Continuity

Continuity is possibly one of the most important things within a film that needs to be pulled off with the highest standards possible. If the continuity isn't right then the whole film will look and feel completely unexplained and well delivered as well as disjointed. Continuity can refer to the plot of the film to make sure things make sense and it can also refer to how the film is made. In terms of the plot, it means the film just making sense to the viewer, discontinuity can be observed when someone notices a plot hole and there are some pretty famous plot holes out there.
      Some are quite funny when it comes to the writing of the plot, for example, in 'Transformers' (2007) We are told that the glasses the 'Decepticons' so desperatly need are the very glasses that young Sam Witwicky has placed on Ebay for sale. Yet later in the the film we are also told that the 'Decepticons' can very easily hack into the United States military network, which leads to the question, wouldn't placing a simple Ebay bid be an easier option?

     Another example can be seen in 'Back to the Future' (1985) Marty Mcfly goes back and alters his family past changing the future for the better, and meets his parents at the same time. Yet neither of his parents seem to remember the kid who brought them together and inspired his father to write sci-fi, has the same name as the famous 'Calvin Klein' and who happens to look exactly like their own son? Of course the producers could be leaving it up to the audience to just look over it and enjoy the film but plot holes can sometimes ruin a film if they are just too unbelievable.
    When it comes to the production it can become a lot more complex in terms of making sure everything runs smoothly. These concern things such as editing and most noticeable visual errors which can occur with props, costumes, makeup or anything that is changed day to day with set or scene such as weather. The problem with large scale films is that they are never normally shot in order which means that if something goes wrong with continuity the best way to deal with it is to edit it out or edit it cleverly but sometimes it just cannot be avoided. Smaller things such as change in the length of cigarettes or the amount of water in a glass can completely ruin the illusion of reality for the viewer if they are extremely noticeable. Editing can be a problem when certain rules are not followed for example the 180 degree rule. If this rule is not followed and the characters that are involved in dialogue or screen time, are not looking towards each other when they should be, by keeping each character looking in the direction of the other and are kept to either side of the screen, the viewer may become confused or not fully understand the scene which can completely ruin a film. Below is a short video from the New York Film Academy explaining continuity and the 180 degree rule.