Continuity & Editing

Continuity

Continuity in media is when you maintain the realization throughout a film for the audience’s pleasure.  This is called good continuity in a film because there aren’t any errors that the audience could pick up on that would seem strange.

Bad continuity in a film is when something impossible and unrealistic happens during a film without a reason.

For an example:

 

(Step up 2 “The Streets” – Continuity error)

During 2:20 - 2:54 in this video there is a continuity error with the dancer wearing the fedora. At the start you will notice that he is not wearing a red coat however at points as the dance continues suddenly he is wearing a red coat then suddenly he’s not and so on.

Errors like this do put affects on the audiences because it makes them realise more that their watching a film then a story and also it is quite off putting because it does make the audience focus more on what other errors they made in the film if any instead of watching the film because of the story line.

Here is another example of a continuity error where the bartender from the Simpsons is holding two different bottles in the same moment of time.

Editing

Editing in media is a process that can involve corrections of errors made inside shoots for a film. The editing process is extremely handy because you are able to have an overview of what has been shot correctly and what has been shot incorrectly but has the potential to be edited in a way so that it is correct in the full film.

What I mean by this is that if there was a clip that could possible cause a continuity error like a person standing in one place wearing two different pairs of shoes in two different clips, you can make the choice of either removing one of the clips or you could simply just crop the persons feet out of the film in both the clips.

Audience Research

Audience Research

The audience is one of the most important factors to consider when creating a film. It is important that every member in a filming group that is responsible for creating the film knows who exactly the audience is so that the group will be able to work for them instead of just making a film that doesn’t fit a specific audience that the group was attempting to work for. Another reason why and audience is so important for filming groups is that they make their money from the audience so it is important that the group film and edit the film in a way that is fit for their specific target audience.

One important thing that filming groups put in ton consideration when they are planning out a film is if their film has a mass audience or a niche audience. If the audience is niche then the producer’s of the group will completely ditch the idea and start planning another type of film. “If no one is going to watch/read/play/buy the text, the producers aren't going to make any money or get their message across.” Quote from http://www.mediaknowall.com/.

Before creating films the producers do audience research to find out what they are planning to create will be fitting for a specific group. The ways they may go about doing audience research is through questionnaires, conferences, basic internet browsing, comparisons of other films Etc. Filming groups tend to spend quite a lot of money just to find out whether people would be a fan of it. Specifically producer want to find out the age group of their audience, the percentage of the gender of their audience, the race of the audience so they can avoid saying or acting things that may offend certain people, the location of their audience and most importantly the approximant estimate of how much they could possible make out of their audience.





“Once they know this they can begin to shape their text to appeal to a group with known reading/viewing/listening habits.” Quote from http://www.mediaknowall.com/.