Continuity in Filming

Continuity in filming is very important because it allows us to immerse ourselves in the full glory of the film. If any of these are broken then the audience gets confused and a feeling of uneasiness. It breaks the illusion and they suddenly realize everything is a fake. Rules and shot types must be followed to keep the audience entertained, and to keep the movie realistic – such as the 180° rule, the rule of thirds, shot reverse shot and eye line matching.

180° Rule

The 180° rule in film making dictates that the camera is not allowed to go beyond the 180° line - otherwise the audience is left confused. In the image above, you can see the dashed line is the 180° line, and the camera / cameras are only allowed to film from one side of the line - in this case it is the green side. The red side is the no filming zone, so no cameras should be filming from that side. When filming you cannot switch between sides otherwise the objects in the shots switch around and this confuses the audience.

Rule of Thirds

The 'rule of thirds' in film making means that the subjects or object likes to be placed in a third of the shot. In the image above, you can see that it is separated into thirds horizontally and vertically (represented by the light blue lines). These likes are like guide lined and the subject should be placed along one of these lines or where these lines meet up. This makes the shot seem more interesting and appealing as the subjects are central all of the time. As you can see from the image above, the two characters are placed is each third.

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is a filming technique where by one character is shown looking off screen at another character, and then in the other shot, the other character is shown looking back at the character. This is generally used during conversations within a film.

Eyeline Match

Eyeline match in an editing technique used in film making - and is based on the audience wanting to see what the character is seeing see off screen as well. When the footage is edited, shots of what the character is seeing is shown after. From the example above, you can see four shots. The first shot is the lady looking at something off screen. We as the audience want to know what she is looking at so the next shot is the shot of the object she was looking at. Shots 3 and 4 show the same story however they are more close up shots indicating that she is focused on the painting.