The 5 C

Cs of
Cinematography: Continuity
Presentation by M. Schoenhals

Based on the book by J. Mascelli

What is Continuity?
A professional motion picture should present
a continuous, smooth, logical flow of
visual images, supplemented by sound,
depicting the filmed event in a coherent
picture; it is Continuity that decides
success or failure of the production.

Cinematic Time & Space

A motion picture can go
anywhere in time and
space at any moment.
Thus, a story may
suddenly go back into
history, or shift across
the world; or a scene
may be speeded up;
or a setting made to
appear foreforeshortened.

A motion picture can go

anywhere by showing
actual travel or
editorially, by cutting from
one locale to another.

Time Continuity
PresentPresent-time continuity
depicts the action as if
occurring now. This is
the most popular and
least confusing
method.
PastPast-time continuity may
be divided into two
types: occurring in the
past; a flashback ,
from present to past.

Memento played with the elements

of time.

Space Continuity
Telling the story as the
action moves from one
place to another
involves space
continuity.
Viewers should always
be aware of:
l The location of the
action
l The direction of the
movement

The audience need not see the

whole trip; highlights may be
enough.

Filming techniques for

Continuity
lMaster

Scene

lTripleTriple-Take

Master Scene Technique

A master scene is a
continuous take of
an entire event
occurring in a
single setting. It is
a complete
chronological
motion picture of
overover-all action,
from beginning to
end.

Dramatic theatrical features

are generally filmed with one
camera; which records
master scene of overall
sequence and later closer
cut-in medium shots and
close-ups of individual
players.

TripleTriple-Take Technique
In this technique, you overlap the action at
the beginning and end of each shot. The
cameraperson thinks of three consecutive
shots: action at the end of the first shot is
repeated at the beginning of the second
shot; and action at the end of the second
shot is again overlapped at the beginning
of the third shot.

When to use each technique:

Use Master Scene
whenever:
l Shooting from a script
l Professional actors are
used
l Sufficient time permits
l Director wants greatest
range for editing
purposes.
l Whenever all the action
could be covered in a
long shot.

Use TripleTriple-take
whenever:
l Filming an event that is
stop and go
l Inexperienced
personnel perform
l Shooting offoff-thethe- cuff
l Cameraperson can
control the event

Directional Continuity
The direction in which a
person or a vehicle moves,
or the direction in which a
person looks, can cause the
most vexing problems in
continuity.
If an established move or
look in a particular direction
is unaccountably changed in
consecutive shots, the
picture
pictures continuity will be
disrupted, and the audience
will be distracted or even
confused.

Actor should move in a constant

direction either left-to-right or
right-to-left to show progression.

6 Directions in and out of

the Camera Frame
l

Make a list of four things

that could pop in and
out of each scene from
each of these six
directions to add depth
to your shots. Make
Makes
the viewer believe that
the film world extends
far beyond what the
camera chooses to show
them on the screen.

180180-Degree Rule
Defined: technique
used to help keep
viewers from getting
lost in a film world
space, by keeping
the camera on one
side of a line drawn
across space.

Neutral Screen Direction

Neutral screen direction
depicts moving subjects
traveling toward or away
from the camera. Neutral
movements are nonnondirectional and can be
interinter-cut with scenes
showing movements in
either direction.

Camera Tracking
Tracking shots: camera #1
films front threethree-quarter
angle depicting walking
player moving left to right.
Camera #2 films neutral
headsheads-on shot; Camera #3
films neutral tailtail-away shot.
If player walks into or out of
neutral shots; he must enter
from left of Camera #3, and
exit right for Camera #2 to
preserve leftleft-toto-right
directional travel.

Entrance & Exits

A moving subject should
enter and/or exit the frame
under the following
conditions:
l when the background
changes
l Players walking from one
room to another
l When an exiting from one
shot, player should enter
in another.

Leading Looks
Note: when working with
moving subjects (and
other things) consider
leading looks, meaning
that you have allowed for
the compositional weight
of the look. EG: If you
have a side view of a
person looking to the left,
put this person on the
right half of the frame to
allow room for the look to
occur.

Static Screen Direction

Static screen
direction is
concerned with the
way in which
players face and
look on the screen.

Example: