Match on Match Action

Match on match action is an editing process, where two shots of the same scene in different positions are edited to show a continuous stream through movement in a scene, for example a shot of someone walking out a door, and a shot with a different perspective would show the person exiting the door and turning to walking away.

A possible error of continuity would be to show the person exiting the door and cut to them turning and walking away with the door already closed. This does not flow as part of the scene because realistically the door would have been in shot and would have been seen to close. This action of continuity (the door being shown to close) draws the attention of the audience to avoid them noticing other small continuity errors, for example hair changes or hand movements, whether the hands were at their sides or elsewhere. Match on match action portrays the same action using two different shots, so the cut between the shots would be when the person lets go of the door and starts to turn, which would the change the angle to where they would walk away from the door.

This is my example of match on match editing. In this short clip, the person is shown to be walking out a room, into the corridor, and walking away from the room. There are three shots of her walking out of the room; walking towards the door, opening the door, and exiting the room. The match on match action with in these three shots had to be cut at exact moments to ensure continuity or else the clips would like very much like three shots put together instead one long shot from different viewpoints. The first cut was when the person put her hand on the door and began to pull it open. The second, with the camera in a different perspective so that her hand could be clearly seen on the door handle, was cut when she walked through the door. The last cut was to when the person was exiting the door (the perspective change yet again to the hallway) and she began to turn in the direction she was walking in. Whilst using three shots, we have ensured a continuous stream of action.

Other shots in this scene also showed the person walking down the corridor and taking her phone out. This was slightly more difficult to do because we had to make sure that the different shots match up as a continuous scene ie: making sure the person got her phone out at exactly the same time in each scene, which would also have to line up with the door closing. The shot that showed the person walking out of the room precedes the shot where the person takes her phone out. This means that whilst she is taking her phone out, the door (which is in shot) must be seen to close instead of it already being closed. The shot of her walking out of the door must also show her reaching into her back pocket to retrieve her phone. Finally, the last shot shows her walking around the corner.