Continuity

What this is about

Because films are shot out of order, continuity runs on paperwork and photographs rather than memory. The script supervisor logs which line belongs to which take, how far the cigarette had burnt down, which hand held the glass and where the actor stood when the door opened. Costume, props and make-up photograph their state at the top of every scene. In the cut, mismatches are merciless: a jacket that buttons itself, rain that stops mid-conversation, a sandwich that grows back. Half a day of reshoot usually costs more than the ten minutes of checking that would have prevented it.

A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.

What runs differently here

Where this differs from the general case:

• Action continuity is about matching movement across a cut; prop and costume continuity is about the state of things within the scene.
• The German set word is Anschluss, and an Anschlussfehler is the visible mismatch that reaches the screen.
• Continuity photos are worthless without the scene, setup and take written on them, so log first and shoot second.

With TillyGen

TillyGen keeps the shots of a scene together even when they fall on different days, which is where most continuity risk sits.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.