How To Maintain Continuity in Film: 10 Continuity Editing Techniques

Continuity editing is a film editing technique in traditional narrative film and television. Continuity is the principle of making sure that all details in a film or TV show are consistent from shot to shot, and from scene to scene. If a scene upholds the standards of continuity, each shot feels as though it flows from the previous shot, reinforcing a sense of realism in the story.

Continuity editing is vital to filmmaking and good storytelling because it helps keep viewers immersed in the film or television show. Filmmakers want audiences to pay attention to the action and dialogue in a story without distractions. When visual details are consistent throughout a scene, the audience can pay full attention.

While continuity errors and plot holes can put off viewers, experimental and avant-garde films may use discontinuity editing—deliberately breaking continuity rules—to achieve a particular effect. Hollywood films also occasionally use this technique.

There are two types of continuity in film: temporal continuity and spatial continuity. Temporal continuity ensures that a film seems to flow continuously in time, and spatial continuity ensures that the geography of a scene stays consistent. There are a number of editing techniques that ensure continuity within a scene:

1. 1. Eyeline match: In a scene with different shots of multiple characters interacting, it must clearly define who is looking at whom. When a filmmaker shows characters looking at one another in a wide shot, the direction of their gaze must seem the same in close-ups in order for the shots to be intercut in post-production.
2. 2. Diegetic sound: Diegetic sound is any sound that emanates from the story-world of the film—as opposed to non-diegetic sound like a film soundtrack, which supports the onscreen action. Diegetic sound is important to temporal continuity editing because seamless sound makes a scene feel as if it exists in continuous time, even as you move from one cut to the next shot.
3. 3. Matching action: Also known as match on action, an editor will use this technique to match cuts from one shot with those from a different view that matches or continues the action of a first shot. For example, if the establishing shot shows someone opening a door, the matching action shot would be the opened door from the other side. This is also known as a shot/reverse shot.
4. 4. 180-degree rule: This camera movement guideline helps viewers understand how two characters stand and experience their surroundings in relation to each other, and contributes to narrative filmmaking. The 180-degree rule draws an imaginary axis between two characters, with each side of the axis showing a character’s point of view. The intention of the 180-degree rule is to avoid disorientation and distraction for the audience by maintaining the same left/right relationship between the two characters.
5. 5. 30-degree rule: The 30-degree rule is a guideline for filming a subject from different angles in the same scene to establish variety. The rule states that the camera should move at least 30 degrees between shots of the same subject.
6. 6. Cross-cutting: This technique establishes simultaneous actions between characters in different places. For instance, two characters having a phone conversation in different locations—each actor films separately, and the shots are edited together to make it seem like they're having a conversation. The film editor would need to match the sound between the two takes seamlessly for it to flow like a real conversation. This also applies to parallel editing.
7. 7. Jump cut: This is a cut between the same exact shot, creating the effect of briefly jumping forward in time. Jump cuts can show the passing of time in a montage, or add speed and a sense of urgency to a scene.
8. 8. Flashback: This is a scene (or scenes) that takes place before a story begins. Flashbacks interrupt the chronological order of the main narrative to take a viewer back in time to the past events that are essential to character or plot development. While flashbacks might seem to disrupt continuity, they’re often essential for revealing pertinent details, or explaining a conflict or missing link in a story.

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