Continuity

Continuity is when the camera is telling a long story but only uses clips of the whole story to show it instead. For example if someone was taking a car journey from london to cornwall, you wouldnt show the whole 4 hour journey but you would take videos of clips of the journey and use them to portray the trip.

Continuity could be used in tv programs and films but it is easy to make mistakes. Avatar uses continuity to portray the whole adventure of "jake" turning into an avatar. His administrator Parker is playing golf in one scene and it shows his indoor golf scene. Parker hits the first ball and has two other balls laying next to each other. In the next shot they are distant from each other but in the last shot the balls are back together. The editor obviously didn't notice this and
many people have spotted this. There are many other films that have made mistakes in using this.

It is common to find continuity in a film and find mistakes, but it is a lot harder in TV programs. I have found a clip with continuity issues in a TV program.

Match on Action, Shot/ reverse shot and 180 degree rule

Previously I have described what Match on Acton, Shot/ Reverse shot and 180 Degree rule are. Trying to explain all with pictures of clips is hard but I have found a clip showing all three in action. It begins Using Match on Action and then goes on to using Shot/ Reverse shot and 180 Degree rule combined.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is where you have a line of view and you are showing two characters in a scene using the shot /reverse shot. In a shot /reverse shot you have to keep the same side of the veiw line or it will confuse the audience of which way the character is looking. if you have a charater facing right in one scene and the other facing right because you have broken the 180 degree rule the audience will be confused in the character angle.

Shot /Reverse Shot

Shot/reverse shot is where the camera switches between to characters opposite each other. The shot is showing the characters looking at each other but from different perspectives. The camera is focused on the character usually talking but from the opposite characters view . In a film this would usually be used during 1-1 confrontation. it can be used when two characters are looking at each other or when they are speaking.

Match On Action

Match on action is where the camera is showing an action in a full shot but then cuts into part of the action portraying the same image as in the full action shot. In this video the character is reading a book and the camera cuts into just the book at the same moment showing what is happening in a different perspective. Ususally they go from one image into an extreme close up like in this they go from showing the whole character to just showing the book she is reading.

AS Media Preliminary Exercise

We have to produce a short clip of a character opening a door, crossing the room and sitting in a chair opposite another character. These two characters have to exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. We have to include three main points:

• match on action
• shot/reverse shot
• 180 degree rule