CONTINUITY of action

CONTINUITY
cONTINUITY of action isthe easy and orderly progress of that action. Employed as a noun as "a continuity of action" or merely as "a" or "the" continuity, it refers to the written plot of action, which is presupposed to possess continuity.
Some times in reading a fiction story you will find the action so changeable that in your effort to follow the author through his plot you suffer a perceptible fatigue. In others the story isnarrated with such a directness that the absence of such phrases as "In the meantime—" "It must be remembered that—" "But before this—" is pleasantly noticed and the lack appreciated. Such stories seem fairly to flow along. This is continuity.
Continuity in a script is even more essential. The flow of a screen story should be like the current of a river ; a steady and constant progression to the objective point. Rivers may have falls and
rapids, deep pools and shallow backwaters, but always the flow is toward the confluence. Stories may be retarded by falling action, or accelerated by approaching crises, but always the trend of the story should be forward and not backward. And just as the river is constantly augmented in volume through contributory streams, so should the story be augmented by the addition of plot factors and gain in volume through the new developments. This is the first and most important continuity and upon its smoothness will depend in large degree the appeal of the story. It is for this reason that constant visioning back is regarded with disfavor, since visioning back is no more untrue to reality than a river flowing toward its source or a cataract that runs up hill.
The retarding action of a vision may not always be apparent, even when you strive to note the effect. Even the close observer may be unaware that it is recourse to visioning that makes one story seem to be less pleasing than another, but it is a rule never traversed that an interrupted continuity cannot be as pleasing to the mind as a story of equal plot value that without interruption or seeming effort moves directly to its ordained end.
Each person, according to his mental capacity, is capable of a certain effort of thought, just as a steam engine is capable of developing no more than a certain horse power with a given head of steam. Most persons will recall the river steamer that had to stop when it whistled, and there are many persons whose mental equipment is such that they cannot devote their tholight both to the story and its interruptions just as those who do possess greater mental capacity cannot give their full capacity to the enjoyment of the story in action if they must divert some of this mental energy to the reception and classification of plot interruptions. Most persons in a photoplay audience are so constituted mentally that they can assimilate both a story and its interruptions, but their capacity for pleasure is lessened in precisely the same degree that their attention is diverted from the plot. Each, time a fact or time leader or fact vision is used, the attention must be given this and again brought back to the main issue before interest in the main issue can continue, and the story with the most perfect continuity is more apt to please than a plot more interesting in itself but told in a series of interrupted actions and not in one continuous movement.
The proper story moves forward in chronological order. Each scene advances the story one point toward the climax, each has a direct and logical bearing on the story and each is in its proper place in the film. As has already been said, in the ideal continuity there is no interruption whatever from leader or any form of insert. It moves absolutely without a break. This is so seldom possible that it is sufficient to endeavor to avoid as much interruption as possible.
It would be manifestly absurd to show a man boarding a train after he has arrived at his journey's end, but this is precisely what visioning is. For some reason you may wish to hold back the incident of his embarkation. Perhaps you merely forget to put it in its proper place, so after his arrival he tells all about the start. The mind must leave the plot for a moment to place this fact of embarkation in its proper place before the arrival, again recall the arrival and then go on with the story. The continuity is interrupted. This is not an argument against all visions. It assuredly is a plea for a temperate and modest use of visions only where visioning will be of such material benefit to a story that the advantage of the presentation of fact at this point overcomes the disadvantage of the interruption caused.
In the second aspect of continuity scenes must be placed in their proper order. In this connection we refer to the scene as such and not to the fact the scene may convey. The action that occurs at ten minutes past one must be shown before the occurrence of a quarter before two, though from a plot viewpoint it may not matter which of these two facts is first presented. When the action jumps forward an appreciable period, the audience must be acquainted with the fact either by inference or statement. By inference a break leader may suggest the passage of an indeterminate but readily approximated period. We see a certain sequence of action. It seems to terminate. Perhaps the heroine seeks engagement with a theatrical company, the run of action terminating with her success in obtaining employment. It is not necescary to say that after rehearsals lasting six weeks and three days Janet makes her debut. Instead "The night of her debut" will suggest some undetermined inteival for rehearsal and preparation. The exact length of time is not essential. It is merely suggested that a certain period has elapsed. On the other hand, if it is desired to suggest the passage of a considerable time it is better to say "Five years later. Janet is a star," than to use only the latter half, which may suggest that as a result of this very recent engagement our heroine has at once leaped into the stellar position on the mimic stage.
