Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

--- The 180 degree rule - The rule states that the camera(s) should remain the same side of an imaginary line. The line is drawn perpendicular the camera’s viewpoint in the establishing shot of the scene. The rule enforces continuity of the film. An example is that in a car chase scene, if the car is travelling from right to left, the next shot must also be shot from the same side, meaning the car has to enter the frame right to left again foor example the duel scene in Masaki Kobiyashi’s ‘Harakiri’ (1962)

 

---The 30 degree rule – The idea that when moving your camera between shots the camera should be moved a minimum of 25 to 30 degrees (with a maximum limit of 180 degrees) to avoid jarring transitions also known as jump cuts. This helps you seamlessly piece together a larger sequence of shots in a harmonious manner for example mickeys interview in Oliver Stone’s ‘Natural born Killers’ (1994)

---Cut in – A cut in is when a shot is placed within another shot to create meaning or as a means of exposition. For example, You could have a shot of a man looking at something out of the shot, You would then use a cut in to show the audience what he was looking at for example the opening sequence and watch scene in Dennis Hopper’s ‘Easy rider’ (1969) 

 

 ---Eisenstein montage - Eisenstein's view that "montage is an idea that arises from the collision of independent shots" wherein "each sequential element is perceived not next to the other, but on top of the other" has become most widely accepted for example, John G. Alvildson’s ‘Rocky’ (1976) 

  

---Parallel editing/Crosscutting - is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations. If the scenes are simultaneous, they occasionally culminate in a single place, where the relevant parties confront each other for example, the baptism scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather’ (1972) 

 

 ---Shot / reverse shot - Film historian David Bordwell defines the film technique “wherein one character is shown looking (often off-screen) at another character, and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer unconsciously assumes that they are looking at each other.” (Bordwell). This idea basically shows an interaction between two subjects in a shot and goes back and forth between the tow to show continuity for example the diner scene in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Hard Eight’ (1996)  

 

---Match on action- A match on action is when a certain action in a scene matches to the next shot shown . e.g. if somebody punched someone in the face in the first shot, the second shot shows them falling to the floor for The watchowski brother’s ‘The Matrix’ ( 1999)

 

---Establishing Shot – An establishing shot is usually a wide angle shot which opens up the setting for a scene. Establishing shot’s can also be used to show the passing of time and also as a means of exposition e.g. if the shot was of a building and it said hospital on it it would then tell the audience that it’s a hospital for example, Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The shining’ (1980)

 

---Temporal overlap - Temporal discontinuity can be expressed by the deliberate use of ellipses (An ellipsis is an apparent break in natural time continuity as it is implied in the film's story). Cutting techniques useful in showing the nature of the specific ellipses are the dissolve and the fade. Other editing styles can show a reversal of time or even an abandonment of it altogether. These are the flashback and the montage techniques, respectively for example, John Woo’s ‘mission impossible 2’ (2000)

  

 ---The Kuleshov effect - It is a mental phenomenon by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation.