Script continuity
>>>Since I have a lot of questions, here's another - every episode of "TAGS" has a person listed in the credits at the end with the title of "Script Continuity". I've always wondered exactly what this means, since there are a number of things in the scripts which aren't consistent.<<< Joe, undoubtedly others will chime in on this. This question has been asked before. My understanding is that this person is responsible for script continuity only within a particular episode, NOT for continuity of scripts throughout the season or throughout the series. It's important for continuity to be achieved throughout the episode so that it looks like a seamless whole. This was especially important on a one-camera set like TAGS. Whereas shows shot live with a three-camera set-up (like "I Love Lucy" and many others) have all their cameras shooting the same scene at the same time, with a one-camera set-up, each scene must be shot multiple times to get close-ups and long shots and for different camera angles. Each time the same scene is shot, continuity must be preserved. The lighting has to be consistent, the actors have to be wearing the same clothing, the action has to be performed the same way, the props have to be the same, etc. The script continuity person makes sure everything is the same from take to take so that it's seamless when the film is edited and put together in a finished episode. For example, let's say Aunt Bee walks into the courthouse carrying her purse. She comes in the door with it in her right hand. Every time that scene is shot, she has to have her purse in her right hand. However, it's probably easier to reference when continuity has been overlooked. For example, in the episode "Black Day for Mayberry," the two Treasury men sit waiting for Andy bareheaded with their hats in their laps. Immediately after that, Opie comes in and we see the men in the background, and they are wearing hats! (And at least one of the men is different, but it's hard to tell if you don't know.) In another episode (forget which one), Barney is seen coming out of the back room of the courthouse without his badge on when he was wearing it earlier. Later, it reappears, as if by magic. The continuity person should have caught this but obviously didn't. Barney's reciting of the Preamble is another lack of continuity. The scene was filmed both in close-up and in long shot. In the close-ups, we see Barney's humorously messed up hair, but in the long shots, his hair looks fine. His hair should have been equally messed up in the long shots so that we can't tell they were shot at two different times. These were goofs not caught at the time and thus appear in the finished episode. Basically the script continuity person makes sure that everything in the episode is done according to the script so that when it is all put together, it is seamless and appears as though all the action has flowed naturally and without discrepancies. Hope this helps! Thelma Lou (Janet) ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.wbmutbb.com/
Script continuity
Hmm... I wrote a rather lengthy reply to Joe regarding his question about script continuity right after I read it in the digest. So imagine my disappointment when it didn't appear at all! I saw others' replies but not my own. This has happened before, and I don't know why. Maybe it will still appear and maybe not. It's just discouraging when you take the time to draft a thoughtful and detailed reply, only to have it disappear into cyberspace. Thelma Lou (Janet) ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.wbmutbb.com/
Script continuity
Script continuity is concerned with making sure everything in a shot matches when the camera angle changes. They made no attempt to keep details consistent from episode to episode. The Andy Griffith Show was shot with one camera, like a movie. Many TV shows use three cameras at once, but they didn’t do it that way on TAGS. Suppose there was a scene where Andy and Barney were talking at the courthouse. They would film the entire scene three (or more) times, once with the camera on Andy, doing it as many times as needed to get it just right; then they’d move the camera and shoot the entire scene again but this time with the camera on Barney; and then they’d shoot the whole thing one more time, with the camera positioned to film both of them at once. Then later, the editor cut and pasted all of the various bits of film together. Naturally it was very easy for mistakes to creep in. The best known example is when Barney tries to recite the preamble, and half of the time his hair is messy and the rest of the time it is neatly groomed. The job of the “script girl” was to take notes during filming so that when the camera was moved to a new angle, every person and prop visible in the shot remained the same. She might write things like “Andy’s feet are on the desk / Barney’s hat is on the table by his left hand”, and things of that nature. Then later when it came time to shoot the same scene from a different angle, they could (hopefully) make everything match up. It was especially important to make good notes when filming the scene wouldn’t be completed until hours later, or maybe even the next day. Trivial triviality: years before she played Myrt “Hubcaps” Lesch, Ellen Corby worked as a script girl on the Our Gang (Little Rascals) film series. Paul Mulik Sent from the Mayberry Courthouse ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.wbmutbb.com/
Script Continuity
Joe, "Script Continuity" refers to a single script, the script they are working on at the present time.Back in the 60's, very little thought was given to the script from show to show.Their thinking was that most people would forget the little inconsistencies that occurred from year to year, since there were no DVR's or the such. You have to remember these shows were not filmed all at one time.A single scene might last for 2 days, and the job of the script continuity was to make sure the Sheriff's desk looked the same today as it did yesterday. Here is an example of a time the script continuity man fell down on the job. In Season 1, Episode 7, "Andy The Matchmaker" when Barney comes into the courthouse to resign, he starts to turn in all of his equipment. There are a pair of handcuffs hanging from his left pants pocket.When Opie enters the courthouse (obviously filmed some time later) the handcuffs have mysteriously disappeared.It was the job of the script continuity person to make sure that Barney was dressed the same for the second scene as the first scene. Orville Hendricks - Mount Pilot Butter and Egg Man Since I have a lot of questions, here's another - every episode of "TAGS" has a person listed in the credits at the end with the title of "Script Continuity". I've always wondered exactly what this means, since there are a number of things in the scripts which aren't consistent. For example: Barney's years of service (5 vs. 10); whether Barney and Andy are cousins (or just best friends); the distance from Mayberry to Mount Pilot; and whether Mayberry is a village, town, or city (it was called all 3 in different episodes). None of these are really that significant - but I'm just curious what the responsibilities of a "script continuity" crew member are(were). Joe Suszczynski Grand Island, NY ___ WBMUTBB mailing list WBMUTBB@wbmutbb.com http://www.wbmutbb.com/
