hey folks, can someone please explain the 180 degree rule...i think i understand some of it...just not everything....

when shooting a scene, do you DECIDE where the action line is....or is it automaticly there because of your establishing shot???

basicly how do you find out where that imaginary line is???

thanks in advance

You indeed decide, but not always with an EST shot

Read this, not the best explanation but good enough http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule

The hardest part is redefining the 180 line with movement. In fact I believe movement is the only way to redefine it.

And please no posts about how the 180 line is meaningless and true film isn't about rules. Go write a novel.

180 degree rule is not as complicated as it sounds.

Its just says that two character or two objects in a scene should always maintain the same left-right relationship throughout a scene
in order to keep the audience from getting confused.

So your imaginary line is always going to pass through your two actors/objects. Then you pick one side of the line, and for the entire scene, you must keep your camera on that side of the line.
Once you pick a side, you can't cross the line to set up the camera on the other side. (or else the characters will flip-flop their left-right relation to each other which is very disorienting to an audience.)


This is just a general rule to aid coherency, and it is not always applicable.

quote:

Originally posted by braininabox:

Once you pick a side, you can't cross the line to set up the camera on the other side. (or else the characters will flip-flop their left-right relation to each other which is very disorienting to an audience.)

Cutting to another scene (and then back to the 180 scene) or a good in-scene cutaway is a workable solution to repositioning the camera, too. I shot a fight/heated argument between two characters with free flowing camera movement, and I didn't pay attention to the line as I wrapped around the characters. When I started editing, the characters did flip flop around. To take care of it, I cut to another fast paced scene, and the energy remained the same between shots (and I could use my line crossing without it looking like pooh).

So, if you have already shot something and crossed the line, you might be able to do some creative editing. Hope that helps.

That would actually be really interesting to see Cobra if you uploaded the two different versions of the scene to youtube. (with cutaways to a different scene/without cutaways)

Here you go:

http://www.filmschooljournal.com/2008/02/06/180-degree-rule/

quote:

Originally posted by braininabox:
That would actually be really interesting to see Cobra if you uploaded the two different versions of the scene to youtube. (with cutaways to a different scene/without cutaways)

I've been out of it for a bit due to the holidays...sorry for the delay! Anyway, ignore the color continuity, as I am still playing around with things. Also, the reason why we ran into 180 degree trouble in this scene is because so much of it was improvised. We had dialogue, and even a set camera shot or two, but once the actors really got into the shouting and arguing, I started floating around them, and that's where I ran into a little trouble.

But here is version #1 (no cutaways/other shots):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SozXcFyQXcQ

version #2 (intercut a shot of a character fleeing through the forest; will have music to accompany it):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkGPus2HWlI

Yeah that actually is really interesting to see...just a three second cutaway can give you a blank slate with the scene as far as the 180degree rule is concerned.


By the way, nice work on your demo reel. Looks like you've been staying busy with some nice projects.