180 Degree Rule - Technical Development Piece

180 Degree Rule - Technical Development Piece

One of the basic guidelines for film making is the 180 degree rule. The rule applies to the spatial relationship between a character and either/or another character or object within the scene. As a technique, it is often used within films as crossing the line can cause the audience to feel uncomfortable and disorientated. The 180 degree rule is important for continuity editing. An axis connects the characters. By keeping the camera on one side of this axis for throughout a scene, continuity editing is conformed to. Breaking this and crossing to the other side of the axis is known as “crossing the line”. This line is initiated within the establishing shot of the scene and is drawn perpendicular to the camera's viewpoint.

The diagram to the right shows how the camera may be placed on either side of the red line within the scene, allowing for a visually comfortable viewing, as even when only one character is in shot, the audience are still aware of the location of the other. 

Crossing the line often can also impact upon the use of eye-line match within a film as it frequently gives the impression that characters are not looking at each other whilst delivering their dialogue. In light of this, when shooting a two shot the characters should always be on the same side of the frame in each shot. There are very few ways to correct the breaking of this rule, however it is possible. One way is to show the movement of the camera, carrying the audience with you to the opposite side of the shot in a continuous motion, then staying on that side for the rest of the scene. This ensures that the audience are not made to feel more uncomfortable which in turn assures do not lose focus in the film.

Although breaking the rule often looks unprofessional and does not work, it has been used by many directors including Stanley Kubrick in the bathroom scene of The Shining. Kubrick shoots wide shots from both directions, with a 180 degree flip crossing the line, but he picks a screen direction in order to match close-ups. Kubrick chooses to do this so as to to make the audience feel unbalanced and disorientated. The only reasoning behind breaking the rule one could have is for the effect that it causes, as is the case for Kubrick, otherwise it will not fit with the rest of the scene, detracting from the action, and will only confuse the audience regarding the position they are observing the scene from.