Before the visual style which would become known as “classical continuity”, scenes were filmed in full shot and used carefully choreographed staging to portray plot and character relationships. Cutting was extremely limited, and mostly consisted of close-ups of writing on objects for their legibility. There are many actors who make a successful career out of so-called bit parts, and never have a starring role, which can still be a very satisfying career. Others who achieve great success very early on in their careers become household names, and get many major roles. The majority of actors will have a career that is somewhere in-between these two extremes.
