Continuity 101

Yes. I make mistakes all the time. Most of the time, no-one except me ever realises – but I realise. And hate it. And try very hard to make sure that I don’t make the same mistake again.^[1]

Mostly, they’re not important mistakes – and not ones that anyone other than me (or another scripty) will notice. So then I just fix them, and make a note (for myself, or for the editor too).^[2]

But, occasionally they are important.^[3][4] At which point I have to take a deep breath, ‘fess up, and try to get them put right.^[5]

1. If you don’t get better and learn something new every day, you need a different job. [↩︎]
2. And no, I don’t have a photographic memory. I do have a lot of photographs, and a lot of notes. I’m not relying on my memory – I write everything down, take photographs, and constantly scan and cross-check. [↩︎]
3. Such as the unfortunate “Um – isn’t his other arm meant to be broken?” moment. Where we didn’t have time to fix it, so it stayed in. And where strangely, no-one watching has ever been aware (well, it was a long-shot through a window and the cast was off by the next time we saw the character and so on). [↩︎]
4. Okay, yes, there have been big mistakes too, but no, I’m not telling you about those. [↩︎]
5. This is partly why many people think of Continuity as something of a thankless task – people only notice when it’s wrong. When you do your job well, no-one ever knows about it. But hey, I know. [↩︎]