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“Camera off” on the set of ‘Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten’! Emily leaves the ‘Späti’ in a rage. Her loose hair is blowing in the wind. In the so-called follow-up scene, however, she is standing in the street with her hair in a ponytail. Fortunately, there is a pair of eyes that take a closer look and notice the filming faux pas. The script/continuity gives the make-up artist on set a hint and the hair tie quickly disappears from the actress’s mane.

What does continuity mean?

The attentive pair of eyes belongs to Vanessa Arnold. She is ‘Script/Continuity’ for the daily series and ensures, among other things, that scenes that are connected in terms of the story but are produced on different shooting days do not contain any so-called connection errors. “It would be a serious continuity error if the actor was holding the coffee cup in his right hand in one take and then suddenly in his left hand in the second take. The same applies to a ponytail on Emily’s head, even though she was wearing her hair loose beforehand. With some little things, experience shows that you have to weigh up whether you can work around the inconsistency in the edit,” explains Vanessa, who has her seat right next to the directors. There, she pays attention to every detail to support the directors, who focus on the actors, camera angles and dramaturgy.

The aim of a script/continuity is to avoid connection errors and to point them out to the directors. But that’s by no means everything, Vanessa knows: “At the same time, you have to pay particular attention to the texts. Different wording from the actors is usually fine, as long as they express the same meaning. However, deviations must be discussed with the director or at least pointed out. To summarize, I pay attention to the continuity of the series. Be it the dramaturgy, make-up or costumes. A script/continuity is, alongside the assistant director, the director’s second right hand.”

What does script mean?

Another area of Vanessa’s job includes creating cut lists and editor reports for the production office and the editors. “Editors are not present on set. But with the help of my script, they know exactly which shots we shot and when, what happens in them and who is in them. This saves them a lot of time searching through the material. The directors often say to us script/contis that the editors should start with shot ‘three’, for example, and only then cut to shot ‘one’. My ears prick up and I make a note of this on the script, as well as the shooting stop time.”

In addition to paper and different colored pens, which Vanessa uses to take notes during filming, the stopwatch is one of her most important work tools. “I stop each scene several times during filming. I then enter the respective shooting stop time in my script. It’s an important task for me to keep a close eye on the times, because editing times must not be exceeded, especially in a series. An episode is about 22-23 minutes long. And each scene is given a certain ‘stop time’ according to the script. If the shoot is coming to an end and episodes are too short, one of my tasks is to point this out to the directors so that they can make a scene longer if necessary, as long as the dramaturgy and the play don’t suffer as a result. If a scene is too long, however, there is still the option of shortening it in the edit.”

How does the trainee program work?

UFA SERIAL DRAMA trains the script/continuity talents of tomorrow in a comprehensive trainee program. Depending on the production workflow, the internal training lasts between five and eight months and includes both practical activities and work shadowing in a production as well as theoretical training through participation in in-house seminars. Vanessa, who completed a degree in directing in 2013, also trained as a script/continuity at UFA SERIAL DRAMA for six months and knows what is important: “In my opinion, you don’t necessarily need special training before the trainee program. However, a degree or training in the film and television sector is still a great advantage. It’s also important to have some experience on set. You should also have a quick grasp of things, a sense of responsibility, diligence, good German language skills, the ability to multitask and communication skills, which will make the varied work a lot of fun.”

During their training, the trainees are supported by permanent mentors from the directing department. They provide regular feedback and are the contact persons for all questions and concerns of the trainees. A well-founded training plan is regularly adapted to the relevant skills and experience of the prospective script/continuity.

In addition to a degree, however, you should gain experience in set management before embarking on such a trainee program. A set runner internship offers a good introduction to this. During the first few weeks of training, the trainees familiarize themselves with the workflows and responsibilities of the trades on set through a work shadowing phase. The trainees also get to know the workflows of the camera, lighting, sound and post-production departments. This is followed by an introduction to script/continuity, which leads step by step to an independent practical phase.

“Since I work closely with post-production as script/continuity, I was also stationed in this department during my traineeship. There I gained deeper insights into editing, coordination, sound mixing, image mixing and technical approvals. This showed me the consequences of my work if I document something incompletely or even incorrectly on set,” explains Vanessa.

Another of Vanessa’s training stations was the story department, where she learned how to check scripts for errors in form and content in script coordination, among other things. “Right next to the production department are the storyliners, who I visited for a week,” Vanessa continues. “Here I took part in the development of new storylines and learned about the problems and restrictions they face.”

If a position as script/continuity is vacant after the training, the trainees are taken on and employed in a UFA SERIAL DRAMA production. Otherwise, the trainees are included in a so-called employee pool, which each production can access as required. Over the course of the next two to three years, trainees with the right aptitude can also train internally as assistant directors. Vanessa successfully completed her traineeship and is now working as a script/continuity for the series “Guten Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten” from UFA SERIAL DRAMA.

How do I apply?

In principle, we advertise vacant places for the trainee program in our job advertisements under “Apprenticeships” if we can offer them. Please understand that we are currently unable to accept unsolicited applications.

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