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of a person sitting on a park bench. As long as it has movement or direction, any shot you start with defines your first continuity line—your line of interest. A good rule of thumb to get to the other side of that line in editing is to “turn” on one of these types of shots:

• A shot straight down the line of interest. • A shot that literally moves across the line,

taking the viewers along from one side to the other.

• A close-up shot.

• A wide shot that cuts to another wide shot with a different line.

In the example of the speaker and the meeting, a shot straight down the line of interest would come from the center-back of the room and have no move- ment or direction. This type of shot destroys the line started from the left side of the room and gives you freedom to reestablish a different one. You could also

Figure 7-12 Camera placement and several sample shots for covering a typical speech. Here, the 180º line, or action axis, is between the speaker and the audience.

156 Chapter 7: Part Two: Creative Editing Basics

dolly a camera from the left to the right at the back of the room, visually taking the viewers across the line. You might also turn using a close-up: shoot a tight shot of the speaker facing left, then cut to a wide shot from the other side of the room so that the speaker is now facing right. You have crossed the line but not con- fused the viewer, because the speaker (the reference point) is in both shots. The dramatic change in focal length will mask any jump in speaker’s position or pos- ture. If you want to turn using two wide shots, you can shoot one from the left rear of the room and cut to a wide shot from the middle of the right side of the room. It is possible to turn and not confuse the viewer by using wide shots, because all the elements of the scene are present in both shots, although they are still very different.

For this crossing-the-line editing to work, the line cannot be crossed very often or the continuity will be lost anyway. As always, when you sit down to edit, look at all the shots available to you, not only for con- tent but also for continuity. You should be able to sep- arate shots into sequences by continuity, grouping shots with common lines of interest and identifying turn shots to cross those lines if necessary.

Continuity within Sequences

Continuity can be changed at the end of a sequence, but not in the middle of one. Each visual sequence, like a written paragraph, must stick to one subject. Within a sequence, every subject that has movement or direction must maintain that direction. To allow the viewer to understand that subject fully, each shot in the sequence must flow easily to the next shot. Each aspect of continuity must be maintained within the sequence.

Movement If the subject’s direction or movement is to

the right at the beginning, it should always be to the right throughout the sequence. Watch a good action movie and look for the direction of the subjects (cars, people, backgrounds). Look for the 180˚ rule and study how it is used. The continuity is usually very good in action movies. Also watch how they use turn shots to change the line.

Details Continuity also refers to other elements in the

picture besides movement. Not only must directional and spatial relationships be maintained, but also the

details within the sequences. An obvious example is the clothing a subject is wearing. If the subject has on a green shirt in one shot and a blue shirt in the next, but there is no implied change in time or place, then there is an obvious break in continuity. This also applies to the details of position and tone. You can’t cut from a medium shot of the mayor slumped in his chair on the phone to a wide shot of him leaning forward drinking coffee, or from a tight shot of the councilwoman’s an- gry glare on the podium to a medium shot of her laughing. They just don’t fit together.

Background Objects in the background cannot move

from one shot to the next because there will be a dis- ruption in the sense of reality. For example, furniture in a room must stay in the same arrangement. Conti- nuity means that background elements must remain the same within the framework of the story line. For ENG and EFP, many elements are not controllable, but you still must avoid very obvious breaks in conti- nuity. In a story about a family moving out of their house, you would not show a scene with the father packing the last box in an empty room then cut to the mother packing a box with that same room half full.

Lighting The lighting within a sequence must also re-

main the same. Shots taken on a cloudy day cannot be intercut with shots taken in full sunlight. A dusk-to- night outdoor concert should not show the group playing at full darkness cut with shots of the audience in sunset lighting. The time difference is too great and noticeable to even the least discriminating viewer. TV viewers are all professionals at TV watching—they have been doing it almost all of their lives.

Establishing a Story Line

ENG and EFP productions tell some sort of story. As a videographer or editor, it is your job to make that story come alive and make it understandable within the con- fines of the script and the time limit. Many news pieces and commercials have no real visual story line, just a sequence of shots that show a particular subject. But whenever any action occurs or time obviously passes during a shoot, it can be put into story form. The script determines most, but not all, story lines in EFP. In ENG, the subjects themselves determine the story lines. Whenever you shoot or edit for either news

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