Until the advent of modern technology: video playback, polaroid, laptops, monitors etc, the duties of the script supervisor (or continuity girl as they were used to be called) were crucial to the seamless production of a film. They had to make sure that everything looked right between takes, even though they may have been filmed days or weeks apart. The weather, costumes, make up and props had to look exactly the same as the first take. Kim Newman tells us that the continuity girl or script supervisor had to "make sure the audience never realises the scenes were shot out of order". So the coffee cup had to be in exactly the same place, the glass was still half full. Even the delivery by the same actor could change between takes.
They had to work closely with the director to make sure everything was perfect. They would have to stop filming until every last detail was correct. We hear from the elderly Angela Allen who found a job with the Alexander Korda studio. Traditionally this role always fell to a woman, Sarah Mason might well have been the first. Steven Armstrong says that when she initially took on this role, it prevented so many re-takes that the studio were amazed at the results. "It saved us so much money" in re-shoots. Ian Nathan adds that "you have to be the difficult person on the set.
Some directors always wanted to use the same continuity girl on every film. David Lean was one. The programme finished by looking at the number of sequels there are in the big blockbuster movies. This is a real challenge in the way the actors look. There is some talk about how some things do creep through, which in themselves can become a kind of cult.
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