180 Degree Rule

• The 180 degree rule refers to the camera, whilst filming, to stay on and around one side of the 180 degree line. In the diagram below it shows two people facing each other and the 180 degree line going through them. The three cameras one side of them are all correct but the one camera on the other side is wrong. This is because as soon as the camera cross the line it makes the characters swap places.

• If you look at person A they’re on the left when the camera is on one side of the line and person B is on the right but when the camera goes onto the other side person A will be on the right and person B will be on the left. This is confusing for the audience as they haven’t seen the characters swap sides from shot to another.

• This rule is very important when filming but some films do cross the line e.g. The Shining.

A B

Match on action

• Match on action is when one shot should flow into another. An example of this is when someone is opening a door.

• E.g. one shot should be of them opening the door and if the shot flicks to the camera inside the room they’re entering then it should be edited so that the character is in the same position as he was when the camera was outside of the room.

Rule of thirds

• The rule of thirds is when a visual image is spilt into thirds, making 9 sections. This is shown in the diagram below. Important parts of the image are placed where the lines intersect.