Many factors affect the look of a particular shot in a film, including the angle and types of lighting, the type of lens in the camera, the type of film, and the use of filters over the lens. A journal of daily continuity reports is kept during the making of a movie to record all these factors, as well as to describe the action that took place in a shot and inventory any other aspects of it that may be useful later, such as the way in which characters move, wear their costumes, hold props, or interact with the set.

Continuity reports are important to maintain consistency throughout a sequence. It is sometimes necessary to go back and re-shoot a particular shot when it is later considered unsatisfactory. Occasionally an additional shot may be filmed for insertion in a previously filmed sequence. New and old shots, as well as shots originally filmed out of sequence, must blend together without any jarring changes. Was that character holding the prop in his left hand or his right hand? If the production sets up again tomorrow to continue filming the sequence, this kind of information must be absolutely correct. In the unusual case of the Tatooine Dunes sequence, the continuity information was just as important when the production set up again two decades later.

The new dewback scenes in the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition had to fit precisely into the look and feel of the shot seen in the original movie when the stormtrooper patrol has discovered the escape pod amongst the Tatooine dunes. Reference stills were only a small part of the information needed to blend new scenes with classic ones. Vital information regarding the photographic "stats" of the shot was necessary to ensure that the light quality, for example, and the nature of the sun glare was the same throughout the new combined sequence. And so the continuity reports from the original production, saved by George Lucas for over 20 years, were pulled from their files and consulted closely by the team filming the new Tatooine Dunes sequence.

It was discovered in these reports that the harsh glare of the hot desert sun was enhanced in the original film by the use of pantyhose stretched over the camera lens (indicated by the notation "net" on the continuity report) which gave the scene a less sharp, hotter and more hazy look as well as making characteristic four-sided flares at bright sun reflection points (for example, on the troopers' helmets). The report also carefully records the camera and lens in use, the camera movement, and the details of the action taking place in the scene. When continuity is kept, the average viewer is not even aware of such subtleties, but when continuity is violated, errors become noticeable. Accordingly, the team creating the new shots for the Special Edition consulted every resource to ensure that the new would blend in every way with the old.