Friday, 26 October 2012

Continuity shots

Continuity shots refer to the editing of shots in a way to maintain continuity of the narrative of any film, or drama e.t.c.

There are various continuity shots, starting from the Establishing shot up to Action Match and Jump cut.
Establishing shot in any film is used to show the relationship of the environment and its significant figures or objects. Long shot is often used for such scenes.

Coming down to the next shot, it is the Shot/Shot reverse. This is often used when two characters are shown involved in a conversation- these are basically alternating shots of the two characters edited together. It is important to note that placing of the characters in the frame is also done accordingly, character in one frame will e shown looking at the other person, in the next frame. Similar rules apply to the character in the next frame.

Complimenting Shot/Shot Reverse shot are the 180Degree rule, Over the Shoulder shot and Eye line match. 180Degree rule is used to show the correct positioning of the characters i.e. if a character is on the left, he should be, in the frame, shown as standing on the left. When taking the shots, mistakes can be made in showing the position of the characters. Often, person standing on the left is shown, in the frame, as standing on the rights, and the one standing on right is shown to be standing on the right. This error is overcome by using 180Degree rule, as mentioned earlier as well, by the help of line of axis.

Over the shoulder shot is taken by positioning the camera on the shoulder level/height of one character to take the shot of, or focus on the other character. When taking such shots, it is important to keep the Eye-line match of the characters maintained i.e the shot shows a person off in one direction and the second shows a nearby space containing what he or she sees; the angle of the Camera needs to be maintained here.


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