180 degree rule

 180-Degree rule 

The 180-degree rule is one of the few rules in film making that aid the interpretation of certain scenes, allowing the audience to understand where the characters are in their environment without being there. The 180-degree rule is used when a conversation or interaction between characters or between characters and an object is occurring. This is done by keeping the camera on one side of the screen between two characters the first character is always frame right of the second character and vice versa. If the camera passes the line thus breaking the rule of 180 degrees, it makes the shot look wrong and confusing for the audience as the direction and placement of characters is misleading and confusing. 

 

 

Below is a short video explaining the basics of the 180-degree rule. 

 Below are some of my own examples, that I did though pictures showing two different scenes and the different shots that would be used in that sicario using the 180-degree rule. 

 

 

Above we can see the subjects within the scene that I am wishing to film, containing my mother and her computer. By imagining a line from the subject (mother) to the object (computer) we can start to see where we would place the cameras in this scene, on the 180-degree axis on the bottom side of this picture resulting in the following three shots. 

 

 

 

 

Below we can see my second example of the 180-degree rule using a subject (Father) and object (collection of drinks) just to show a different scene using the same rule of  keeping different aspects of the scene in their place.