How important is continuity to you?

D

D.Mur

Active member
I'm just curious at how important continuity is for you guys and how that factors into your filmmaking decisions.

Also, do you have any examples of films you've made where continuity is a low priority for you? How has this worked out for you?

Please don't give a definition of continuity and why it's important. I understand why it's important and the role it plays in the editing process.

I used to be big on continuity, and would make sure my actors adhered to it. For example, two characters are talking and one drinks a glass of scotch while listening to the other. I used to make sure the actor did that at the exact same time in each take.

Now I've gotten to a point where continuity just doesn't seem important to me. I had someone point out to me the EGREGIOUS continuity errors in Scorcese films (watch Goodfellas or Raging Bull). I mean these were huge GLARING continuity errors, and I had never noticed them. But its because Scorcese values performance over ensuring things will cut precisely. I've taken this approach ever since and I've found it to be pretty liberating. It's funny because I always think people will catch these continuity errors and figure me out as a fraud haha, but as long as performance is good no one ever seems to notice...

I'm not saying I abandon the idea of continuity completely, it's just that it's become very low on the totem pole for me...

What's your take?
 
I think some degree of continuity is important, as you would never want something so obvious that it brings the audience out of the experience because they noticed "a mistake". That being said, getting good performances is more important and I don't think a director should focus on continuity. However if you have the luxury it's nice to have someone else worry about it (I think in most features the script supervisor has that responsibility).
 
jghenderson said:
I think some degree of continuity is important, as you would never want something so obvious that it brings the audience out of the experience because they noticed "a mistake". That being said, getting good performances is more important and I don't think a director should focus on continuity. However if you have the luxury it's nice to have someone else worry about it (I think in most features the script supervisor has that responsibility).
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Yea I agree. The director shouldn't have to focus on that on set. My most recent short I had a script supervisor, and on a feature I shot this past summer I had a script sup for half the time. A great script sup is certainly helpful. I just prefer that my script sup pull me to the side instead of announcing things out loud that were done "wrong" in the last take.

Zak Forsman said:
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That's a good video and I definitely agree with what he's saying. I've seen a pyramid chart that reflects that same idea. I think there's a person who even broke down psychologically how important these things are to the audience and quantified it. The emotional context was somewhere around 30% and the level of continuity and eyelines were both 7 or 8%.

There definitely isn't a one size fits all answer, but what I'm really interested in is how directors apply this hierarchy or rule of six to their directing approach.
 
D.Mur said:
Yea I agree. The director shouldn't have to focus on that on set. My most recent short I had a script supervisor, and on a feature I shot this past summer I had a script sup for half the time. A great script sup is certainly helpful. I just prefer that my script sup pull me to the side instead of announcing things out loud that were done "wrong" in the last take.
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That sounds really annoying.
 
If that glass of scotch is not important then it is OK to have some mismatch. But if that scotch is poisoned... you must to focus on it.
 
I've always been a sucker for continuity. I feel that it gives the piece more "credit"? Hah.
I think that someone is going to frame and put a neon sign next to every mistake I include, although I know that 99% of people don't notice it anyway.

I haven't found it to be a huge issue, although I've run into actors needing to have their lines redubbed or a scene having almost unusable footage..
 
Perfect Continuity makes the film like a perfect dance or trapeeze routine - it's so fluid and beautiful and jarring when its not. That being said - performance over perfect continuity - and depending on how fast you breeze thru a scene - who needs it? Like a fast moving Tony Scott movie! Yum!
 
IMO attention to continuity is important, especially when severe disruptions make for illogical/ridiculous situations (a person magically loses a coffee cup or instantly relocates three stairs down), but it should otherwise not interfere with the performance. As others have suggested (re Scorsese etc.), small continuity issues can be gotten away with if the performances are strong enough. If your heart and mind are riveted to what DeNiro is going to do/say next, you probably won't notice different numbers of buttons buttoned on his shirt between shots...
 
john threat said:
script monkey? wow! i know if i was on set i wouldnt want to be called that.
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It's a term I picked up from Lloyd Kaufman. It's used good naturedly. I wouldn't call them that the first day on set, but after we get to know each other for a couple of days and are joking around a bit you might hear me yell "Where's the script monkey!"
 
Josh Bass said:
Might wanna be careful with that one around African Americans.
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Indeed, though I wouldn't hesitate to use it for a second unless it was directed AT them.

Oddly enough, I frequently cast AA actors in roles that aren't race specific (including the lead in my new web series), but have never had an AA crew member, ever, not even one, never had one apply , ever, not even one.

Perhaps even stranger, I have never even been on a set that had an AA crew member, ever. Not sure what's going on there exactly.
 
We are three days into a 10 day feature (impossible with this director) and we just lost our script supervisor. We are screwed.
 
This summarises my take on continuity: If you are emotionally involved in the scene or otherwise concentrating on something else like performance or plot it is not really a big deal. Remember, most viewers only watch your film, not scrub through it frame by frame a dozen times!

I guess most of you have seen this video (or a variation) before, but it kind of illustrates my point:

 
Yeah I dont think it has anything to do with someones ethnicity. I wouldn't fool myself into thinking that - I wouldn't start calling someone i didn't know very well in a professional environment with other people around any sort of name like that. Sounds demeaning and unprofessional.
 
@swoplv: Funny, and no, I hadn't seen it before. The first time, *all* I saw was the (you know), but that's probably only because I knew I was being 'attention tested'. On a second viewing, when I just tried hard to 'pass the test' the (you know) largely disappeared. Point proven... : )
 
john threat said:
Yeah I dont think it has anything to do with someones ethnicity. I wouldn't fool myself into thinking that - I wouldn't start calling someone i didn't know very well in a professional environment with other people around any sort of name like that. Sounds demeaning and unprofessional.
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My entire personality could probably be summed up as "Loveable asshole". I've never had anyone I worked with react in any way other than being very glad to work with me a second time, so it works for me.

If someone is so thin skinned that something like that (again, not directed at them the first day on set or without a smile on my face) genuinely pisses them off, then it's probably best for both of us that they go ahead and quit because I'm the one writing the checks and I'm not going to change.
 
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