Even working actors sometimes fail to notice very basic editing techniques used in every film shoot. The most basic editing technique that actors need to be aware of is continuity editing.

Continuity editing is combining related shots, or different components of a single shot, into a sequence which keeps the audience’s attention on a consistent story across time and location. The film should ground the viewer in time and space. To do this, editing needs to be invisible and nearly seamless.

But why do actors need to know about editing techniques? The simplest answer is that they have to perform in a way that allows the editor to match shots- including action, eyeline, lighting and sound. On a film shoot, there might be five hours of footage shot for a ten-minute sequence. The actor has to maintain control so that the editor can choose from among the different takes and match the shots according to the script and the director’s instructions regarding pace, tone and visual impact.

The best thing a film actor can do is sit in a professional editing room and have the editor walk them through editing some sequences. It’s often a revelation for the beginning actor.

Here are some key editing concerns that actors need to know.

Eyeline match
When a scene is blocked, actors often interact with the set. If an actor is going to pick something up and look at it, whether it’s a phone or a watermelon, the editor cuts from their face to an insert shot of the whatever they’re going to interact with. This is where the eyeline match becomes important. An editor will put together a shot of an actor looking in a certain direction with a shot of an object from a perspective that matches that eyeline. Actors must guide the audience’s eyes so they know what the character is looking at to create the illusion.

Actors and continuity
Problems with body continuity issues can make it very hard to cut a scene. If an actor is in completely different places in the room depending on the shot, editing becomes more like solving a puzzle than building a great performance. Any good editor wants to cut a scene based on showcasing great performances, not struggling to match shots to maintain continuity.

Advice for directors and actors: match your moments
This one always surprises the actor. A good actor may have “moment,” a dramatic turn that lights up the scene, but isn’t matched. It typically happens this way (we’ll use basic coverage and two actors in this example): you shoot a master, two shot, over the shoulders, medium singles, and close ups. For example, in a medium single shot, the actor does something magical, or accidental, that changes her character in a way that really shines. The editor wants to use that take. It’s great. For the rest of the coverage, she keeps the same performance level. But that means, in the master, 2 shot, and the actor’s medium single, that great performance isn’t there. How does an editor get to that performance? Sometimes it’s easy. But most of the time, an editor might struggle to assemble around those missing pieces because the actor’s emotion isn’t consistent in all the shots.

So, for actors: You don’t have to match your performance in every camera set-up. A lot of actors change how they say a line or give a look, and that can be really helpful to editors in building the character. But if you invade the frame of your co-star, it will cause problems. If you straighten your co-star’s tie in a shot, but don’t in the rest, the editor is stuck cutting to that tie a lot of the time. As an actor, you can get away with changing things up, but that takes experience. If an actor accidentally spills a drink on his co-star, and the director likes it, you could say “do you think we’ll be reshooting the master?”

This is yet another way that acting for film is so much more than just “saying dialogues” or hitting the bad guy with a cricket bat, or lip-synching a song while dancing in high heels. Truly great film actors maintain a consistently high level of performance, and that includes awareness of what a director and editor need to get that performance into the film.