The Importance of Continuity

When working in film or television the scenes are often shot out of sequence so it is important to keep good continuity, this can be because of issues such as access of locations, availability of certain actors and also the weather conditions. So the scenes can be done up to a year after and the hair and makeup still needs to be the same, or something might happen where the film needs to be shot again. If the makeup and hair is not the same this can ruin the whole atmosphere of the film.

Some of the issues you might have with continuity that might arise are the makeup department might be working on other productions by then, so new people might be hired to pick up the shots. These new makeup department will have to watch the film and make sure that all the actors are dressed the same, have the same skin tones, wear their hair at the same length and also have the same makeup. In TV soap series if the director picks up shots of close-ups four months before, the makeup artist has a number of continuity problems, matching the clothes when many costumes have been returned to the hire company, matching hair and hair pieces to be tracked down from wig makers and also matching makeup because some of the makeup (foundation, lipstick ect) may have been lost.

Dealing with continuity can often be very stressful, but some of the way to overcome these issues is by taking photos of the actors from the front, back and profile views and take extensive notes, and log all the changes to hairstyles, costume and makeup with a scene number and the day of the film sequence. Makeup artists often keep a hairstyle the same shape to make their lives easier, when the action of the filming calls for the hair to be wet or untidy photos must be taken. When the person is outside in the rain the inside shot of them might be shot in the studio months later and needs to be exactly the same.

Some examples of bad continuity in moves are in the original Batman, Jack Nicholson's Joker rubs off a bit of skin toned makeup revealing his dead white skin underneath, this small patch changes shape and location throughout the remaining shots in the film and also in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Frodo has a wound on his lower right cheek near his chin, this can be seen flipping to the left of his cheek.

Unknown. (2009). An Introduction to Continuity For The Make-up Artist. Available: an-introduction-to-continuity-for-the-make-up-artist. Last accessed 22nd Feb 2015.

Nulph R. (2007). Maintaining Continuity. Available: http://www.videomaker.com/article/c14/12988-maintaining-continuity. Last accessed 22nd Feb 2015.