What is a Dialogue Continuity Script and Why is it Important?

When producing a film there are a plethora of shots and scenes to piece together. All to produce the finished motion picture project. With each shot and scene there is the potential for continuity to be broken if steps are not taken. To ensure the proper oversight and management of the unique details pertaining to the shot. Such as character placement and action, costumes, makeup, and dialogue. The continuity script, including a dialogue list which may also be referred to as a dialogue continuity script.

This represents one of the many ways that filmmakers maintain continuity throughout the production. But why is this so important?

Why is Continuity Important?

Continuity represents the continuous presence of characters, props, and other elements within a scene in a way that is continuous or otherwise constant despite movement of the camera, changes in shot composition, and various other elements taking place within each and every scene.

The primary goal of continuity editing is to render the various mechanisms of filmmaking invisible to the audience so that viewers believe what they see on the screen.

What is a Dialogue Continuity Script?

A dialogue continuity script represents a complete transcription of the dialogue that takes place at each scene and shot as well as timecode spotting for each and every line of dialogue that takes place throughout the film.

Dialogue continuity is important for many reasons, but the primary purpose of a dialogue continuity script is to provide captioners with details regarding all important dialogue that took place throughout the production.

So that nothing is missed in the creation of the closed captioning, subtitles, and dubbing. 

What’s Included in the Dialogue Continuity Script?

You might be wondering, what is included in a dialogue continuity script and why are these elements so important to the production?

Generally speaking, the dialogue continuity script is going to include details about all of the important elements of the dialogue.

Which took place within the production as follows:

• Scene headings and slug lines
• Character names and dialogue
• Details regarding whether dialogue was voice over or on-screen.
• Indication as to whether the dialogue was overlapping with other dialogue.
• Subtitles and details about who’s speaking to who.
• Narrative titles including in and out times as well as the calculated duration.

In Summary

The dialogue continuity script will list, verbatim, all of the spoken dialogue that takes place throughout the duration of the film for every scene that is captured throughout production.

This dialogue continuity script is important because it is then used to produce the closed captioning as well as for dubbing the film and translating into different languages.