Production: Basic of Continuity

COORDINATING AND REPORTING

The script supervisor works closely with the director and editor, and plays a key role in guarding against omissions or mismatches in the production. Continuity work begins as soon as a finished script exists, but comes into its own during shooting. The script supervisor monitors the continuity of costumes, properties, and characters’ words and behavior—something that otherwise falls haphazardly to director, actors, and crew. The professional continuity supervisor’s note taking culminates in one or more sheets per camera setup. These records provide guidance during the shoot and are used intensively by the editor.

SCRIPT BREAKDOWN

A close reading of the script yields a list of locations and of people in the first breakdown. Very important are their names, characteristics, physical attributes, overt action (as opposed to action offscreen or implied in the past), and their entries and exits.

CHRONOLOGY

The script supervisor makes a chronology for the story that, at the very least, will have time lapses. If the story is told out of order, or has flashbacks or flash-forwards, this may have profound consequences for the age or condition of the characters, and thus for their makeup and costuming. Continuity must at all times know where the story is, spatially and temporally, as well as what has befallen the characters before we see them and where they go afterward. The chronology is key to keeping track of all this, and will be measured off in minutes, hours, days,or years—whatever the story calls for. If the story is set in four days, the main unit will be Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and Day Four, and each scene will be specified by time within the day. Other key temporal and spatial aspects are day or night, and interior or exterior.

PLANNING THE SHOOT

As coordinator for many important details, the script supervisor gets specifics from wardrobe, props, and makeup, and makes sure the production manager has the right details for each scene. The production office will issue the daily call sheet. This list of personnel is handed to everyone who is being called in for the next day’s work. The call sheet specifies scenes, actors, costuming, properties, equipment, transport to locations, and any other special provisions.

TYPES OF CONTINUITY

Continuity implies the simple match of details from one scene to the next, but if a chronologically late scene precedes an earlier one, continuity must be back-matched to preserve the logic of compatibility. There is also direct and indirect continuity: Direct continuity is when one shot or one scene follows another. A character cannot change jackets while stepping from one room to another, for instance. Indirect continuity is that between scenes separated by time or other scenes. If a man goes carousing and we next see him many hours later, this is indirect continuity. Although he is in the same clothes, they are now rumpled and stained, and his face shadowed with stubble. During parallel storytelling, we might intercut two stories, so indirect continuity must hold good in all the A segments and all the B segments.

WARDROBE AND PROPERTIES OVERSIGHT

The script supervisor must know wardrobe details from scene to scene, and keep a hawk eye on costumes, hair, makeup, and properties. There are three classes of property:  Hand props, such as a comb or diary, which the characters handle. Stage props, such as a lava lamp or princess bed, which are part of an environment and may be related to one of the characters. Breakaway props, such as a pottery figure or a foam cup, which get broken or used up in some way (and for which replacements must be on hand for subsequent takes).

The continuity supervisor must know which buttons must be done up in which suit, and whether the Cuisinart Mini-Prep food processor has its lid on or off. A cake with two slices taken in one scene cannot appear later with only one piece gone.

CONTINUITY BREAKDOWN

The script supervisor must read, analyze, break down, and reread the script until its every need is committed to memory.

TIMING

How long each scene should last is predicted by a page count. One normal page lasts one minute of screen time. Scene length is specified to the nearest eighth of a page. Naturally, a scene description saying only “A montage of shots in Montana showing the transition from fall through winter and spring” must be interpreted differently. During shooting, the script supervisor uses a stopwatch to time every take of every shot in every scene. Master scenes yield the first overall timing. Keeping track of script pages shot per day and of screen time completed lets the unit know its progress. The producer thus gets a warning if the film is lagging its schedule or exceeding its length.

MONITORING DIALOGUE

From take to take, the script supervisor logs all the words that the actors use. The supervisor records any variations that will create problems in editing. Plot information is often embedded in dialogue, so it would be disastrous to settle for a take in which the detective gave the suspect’s name wrongly. The script supervisor may note the relative pacing, subtext, and feeling from take to take.

PHYSICAL CONTINUITY

If a character picks up a glass of wine with her right hand in the master shot, but her left in closer shots, the editor has a problem. Similarly, if a character rises during a line in a medium shot, but after the line in the long shot, there will be another problem—and much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the cutting room. Continuity’s job is to alert everyone to continuity lapses and to inconsistencies in camera movements or timing, and to know what options exist as alternatives. This means being very prepared and very observant, all the time. Taking digital snaps of characters or sets before and after each take helps keep tabs on what people wore, how they wore it, and how their hair looked. Shooting on video makes this less necessary, but it’s amazing how sure an actor can be that his jacket was unbuttoned—until video footage proves otherwise.

COVERAGE

From discussions with the director, the script supervisor knows how a scene should be covered—then, after shooting, how it was actually covered and can be edited. Script supervisors thus need to know editing and dramaturgic structure because both can be in flux during shooting.

BRACKETING THE SCRIPT

Bracketing the master script lightly in pencil shows how the scene will be broken down into shots, and heavier penciling can then record the actuality. Color codings for particular characters, or for their entries and exits, may be helpful, but like any system, must be used consistently for it to work.

SCRIPT SUPERVISOR’S POSITIONING

Normally, the script supervisor sits beside the camera in order to see what it sees, but he or she might sometimes watch a video feed. Often the monitor’s acuity won’t be good enough, or, if it’s an exterior scene, the screen will be washed out by daylight. Events also start to happen off camera before they appear in frame,so the wider awareness of sitting next to the camera is preferable.

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