180 Degree Rule
- Thread starter Jamaine
- Start date
Barry_Green
Moderator
By how you stage your actors. When you show the first shot of any scene, there's a line drawn (invisibly) between your actors, and the camera is on one side of that line (obviously). From then on, the camera should stay on the same side of that line between them, unless you employ a technique that allows the camera to cross the line (such as dollying between or around them, etc).
sonofaresiii
Well-known member
http://www.thesubstream.com/video-the-180-degree-rule.html
that's a nice video i found once that explains it well. to answer your question without ending up with a whole tutorial of my own... the line is drawn right from one actor to the second in a 2-person scene. any more people and... well, it's complicated, but suffice to say, learn WHY you use the line, then just do whatever you want.
that's a nice video i found once that explains it well. to answer your question without ending up with a whole tutorial of my own... the line is drawn right from one actor to the second in a 2-person scene. any more people and... well, it's complicated, but suffice to say, learn WHY you use the line, then just do whatever you want.
stefancolson
Well-known member
While you're still learning just try to remember the purpose of the rule rather than some arbitrary specifics. The real reason for the line rule is keeping the geometry of your location coherent and maintaining frame relationships for your characters. In simple terms, you want the features of your location to be consistent throughout a scene. If a door is established in a specific spot in the room in one shot, then the audience should have a clear idea of where they are (the camera) in relation to the door/location at all times. Similarly, if character A is on the left side of the frame in your master, then you want to keep them frame left in your coverage as well.
You are free to change those frame relationships at will if you show the line cross happen (characters swapping sides in the frame) in a camera move. You can also get away with angles that are technically line crosses so long as you maintain your frame relationships, or if the geometry of a location is exceptionally clear or inconsequential (such as a hallway, elevator, stage, during fast action, etc). You can also ease up when shooting 180degree reverses and in situations where changing things up presents no confusion to the audience. You should (eventually) be able to visualize all of your shots strung together to look for jarring angles, geometry or relationship incontinuity, etc.
The best thing to do is spend some time analyzing movies that you like the look of. Pick one character in a scene and watch where they appear in the frame during each shot. Then repeat for another character. As you build that visual vocabulary, your powers of visualization will improve and any problems will become more obvious. The whole idea is to get to a point where observing the line is something that you do instinctively, and blatant crosses are immediately apparent.
It's ridiculous how much amazing information is crammed into those DVDs. I can't think of any other singular resource that can enhance your pallate and toolbox as a cinematographer as much as those DVDs can. The new shot designer app is pretty incredible too.
You are free to change those frame relationships at will if you show the line cross happen (characters swapping sides in the frame) in a camera move. You can also get away with angles that are technically line crosses so long as you maintain your frame relationships, or if the geometry of a location is exceptionally clear or inconsequential (such as a hallway, elevator, stage, during fast action, etc). You can also ease up when shooting 180degree reverses and in situations where changing things up presents no confusion to the audience. You should (eventually) be able to visualize all of your shots strung together to look for jarring angles, geometry or relationship incontinuity, etc.
The best thing to do is spend some time analyzing movies that you like the look of. Pick one character in a scene and watch where they appear in the frame during each shot. Then repeat for another character. As you build that visual vocabulary, your powers of visualization will improve and any problems will become more obvious. The whole idea is to get to a point where observing the line is something that you do instinctively, and blatant crosses are immediately apparent.
It's ridiculous how much amazing information is crammed into those DVDs. I can't think of any other singular resource that can enhance your pallate and toolbox as a cinematographer as much as those DVDs can. The new shot designer app is pretty incredible too.
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