Time leaders may be required for very brief periods. We see Tom and Nancy in the library. They are much interested in each other. Suddenly they are whisked out of the scene as though by magic, Nancy's father is as miraculously placed at the desk and Silas Sprague is ushered in to tell that unless Nancy marries him he will foreclose the mortgage on the mill. This is not understandable unless we are advised that it is "That afternoon," "The next day," or whatever it may be. Then we can understand why Tom and Nancy are no longer sitting there and the leader serves also as an act drop. It brings one action to a definite close before opening the next. This is particularly desirable when both actions are placed in the same setting, for the room will present the same appearance and the change of characters will present a transformation effect that is disturbing, to say the least.
10. If the lapse of time is comparatively unimportant, then the two scenes in the same set may be divided by showing some other action. Perhaps we see Tom and Nancy leave the scene. Now we see Silas
coming down the street. When we come back to the library the father is there, Silas is ushered in and the rest follows.
No infallible rule can be offered, but the best practice is to break with some other scene if time and fact are not important, to use a fact in preference to time or to use both if necessary. Thus in the scene above we can break with a scene in which Silas is seen on the street, with a leader in which we state that he demands Mary in marriage, with the fact that it is the next day or the announcement that it is the next day and that Silas demands Mary's hand if he refrains from foreclosing. The scene will give the smoothest continuity, but the facts may make for clearness in the plot.
Another phase of continuity is continuity of the character. Much of this phase of faulty continuity seen upon the screen is less often due to the faults of the author than to the work in the cutting room, where entire sequences of action may be replaced with a leader to aid the condensation of a play to a specified length. It is no uncommon thing to see a hero stroll out of a drawing room and at once appear in his own rooms, no longer in afternoon but in evening dress. This might awaken admiration in a quick change act, but photoplay is not supposed to be a protean sketch.
Watch, well this continuity. It is the height of absurdity to show John and Harry locked in deadly combat at the end of scene fifty and show Harry in a bath robe and slippers in fifty-one, while fifty-two shows John, now in evening clothes, telling May all about it. Something must be done to cover the lapse of time. A leader saying that it is evening and that John tells of his victory will explain the change of clothing and also reveal the result of the struggle.
In the early days continuity was frequently carried to excess. If May went to call upon Bess, she was first shown in her own home, then leaving her house, coming along the street, ringing the bell at Bess' door, being admitted and finally she came into the reception room. When she went home again the elaborate procession of scenes was reversed. Today this is no longer practiced, to the material betterment of the picture, but it is necessary to preserve the continuity of character to avoid shock. In a previous paragraph it was shown that playing two scenes in one setting without a break brought about a trick effect. In the same way there have been shown plays in which the same character was seen at thc end of one scene and the opening of the next in so much the same position that it seemed as though one set had been substituted for another in the twinkling of an eye.
For the preservation of continuity these suggestions may be offered as a general guide and not as infallible rules.
Two scenes in the same setting, without interruption, though occurring at different times or using different characters or the same characters in different costumes, will appear on the screen as one scene. A cut-back or leader should be employed.
If a person is seen to leave one room and is immediately seen to enter another, the rooms are supposed to be adjoining. If a character is seen to enter a second room after a break but without having been seen to leave the house, the two rooms as a rule are supposed to be under the same roof and on the same floor. If the rooms are on different floors, the character should be shown ascending or descending a stairway. Two hall scenes will suggest an ascent or descent of two flights.
A character needed on a scene at the opening should not be left standing in the scene immediately preceding.
A character leaving one scene and entering another should be shown entering the second scene and not already on.
If a character leaves one scene to enter another at a distance, he should not be seen immediately to approach the distant scene. A leader or some intervening scene should be used to suggest the lapse of time covered by the travel.
Scenes showing travel are supposed by their number to juggest roughly the distance traversed.
Where a character is seen in a change of costume the intervening action should suggest a lapse of time sufficient to permit the change.
Where alternating scenes show two points widely distant, the distance must first have been established by leader or action.
If a lapse of time is unimportant to the plot it may be suggested by or inferred from a fact leader or interpolated action. Where it is definite a time leader must be used.
The appearance of a person in a spot other than his own precincts must be explained either by leader or pre-establishment of fact.
The best general rule is that action must either be absolutely continuous or must be interrupted by leaders or other actions to cover the breaks in the continuity.