Post-Production : Continuity Style Editing by Rakesh Malik

Actor's performance is most important. Continuity of "action" is important when people are not paying attention to the actor. Which in a lot of poorly acted or poorly directed shows is the case. If you watch some of the greatest scenes in cinema for absolute continuity of action, you will find a lot of times they don't care, and more importantly the audience never noticed. AND BY THE WAY, let's dispel the "continuity" myth about action on set. A script supervisor is there for CONTINUITY OF THE SCRIPT - which means ensuring scripted dialog is covered and agrees with camera a sound reports so that continuity can continue into editorial. The "did she have her pen in the right hand or left hand" thing is a far second and department heads are responsible for visual continuity of their department - that's why MU and Wardobe, for example. rush in between scenes to make sure things are right - it's not the job of the script supervisor.

Rakesh Malik this is my first time hearing about Walter Much's six criteria, would you mind sharing more about this for those of us who are either new to the industry or unfamiliar with their work?

I agree that what most people think of as continuity is not that important.

What’s important is performance and clarity of story. When I edit, I find those “best” takes and find ways to make use of them.

What I find rewarding is finding the best “continuity of motion” moments to carry the audience across a cut. Someone moving to stand up or reaching for a prop can draw the eye, so it doesn’t matter how much liquid is in their glass, for instance.

On a side note, there are many long form lectures from Murch online, and they’re worth watching. I had the privilege of seeing him present footage from Apocalypse Now at such a presentation. One of my film heroes.

Cyrus Sales No problem!

Walter Murch is most famous for editing "Apocalypse Now." He wrote a book called, "In the Blink of an Eye," in which he describes how he edits. The part I was specifically referring to was his "Rule of Six" which helps to codify his approach to editing in order to share it: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/walter-murch-rule-of-six/

I've even noticed shot-reverse shot dialog scenes where the key light flipped between reverses.

But when I'm engaged with a movie, things that like that don't bother me, and often I don't even consciously pick up on them until a second viewing. Films that don't engage me at all often feel like they're full of continuity errors, but that's in reality because I'm paying attention to other things besides the story and characters.

I'm not an editor, Rakesh Malik, but two things that are important to me as a movie fan are editing that makes sense and the right timing for the story (I've seen movies where shots/scenes are over too fast or stay on screen for too long).

I’m a stickler for the 180 rule. I’ve often flipped a shot in editing to avoid breaking the line.

The 180 rule is, like pretty much all rules in art, meant to be broken... sometimes. Breaking the 180 degree rule is very disorienting, so it's not something you should be doing often, but when done with intent, it can be very good at creating audience discomfort.

Of course, for the same reason, you should be careful to avoid accidentally jumping the line. I also try to be very careful to avoid jumping the line.

I think the most important thing in any creative endeavor is learning the rules so you know how to break them, and finding your voice. Once you’re experienced enough you can find your flow within your own rules. It’s such an amazing feeling being free of the classically trained chains you feel restrained by, once you’ve mastered your craft.