What is it and why do I care? Have you ever watched TV or a movie and noticed a small mistake where in one shot a book is on a desk and then in the very next shot it's in a chair? If you have, you saw a continuity error. Continuity is best described as a seamless flow of events. It's what makes all those small shots cut together seem like one single continuous piece.
Continuity is about consistency. If a character is exiting a room and we see him open the door from the inside in one shot and then the next shot is from outside and we see the door open again as he comes out, that would be a continuity error. It would seem that the door opened twice and that doesn't make sense. That is inconsistent action and is confusing.
Most visual continuity errors happen during shooting. It usually happens when you have multiple takes from different angles and when you have to shoot things out of order. For instance, an actor may be carrying a bag in his left hand in one shot, but then when you shoot from a different angle it's in his right hand. Whenever you setup for different angles or start doing a lot of takes it's easy to forget simple details. It's always a good time to have your storyboard on hand to make sure you are shooting things how you planned. Also, if you rehearse before you shoot and give specific instructions you can make it easier for your actors and camera operator to know what to do, and do it exactly the same way every time.
One particular problem that can occur while shooting and is revealed in editing is the jump cut. In a jump cut you have two consecutive shots that are virtually the same angle with a bit of time missing in the middle. It basically looks like one continual shot with the middle cut out. The viewer notices that the shot seems to "jump" for no reason. A good way to fix this is to include a cutaway shot in the middle of the two shots to cover the jump. It makes the viewer look away at something else instead of seeing the jump.
This also goes for audio as well. Things need to sound consistent as well. This includes the way actors deliver lines, as well as background noise. Some of this can be fixed in editing by mixing audio, but very little.
The last but most problematic continuity error is a story error. If your story has a person break their leg in a car accident at Christmas and then by the end of the story they are at a new year's party dancing with a perfectly good leg your audience will see that as a problem. Unfortunately you can't fix that in post-production and maybe not in production (it's pretty hard to shoot around a person dancing on what's supposed to be a broken leg). This kind of error should never make it out of pre-production.
The best way to fix continuity errors is not to make them. Remember, consistency and specific direction are friends of continuity. However, they will happen sometimes. In fact, just search for "continuity errors" on the internet and you will find more than a few sites that expose them in film and TV. So when they happen, you have to fix them. Here is a very good article from Videomaker.com on how to do that. "Continuity Boot Camp"
Continuity (the C word)
What is it and why do I care? Have you ever watched TV or a movie and noticed a small mistake where in one shot a book is on a desk and then in the very next shot it's in a chair? If you have, you saw a continuity error. Continuity is best described as a seamless flow of events. It's what makes all those small shots cut together seem like one single continuous piece.
Continuity is about consistency. If a character is exiting a room and we see him open the door from the inside in one shot and then the next shot is from outside and we see the door open again as he comes out, that would be a continuity error. It would seem that the door opened twice and that doesn't make sense. That is inconsistent action and is confusing.
Most visual continuity errors happen during shooting. It usually happens when you have multiple takes from different angles and when you have to shoot things out of order. For instance, an actor may be carrying a bag in his left hand in one shot, but then when you shoot from a different angle it's in his right hand. Whenever you setup for different angles or start doing a lot of takes it's easy to forget simple details. It's always a good time to have your storyboard on hand to make sure you are shooting things how you planned. Also, if you rehearse before you shoot and give specific instructions you can make it easier for your actors and camera operator to know what to do, and do it exactly the same way every time.
One particular problem that can occur while shooting and is revealed in editing is the jump cut. In a jump cut you have two consecutive shots that are virtually the same angle with a bit of time missing in the middle. It basically looks like one continual shot with the middle cut out. The viewer notices that the shot seems to "jump" for no reason. A good way to fix this is to include a cutaway shot in the middle of the two shots to cover the jump. It makes the viewer look away at something else instead of seeing the jump.
This also goes for audio as well. Things need to sound consistent as well. This includes the way actors deliver lines, as well as background noise. Some of this can be fixed in editing by mixing audio, but very little.
The last but most problematic continuity error is a story error. If your story has a person break their leg in a car accident at Christmas and then by the end of the story they are at a new year's party dancing with a perfectly good leg your audience will see that as a problem. Unfortunately you can't fix that in post-production and maybe not in production (it's pretty hard to shoot around a person dancing on what's supposed to be a broken leg). This kind of error should never make it out of pre-production.
The best way to fix continuity errors is not to make them. Remember, consistency and specific direction are friends of continuity. However, they will happen sometimes. In fact, just search for "continuity errors" on the internet and you will find more than a few sites that expose them in film and TV. So when they happen, you have to fix them. Here is a very good article from Videomaker.com on how to do that. "Continuity Boot Camp"