How to Keep Continuity
"So if I keep making mistakes on Broadway or tape or film, producing, directing or acting, I can go along and do it - so long as I'm not investing too much capital in these things." ---Jackie Cooper "A lot of time mistakes are very interesting." ---Barry Levinson In the cold light of day, keeping continuity in your movie is as easy as watching a movie and saying, "Hey, that guy had a hat one when he went out the door. Now the hat is in his hand. Stupid director! How did he miss that?" As my favorite evil college dean character said, "You'll get your chance smart guy!" It happens to everyone. Right now, I'm sweating the box of Triskets (or was it Wheat Thins) that I used in a scene that I now have to reshoot because the actor took his jacket off. Trust me, continuity isn't easy to keep. Follow these tips and you might be one of the lucky ones that never has to tell "that" story (link: http://www.continuitycorner.com/) about the disappearing hat or chair or whatever. 1) Follow your plan: 9 times out of 10, continuity gets ruined on a film because the director decided to change something at the last minute. Changing stuff on the set is a big deal and it's primarily a big deal because of continuity. There's an old anagram called KISS which stands for "Keep it Simple Stupid". I prefer SPJ, "Stick to the Plan, Jackass!" 2) Hire a Continuity Person: This is the easiest way to keep tabs on this potentially devastating problem. You simply assign one person, whose sole job it is to follow the script and make sure everything is continuous scene by scene. This person needs a good eye for detail and must have complete access while on the set. You hire a fuck-up and your continuity will be a fuck-up. Either way, don't just rely on your continuity person, as director you should be right on top of it too. 3) Document with Pictures: In this era of digital photography, there's really no excuse not to do this. The continuity person should be taking pictures like crazy or should have access to your photographer, who should be taking all the pics. Each set, character costume and important props should have photos, especially if they're going to be changed or moved. If you can afford it, it's a good idea to have back up costumes and props just in case someone rips their costume or breaks a prop by mistake. 4) Check the Continuity: Whenever you start shooting a new scene, make sure you check the continuity. Find where you are in the script, make sure you have the appropriate props and the actors have the appropriate looks. You especially should check if you go back to shoot a scene you already shot. Some continuity mistakes will be missed by the audience if they are very small and they don't happen within the same scene. However, there's very little you can do if your actor has a scar on the left side of his face in the two shot and on the right side of his face in the close up. 5) Continuity Follows Movie Logic: There is real logic and there is movie logic. Real logic follows things like gravity and the immutable laws of physics, but movie logic is a little more flexible. You don't have to show every door opening and closing, every character arriving and leaving and every prop get put away when it's done in the scene. However, you do have to account for characters and props if they are important to your story. For instance, in my zombie project it's important that one of the characters have a baseball bat earlier in the scene so he can use it on a zombie later. The audience needs to see it established otherwise when the scene happens it will look like the bat magically appeared. On the opposite end, the same actor forgot to put his jacket back on in one of the scenes when he's sitting down. Later, when he emerges from the basement, he's wearing the jacket. Logic would dictate that we need a shot of him putting the jacket back on, but movie logic might dictate that we can assume he put it back on in an intervening shot. In other words, between the shot of him without the jacket and the shot of him with the jacket, there is another shot of his co-star (yours truly) firing a gun at the zombies. We can assume that while I was firing at the zombies, this other character put on his jacket and came outside to meet me. 6) Don't Let Continuity Dictate Your Story: Movie logic also assumes things like that we can hear the zombies moan and walk when the story calls for it. When the story doesn't call for it, the sound is either subdued or unheard. As the audience focuses on the main characters, they forget about the zombies for a moment. Your film shifts focus in that way, so do let the continuity overwhelm your story with distracting shots and sound effects you don't need. The story is the most important thing. Lengthening or shortening a scene just because the audience can't see the characters arrive isn't a reason to lengthen it. The only reason to change your movie is so that it tells the story better. 7) Playing with Continuity: You may decide to play with the continuity in your film. Playing with distance, timing, sounds and strange edits may allow you to discover interesting effects. For instance, there's a great scene in Young Frankenstein (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/) where Marty Feldman keeps surprising Gene Wilder by walking into frame at a speed and on a side that is completely unexpected and impossible.
Script Supervising and Film Continuity
http://www.amazon.com/Script-Supervising-Film-Continuity-Third/dp/0240802942 Mistakes in Lord of the Rings
http://www.moviemistakes.com/film1778 What Script Supervisors Do by Jessica Jordan
http://home.sprintmail.com/~jessjordan/scriptsupervisors.html
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