Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing is to make the work of the editor as invisible as possible. The viewer should not notice the cuts, and shots should flow together naturally. So from this the sequence of shots will appear to be continuous.

Continuity involves 4 main features :

- Match On Action
- 180 Degree Rule
- Eyeline Match
- Shot Reverse Shot

The Match on action technique provides temporal continuity where there is a formula, physical motion or change within a passage without being repeated. A match on action is when some action occurs before the cut is picked up where the cut left it by the shot following. For example, a shot of someone throwing a ball can be edited to show two different views, while maintaining temporal continuity by being sure that the second shot shows the arm of the subject in the same stage of its motion as it was left when cutting from the first shot.

The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters or objects in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.

An eyeline match is a popular editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. The eyeline match begins with a character looking at something off-screen, there will then be a cut to the object or person at which he is looking. For example, a man is looking off-screen to his left, and then the film cuts to a television that he is watching.

Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique in which one character is shown looking at another character usually off-screen, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.