Task 5 - Continuity Editing

During our film we created for continuity editing, we made some errors these included breaking the 180 degree rule, but as we realised we then put it onto final cut and managed to rotate the recording so this made it look like the rule wasn't broken. When recording we also didn't realise that the window was letting in light and made the character look very dark, so if we did this scene again we would shut the blind. But i believe that the overall outcome was very good as the edit was very smooth and there were no acting errors.


Continuity editing is a  continuous style of editing which allows the film to flow smoothly.
In continuity editing it has 4 main rules, these include: eye-line match, the 180 degree rule, match on action and the reverse shot. Using these rules makes the edit seem as the film is constantly moving and it can run smoothly. Continuity editing was developed by many American and European editors, one of these is D.W. Griffiths. He made The birth of a Nation and Intolerance.

Eye-line match - This links two shots together

This can be seen if a character look at something if screen, and it will then show the audience what they are looking at, this allows the audience to experience what the character is feeling.
We used in our film as the 2nd actor asked where a book is, we then cut the clip and showed an image of the book he was looking for.This worked well for us as there were no mistakes made and it looked very professional.



180 degree rule - This is the basic guideline that allows people to see where the character is in the scene, if this rule is broke then it will make it look as the character has moved from their original position. In our scene we made the mistake of breaking this rule and to overcome this we had to cut the clip and then rotate the scene so it seemed like the rule wasn't broke. After rotating the clip i believe it didn't look very well, but this is due to that i know what the building looks like and when he enters the door changes position, but if someone who did not know what the school was like from inside they wouldn't notice.

Below is another example of a 180 degree rule break.

Match on Action - This helps link two shots together,
Start action in shot one, then it will be cut and then onto the final action.
Below is an example of how match on action can be used in a scene. In our film we used this technique when the first actor walked through the door, and then walked towards the second actor who is the teacher. This made the film look very good and well prepared.


Shot reverse shot - This is basically one character then reverse shot of another character, this allows the audience to connect with the characters and to see both characters interacting at different times. This also helps create pace. We used this technique in our scene when the first and second actor were communicating, we done this by putting the camera behind both actors when they both spoke about the missing book. I think this worked very well as it looked very clean and professional like it would in an actual film.