What is a Continuity Person & Their Roles on Set?
We have been answering the question “What is a continuity person” for over a decade now. A continuity person is often referred to as a script supervisor. Once more frequently referred to as “Script Gals,” the continuity person is responsible for maintaining the continuity of the film during each scene, take, and throughout the entire film.
Script supervisors are not only women though so don’t let the nickname fool you. If you’ve been asking “what is a continuity person” look no further, we’ve got you covered below.
Overseeing the Shoot
A continuity person will make sure that each separate take of the film is able to be turned into a full, complete, uninterrupted motion picture. The continuity person views the shoot as a big, overall picture.
They want to make sure that each take comes together in a way that at the end, all of the takes are able to be turned into a single, coherent flow of footage when it goes to editing.
Continuity Explained
Have you ever watched a film and noticed that the actors are chatting with one another and suddenly one of the actors whose shirt was previously tucked in is no longer tucked? Or that an actor had a bad scrape on his forehead and then all of a sudden it’s healed? This is continuity!
When you recognize situations from the film that don’t make sense and could not have happened if the film were recorded in a single, long capture without turning off the camera, you’ve spotted an error in continuity. Keeping things like this from happening are the responsibility of the continuity person.
Continuity Person Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the continuity person seem rather simple and straightforward but establishing consistency continuity for a motion picture movie that is made up of literally hundreds of takes to produce a single minute or two of footage can be challenging at best.
The script supervisor or continuity person will take extensive, highly detailed notes to help them remember all of the little details associated with the continuity of the film. They often use a camera of their own to document ending details of a scene so that they can replicate it after a pause in filming.
Script Supervisor 101
The script supervisor works with all departments, logs information into a daily editor log, and uses axis and eyelines as well as various other methods of scene review to oversee the continuity of the scene.
This information is provided to the director or others to ensure the appropriate edits or adjustments take place for a seamless film production.
Continuity Person Skills
The script supervisor will possess many different skills. They must be focused with a strong attention to detail. Continuity supervisors are able to recognize and call out even the slightest change in a character’s appearance such as his hair, eyes, makeup must be caught by the continuity person.
Additional skills of the continuity person include:
-Superior note taking skills
-Strong attention to detail
-Ability to focus on multiple important details at once
-Ability to lead a group or team
-Ability to read and understand the script
-Ability to work well with others