What does Matching Actions mean?
Matching Actions refers to the practice of ensuring that an actor’s physical movements, gestures, and actions are performed consistently from take to take and from shot to shot so that the footage can be cut together seamlessly in the editing room. If an actor picks up a glass with their right hand in the master shot, they must pick it up with their right hand in the close-up and every other angle filmed. Maintaining matching actions is primarily the responsibility of the script supervisor, who tracks every physical detail between takes.
Example:The script supervisor stopped the director after the third take to flag that the child actor had been reaching for the book with her left hand in the master but her right hand in the close-up — a continuity error that would make the shots impossible to cut together.
Example: Between setups, the script supervisor showed the child actor her notes from the master shot — which hand she used, when she stood up, where she was looking at each line — so her matching actions would be consistent in the coverage shots.
Did you know?
Matching actions is one of the most common sources of continuity errors in film and television — and one of the most frequently noticed by observant audiences. Dedicated websites and communities track continuity errors in major productions, and the most notorious errors (a disappearing coffee cup, a changing cigarette length) often become as famous as the films themselves.
