A key element of the continuity system is the 180 DEGREE RULE, which states that the camera must stay on only one side of the actions and objects in a scene. An invisible line, known as the 180 DEGREE LINE or AXIS OF ACTION, runs through the space of the scene. The camera can shoot from any position within one side of that line, but it may never cross it. This convention ensures that the shot will have consistent spatial relations and screen directions. In other words, characters and objects never 'flip flop:' if they are on the right side of the screen, they will remain on the right from shot to shot; those on the left will always be on the left. For example, an actor walking from the left side of the screen to the right will not suddenly, in the next shot, appear to be walking in the opposite direction -- a reversal that would strike the viewer, if only fleetingly, as confusing or jarring. With the 180 DEGREE RULE, the viewer rarely experiences even a momentary sense of spatial disorientation ... apparently.
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robtoo is all out of gum,
Thu 15 Jul 2004, 17:37,
archived)