Continuity

Continuity

Firstly, let's talk about what continuity in films actually is.There are two parts to continuity, spatial continuity and temporal continuity. The essence of both parts of continuity, however, is the same and that is to keep the film or narrative consistent throughout. This includes not having objects move around when they shouldn't like in the scene in  Fargo, when Jerry is talking to Carl and Gaear in the bar and the glasses and bottles on the table move around between shots.

Temporal continuity also helps a film/narrative flow better and is often done in editing, such as using diegetic sound to transition from one scene to the other like in this amazing short film. 

Many classic rules of continuity are things such as don't break the 180 degree rule and use matches on action and make sure characters clothes aren't changing when they shouldn't be ect...

However, continuity can be broken too but for effect. This can be seen in many French New Wave films that wanted to re write the rules of cinema, one of which included breaking the rules of continuity.