Continuity and Dialogue

Attention to continuity in a film or video project is crucial in keeping the audience engaged. It keeps things moving and turns what would otherwise be just a collection of shots into a fluid sequence. When this is done well, the audience shouldn’t even think about it or notice it, they just focus on what’s happening on screen. After discussing some of the elements of continuity, it’s really hard not to notice them in everything now. Despite the unique styles of many different filmmakers, many of these rules of continuity are found in everything, at least in some form. Something I noticed in some of the clips we watched was how many dialogue based scenes were cut to show the emotions of both people. Instead of just relying on what each person is saying to each other, we also see how each person reacts to what’s currently being said. While someone is talking, there is often a reaction shot of the person listening. This was particularly evident in The Royal Tenenbaums scene (although the shot doesn’t actually cut), as well as Fugue #11 ([dis]continuity). Showing these reactions keeps the scene emotionally engaging, and lets us connect with each character a little bit more deeply. Often, these reaction shots say a lot more than any line of dialogue does. As we have discussed in class, the majority of these dialogue based scenes follow the 180 degree rule. The exception within the clips we watched being some of the Coen brothers films that have the camera basically in the middle of the line, cutting back and forth between the actors who are often in the center of the frame. This gives the scenes a more playful, slightly surreal feel that also feels really personal with the characters almost looking at us. But what these Coen Brothers scenes do have in common with the other clips we watched is that the eye lines of the characters match in each shot. We can tell a character is talking to another just based on where they are looking, usually the opposite direction of the character in the previous shot. The placement of the characters in the frame can also tell us more about the dynamic between them or the unspoken tension. When this is done well, we don’t even think about it. This is really crucial in framing shots but something I feel like could be easily missed if each one wasn’t carefully planned out, or the blocking of the characters was off in some way.  I feel like in general, the editing of a project is almost as important as the content of a scene. I feel like a well cut, and well framed conversation scene can turn any dialogue into something engaging. I feel like in my personal experience working on conversation based scenes, I focus so much on what each character is saying, that I don’t think about the preciseness of their placement in the frame, especially in relation to the opposite shot. This is something I really want to play around with in the next assignment. I’d also really like to try out some of the kind of match cutting that was in Radiohead’s Daydreaming music video.