The 180 Degree rule

180 Degree rule example

The 180° rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another . When the camera passes over the unseeable line between both characters, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle. It's also a very similar technique to shot/reverse shot except it doesn't cross the line and uses a variety of shots and angles unlike shot/reverse shot, which sets the scene and focuses on characters reactions.

As you can see in this image there are a variety of cameras one side of the two actors, Camera D however is out of line as it ruins the shot and looks funny to viewers as it means both characters would be looking the same way, showing a minor error which can have big impact on films. The other 3 though, are all on one side of the line and give you the ideas of the shots you cant take with this technique,the camera can go as close/far and around the people as it likes, as long as it doesn't cross the 180 line boundary in-between the two characters.

Here is a film example of 180 degree rule from the STAR WARS series the episode: A New Hope. But what it gives us is a range of different shots, whats going on and character reactions without crossing the imaginary line through the middle. However, there is a section at around about 20 seconds where the characters swap sides of the shot, this doesn't break the rule because the camera doesn't cross the line as the shots are either angled just behind so its not directly behind or not their so it can continue the rule from the new perspective staying in rule guidelines.

Here is an example of our own 180 degree rule