Jon Starr
Veteran
Alright, so I've been studying film for a short time, a few years. One thing that I keep hearing time and time again, and am quite frankly getting very frustrated with is the 180 degree rule. For me it's common sense and simple as pie. I can block a scene without having to think about the axis and I know I won't break it. Sometimes I have to go through the paces a bit, but generally things are fine. It makes it worse that I often work with inexperienced people who I have to constantly explain why what they're doing is breaking the 180... but that's another story... and that's film school...
However I've been thinking, I hear often how to not break the 180, but never how to break it. I've seen films and TV shows doing it all the time, and successfully I might add for simple things, usually creating tension.
But hold on... I always thought that the 180 was simply to not confuse the audience, to give a sense of direction to the scene and to know who the actors are looking at (though that falls into eye lines as well)...
So I started to wonder, what allows you to break the 180 without any problems, without creating confusion, loss of direction? Or perhaps that's it's purpose? Yet I've seen it broken without creating confusion or loss of direction, just building tension.
I think the main way to break the 180 is to make sure that the audience is well aware of how the characters are placed within the scene. A great example of this is The Shinning, where they break the 180, yet with very wide 2 shots, so we know exactly where the characters are, no confusion there. Right?
Perhaps you can always start with a wide shot, and from there if you break the axis as long as the audience knows who's who and where they are? Or would that not work?
One trick I've seen is to do an invisible cut. Say a character leans to whisper something incredible, and on the lean in we match-cut to the other side.
I think I've seen a film where they break the 180 by placing the camera directly on the axis, and the reverse directly on the axis, then they just switch sides on the next reverse.
Thoughts? I wonder what others think... also are there any books that talk about breaking the 180, more how and not just why?
However I've been thinking, I hear often how to not break the 180, but never how to break it. I've seen films and TV shows doing it all the time, and successfully I might add for simple things, usually creating tension.
But hold on... I always thought that the 180 was simply to not confuse the audience, to give a sense of direction to the scene and to know who the actors are looking at (though that falls into eye lines as well)...
So I started to wonder, what allows you to break the 180 without any problems, without creating confusion, loss of direction? Or perhaps that's it's purpose? Yet I've seen it broken without creating confusion or loss of direction, just building tension.
I think the main way to break the 180 is to make sure that the audience is well aware of how the characters are placed within the scene. A great example of this is The Shinning, where they break the 180, yet with very wide 2 shots, so we know exactly where the characters are, no confusion there. Right?
Perhaps you can always start with a wide shot, and from there if you break the axis as long as the audience knows who's who and where they are? Or would that not work?
One trick I've seen is to do an invisible cut. Say a character leans to whisper something incredible, and on the lean in we match-cut to the other side.
I think I've seen a film where they break the 180 by placing the camera directly on the axis, and the reverse directly on the axis, then they just switch sides on the next reverse.
Thoughts? I wonder what others think... also are there any books that talk about breaking the 180, more how and not just why?
