Continuity Supervisor

Over the summer I had the opportunity to work as the continuity supervisor on one of my TA's shoot's. He recommended that I get the scripty's bible, "Script Supervising and Film Continuity" by Pat Miller, and read it before the shoot. He even gave me a link to a library in the Bay Area that had it, but I was unable to make it up there before my trip to get it (looking back now, I will bet my bottom dollar that it was probably missing at that library). I had a trip planned for Toronto and decided that I would go hunting for the book once I was there. I looked up the book at every single university library downtown and none of them had a copy. Was excited to I found out that the city library had it, so I took my backpack, stuck a notebook and pen in there and intended to copy the darn thing, by hand if necessary, before heading to NYC for the shoot. As it turned out though, out of the millions of books available in that library, the one copy of Pat Miller's book was missing. The chance that someone had it out was extremely slim, but somehow the case. I went back the next day and the next, but it never turned up. I decided to go ahead and buy the book brand new from Chapters for $60...only to discover that the one copy available in the city of Toronto was annoyingly far from the downtown core.

Pat Miller's book had, overtime, seemed to develop a strange and mysterious little aura around it. It was a book that few knew about and some libraries had a copy of it, but that copy was always missing. To make a long story short, the shoot went on without the book and when I returned to California I bought it off half.com for $6.55. I read half the book today and plan to finish it tomorrow. I should read it at least once more before the re-shoot of our film in January. In the meantime, these are some things I've gleaned from the book so far:

GETTING INTO THE ACT

- The continuity supervisor is concerned with infinitesimal details of all the scenes; meticulously matches makeup, props and wardrobe. On what word was a puff of a cigarette taken? With what hand? On what word did the strap of the actress' gown slip off her shoulder? Was it her right or left?

- Maintains continuity for coverage (the shooting of different viewpoints or closer angles on the same action and dialogue present in the master shot), and gently reminds actors of what his or her movements were during their performance in the master shot.

THE SCRIPT

- Locale/Set. Always written in capital letters, INT. for interior or EXT. for exterior, time element: DAY or NIGHT. ex. 1. INT. KITCHEN--DAY.

- Breaking down a script.
1) Master scenes. Underline each numbered master scene. Draw a line across the page to separate each master sequence.
2) Story Chronology/Time Breakdown. Mark each sequence with the chronological time lapses. e.g., 1st day indicated as D-1, 2nd day indicated as D-2, 3rd night indicated as N-3.
3) Underline the particular time when indicated. Scene caption may include: DAWN, MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON, DUSK.
4) Characters. Underline the names of the characters as they are revealed in each scene.
5) Characters Physical Distinctions. Underline the written descriptions of characters; be alert of actors cast for the parts and if written changes to script if the actor changes.
6) Overt Action. Underline overt action written in the business and the mood descriptions.
7) Props. Underline references to props. 2 kinds of props: hand props - handled by the actors, such as pipes, eyeglasses, suitcases; stage props: articles placed as significant dressing in the set such as a vase of flowers on a piano, pictures on a wall.
8) Re-read Script. Look for details that might carry over from one scene to another such as props, makeup, wardrobe, the weather.
9) Back-Matching Notes. Make accurate notes of the details that carry over. Back matching introduces the dogma of direct and indirect continuity. Direct continuity: a condition or detail carries over from one scene to the next consecutive scene with no time lapse. Ex. Scene 1. Man uses key to open the door of his house from the outside. There is a newspaper under his left arm. Shot cuts as he puts the key in the lock with his right hand. Scene 2. Man enters hours. But it may be days or weeks - and after several other scenes have been filmed -- before Scene 2 is finally in front of the camera. Now we must see the man holding the key in his right hand as he comes through the door, and holding the newspaper folded exactly as it was on the outside, under his left arm. Indirect continuity: Condition or detail does not follow through from one scene into the next consecutive scene but carries over into a later scene. Ex. Scene 8, woman places pillbox in her purse. Dialogue indicates that she has to take a pill at a later hour. Scene 13, woman reaches into her purse, finds and opens the pillbox, only to discover there are no pills inside. Woops!
10) Scene count. Tally number of scenes in script. Every scene number, including those carrying A, B, C, etc, count as separate scenes. OMITTED and STOCK SHOT are not counted.
11) Page count. Every numbered page, even those with an A, B, C, etc is counted; ie, 15A, 15B, 15C are three pages. Every page holds an individual total of 8/8. Breaking down the page into eighths was meant as an economical and practical way of shooting scenes out of continuity.
12) Master scene page count. Jot down the individual page count for every master shot.
13) Continuity Synopsis/One Line. Composite of the script breakdown. Listed are scene numbers and locals of each sequence, a terse description of the action in the scene, the time elements of day or night, time lapses, page count of each master scene, characters.
14) Wardrobe Outline. Personal use.
15) Script revisions. Incorporate script revisions asap. Every revised page is dated and put through in a different color from the previous ones. Generally, the rotation is white for original, followed by blue, pink, yellow, green, goldenrod, white.
16) Special report forms. Prepare DAILY CONTINUITY LOG, DAILY EDITORS LOG, DAILY PROGRESS REPORT.

