1960’s average shot length 4-7 seconds

MTV 40 cuts a minute (Barry Salt film analyst)

Continuity Editing - Editing breaks down a scene into a multitude

of shots to create a synthetic union of space and time from these fragments.

Coherence and orientation are the main points.

A change in shot always means a shift in vantage point. Other techniques that create coherence and orient the spectator include: •

The eye-line match . A character’s glance off-screen reveals an object/person in the next shot

•

Point- of-view cutting . Similar but object/person viewed is seen though character’s eyes This shot type was handled differently in American Beauty, which pushed ideas about voyeurism and scopophilia .

•

Match- cut on action . Continuity of action is continued through to next shot.

Coherence and orientation

An excellent example of a match-cut on action: a bone is thrown at the dawn of man, it dissolves into a space station thousands of years later in the narrative space of 1 minute.

2001: A Space Odyssey. (Stanley Kubrick 1968) •

Directional continuity . If a character exits from the right of screen he should enter the next shot from the left. Action flows in logical order.

1

2

Above is a storyboard sequence from Spiderman 2 (Sam Raimi 2004). Notice the example of directional continuity demonstrated in the frames labelled 1 & 2. From the

interior (1) cut to the exterior (2), and then to a reaction shot. This orientates the viewer and involves him/her in the action.

Explain: Coherence: Orientation: