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180° RuleMatch on ActionShot/Reverse shotTom SutherlandMEDIA STUDIES DM

+What is the 180° Rule?

Line of Action / Axis Line

NEVER VIOLATE OR DIE (unless for “effect”, obviously)

Breaking the rule can disorient/confuse viewers So as a result, they’ll miss your film while trying to figure

things out!

Especially important in scenes with action or traces where a subject moves from A to B to avoid continuity errors

+Things are easier to explain with pictures...

In this scene:

• The man is always facing right• The woman is always facing left

No matter which position or angle the camera is shooting

from, the characters will always be facing the same

direction throughout.

+What happens when you break it?

If you move the camera across the line, characters face the same way as each other

THIS EQUALS CONFUSION

Camera A

Camera B

+How do I cross the line?

Show the movement This way, the viewer won’t become disoriented as they will

have seen the camera move

Once the line has been crossed, all shots must be from that side of the line, unless you cross back over (again showing the movement)

As usual, the man is facing right...

... but now he’s facing left!!

+Video Examples

+Match on Action

Cut that connects two different views of the same action at the same moment

It makes the motion seem uninterrupted

Usually just multiple shots of the same action (low budget films especially) So the mise-en-scene must be the same in every take to

avoid continuity errors

Used to emphasize spatial relationships

+Shot/Reverse Shot

Classicly used in filming dialogue

The shot frames the speaker (usually MCU) as (s)he says his/her line Often, there will be part of the listener in shot, slightly out

of focus for example, the shoulder slightly out of focus.