180-Degree Rule
Keep the camera on one side of an imaginary axis between subjects. Cross it and the geography breaks.
- COINED
- 1910s
- TAXONOMY
- EDITING
- RELATED
- 4
- TEMPLATES
- 0
The 180-degree rule is editing's most-broken rule and editing's most-needed rule. Draw an imaginary line between two characters in a scene. Keep your cameras on one side of that line. Cross it, and the geography of the scene reverses - characters who were facing each other now appear to be facing the same direction.
The audience reads this unconsciously. They don't know what's wrong, but the scene feels off. Suddenly the conversation doesn't make sense. They lean back. They check their phone.
You can deliberately cross the line - many great films do - but the move has to be motivated. A character walks around the other character; a steadicam carries the camera across; a deliberate cut signals a shift in power. Cross the line by accident, and you've lost the audience without knowing why.
Always - keep coverage on one side of the action axis unless you have a story reason to cross.
Cross deliberately to signal a power shift, an emotional reversal, or a moment of breaking the conversation's rules.
Terms next to this one.
The invisible line you build coverage around. Lose it, lose the audience.
Who goes left, who goes right. Reverse it and viewers think they're on the wrong train.
Move at least 30 degrees between consecutive shots of the same subject - otherwise the cut reads as a stutter.
Edit that preserves spatial and temporal coherence. The grammar of mainstream filmmaking.