Continuity Editing

Introduction

some say that when the editor does their job well, the audience is not
supposed to notice. This does not mean that the editor’s job is
unimportant. In fact, the complete opposite is the case. Editor’s are
responsible for maintaining the illusion of a film and story by hiding
the mechanisms at work. The main tool they have to do this is
continuity editing.
Definition
Continuity editing is an editing system used to maintain consistency of both time
and space in the film. Continuity editing helps ground audiences in the reality of
the film while establishing a clear and structured narrative.

The goal of continuity editing is to make the mechanisms of filmmaking invisible as

to help the audience dismiss disbelief more easily.
Techniques of continuity editing in film

Continuity in film follows a few fundamental rules. Here are

a few rules and techniques of continuity editing. While
these rules are occasionally and intentionally broken in
filmmaking, understanding these rules are important for
every filmmaker.
Continuity of Action
The action performed by or around the talent in one shot must
match, relatively exactly, the same action performed in a different
angle within the same scene. Humans are very good about
determining fluidity of motion. When things do not flow — when
supposedly continuous actions do not match across a cut point — it
is easily noticed.
Continuity of Dialogue
Be aware of line delivery when reviewing the footage. Does the talent
say different words from take to take and shot to shot? Is there a
different timbre in the voice or a modifi ed rate of delivery? Some of
these issues may be cut around by laying in different audio from
alternate takes and so forth, but sometimes things just will not match.
As with most audio issues, there may be a way around them for a fi x,
so keep the footage for later use, but try to separate out all the best
and most usable takes first.
Eyeline
The eyeline match is one of the most fundamental tools in continuity editing. It
aims to fulfill the expectation of an audience to see what a character is looking at
when they are looking off screen.

When the scene is a dialogue between multiple people, one character often looks
screen left while the other character looks screen right to maintain the consistency
that these characters are looking at each other. This is fundamental when shooting
over the shoulder, shot reverse shot scenes.
180-degree rule

The rule establishes an imaginary line, called the "axis of action" or

"180-degree line," which is drawn through the main subjects of a scene.
The camera is then positioned on one side of this line, and all shots are
taken from that side throughout the scene. The purpose is to maintain a
consistent viewpoint for the audience, preventing confusion caused by
sudden changes in perspective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bba7raSvvRo
30-degree rule
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K8EUc98VoQ&t=212s

Sometimes filmmakers cut from one shot of a character to a different shot of the
same character either to change the shot angle or cut to different shot sizes. To
avoid jarring discontinuity editing or a jump cut the two different shots must be
taken from at least 30-degrees apart.
Matching action

Editing to match the action of characters is one of if not the

most basic tool to continuity editing. What is a match on
action cut? It is a staple to what some editors refer to as
invisible editing. Matching action simply aims to cut on the
same frame of a character’s action between two shots.
Eye trace

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-continuity-editing-in-film/

Eye Trace is an editing technique that anticipates where the

audience's eyes will be looking within the frame at any moment so that
the filmmaker can use this knowledge to direct where, when, and what
the audience will look at in a frame, especially across multiple cuts.