RESEARCH: Match On Action

Match on Action is a style of editing used to create the illusion of verisimilitude. It can be used in chase scenes, as well as to do tasks such as picking out a book or making things, to make the scenes seem like one continuous action.
Here is an example of Match On Action, whereby the character is making a cup of tea;



There are different ways to go about the shooting. In the video above, the mid-shots were all filmed first, so as to preserve the continuity between the shots and enforce the illusion of verisimilitude. We filmed the close ups of the tea afterwards, and stitched the scenes together in post-production.The scenes use jump cuts, so there are no transitions to break the illusion.
The action can also be created using cut-editing, whereby the character would be walking towards the camera, which would then switch to a shot of their backs.
The cardinal rule in all of this is to keep the direction the same, for instance if a character walks into shot from the left and leaves on the right, then they MUST repeat the same directions in the next shot no matter where the camera is! Without this, the shots would not stitch together and the shot would loose effect.

Match on Action is used in continuous scenes such as chase scenes, walking down a corridor or even fight scenes.It is used to enforce verisimilitude, and generally maintain the continuity of the scene.