continuity editing

Continuity editing
Continuity editing is the predominant technique of film editing/video editing. The main purpose for this is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process. Furthermore continuity editing requires the director to make the film as much like the audience's reality as possible. For example this would mean the film is trying to recreate what the world around us is trying to make easier on the audience to comprehend and understand the actions happening on screen.

Eyeline match
The eyeline match is when we see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut to a shot of and then we cut to a shot of what they are looking at. The eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. Alfred Hitchcock used a lot of eyeline match in his film rear window.



Rear Window Eyeline Match from D.E. Williams on Vimeo.

Match-on-action 
The match-on-action is when we see a character start an action in one shot and then we see them continue it in the next. Although the two shots may have actually been shot hours apart from each other, cutting on action gives the impression of continuous time when watching the edited film.
By having a subject begin with an action in one shot and carry it through to completion in the next year, the editor creates a visual bridge which distracts the viewer from noticing the cut or any slight continuity error between the shots.




Graphic match 
When two shots are linked with a similar shape or composition of an image. A graphic  match often helps establish a strong continuity of action and linking the two shots metaphorically.          




180 degree rule
The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters or other elements in the same scene should always have the same left/right hand relationship to each other.An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene.

Shot/reverse shot 
This is used to show a conversation/argument. This is when one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.