A DAY ON THE SOUND STAGE

- Actors refer to their pages of script as sides. During the waiting period, an actor may ask you to cue lines, which is prompting the dialogue. Basic method for cuing: you speak the last sentence of the speech that leads into the rehearsing actor's next speech.

- Camera rehearsal with principles. Dolly grip might ask on which word of dialogue an actor will make a move; the dolly grip must anticipate this action in order to instantly push the camera to the next position.

- Shot description. Write shot descriptions of the scenes to be filmed. It is your communication to the film editor of what is being put on the film. It is a concise summary of the action of the scene and the camera moves. This legend is written on the blank left-hand page opposite the scene page of the script. Ex: Start MS angle toward office door. Smith enters. Pan his walk X-L-R to doorway into Charles office. Hold Full 4/Sh over Smith L-Shld to 3 seated at desk: Charles, Mary, Bert--dial.--As Smith moves to f.g. desk. DI to Tite/4: Smith, Charles, Mary, Bert--dial.--Mary rises and exits shot R-L. Smith follows. DI to Tite/2: Charles and Bert--dial.--Charles rises and exits shot R-L.--ZI to CU Bert. He rises, picks up phone, dials and talks.

GETTING THE SCENE ON FILM

- Systems of slating. 1) Scene-Number slating. Most direct method. Every slate number represents a script scene number. Consecutive-Number slating. Announce slate #1 on first day of shooting, regardless of where the scene occurs in the script, and continue with the next consecutive number for every slate change. Slate number 1 may apply to Scene 96 and slate number 2 might apply to Scene 5.

- Camera Rolling. Upon "action", snap stopwatch on and concentrate on performance. "Stay with the money".

- Pick up Shot. If only the faulty portion of the scene is to be reshot, the director will call for the pick up shot, in which case a new slate number will be called starting wit take 1.

- Bridge Shot. When a piece of flawed film remains in a shot--picked up without reslated--the faulty portion o film must be excised, and a suitable piece of film inserted as a bridge shot. The bridge shot is necessary to achieve a smooth transition of the action cut in the master shot.

- Timing the performance. Start with "action", stop with "cut". Timing the film can indicate that the film is running long or running short, neither of which is desirable.

RECORDING THE DAY'S SHOOT

- Daily Continuity Log. Make systematic entries of: Every setup by slate number, any printed takes of each slate number, picture-time of all master shots, page-count credit of all master shots.

- Wild tracks. Recorded for the "practical" sounds that emanate from a scene, such as a food blender, water running from a faucet, an automobile, vacuum cleaner.

- Slating wild film footage. Scenes that are not written in the script but are filmed at random, wherever they happen, are labeled as wild footage. Ex. casual street activity, riots, scenes of disaster etc. For slating wild footage, use an arbitrary number for the sequence, such as 300--and precede with XF for extraneous footage.

THAT'S A WRAP

- Daily progress report.
1) Page count. Tally the number of pages shot for the day. If improvisations during shooting have altered the total number of pages, you should take page credit only for the original page count as shown in the Shooting Schedule and the Continuity Synopsis/One Line. Do not revise the breakdown total.
2) Scene count. Credit only the script's original scene numbers shot that day. If revised scenes have changed the original total scene count, enter the revised figure under "New Total".
3) Setup Count. Tally the number of setups made. Pick up shots are not counted toward the total because neither the camera position nor lens was changed.
4) Picture Running time. Tally the picture-running time for the day.

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That's all I've read for now. Really what the scripty seems to do is take a copious amount of notes and know minute details. I kind of think about it as being that person at the party who awkwardly knows everything about everyone even if they aren't friends. More to follow tomorrow!