180 degree rule

BASIC PRINCIPLES/PRODUCTION BASICS

to establish and maintain the screen direction of your actors or action in the
scene

-failure to follow the rules can make scenes difficult to follow for your audience. the sight
lines will confuse the audience

-apply to two people talking, action (walking, cars, sports)

-BREAKING THE RULE: for dramatic purposes, to create a disoriented feeling

ESTABLISHING ACTION LINES

-Line of Action (180 degree rule)

-imaginary straight line drawn between a subject and the item or person they are
interacting with

-imaginary straight line drawn along a path that a subject is moving on

-Example is line of action through actor 1 to actor 2

180 degree rule

-once you place your camera on one side of the line, you should keep all your
shots within the 180 degree arc on the same side of the line in order to maintain proper
screen direction

-Have establishing shot to introduce

WORKING WITH SHIFTING ACTION LINES

Establishing shot

-gives viewer basic geography of the scene

-determines the screen direction of the actors or action

If 3 person talks:

-there will be three action lines

-show action that shifts the line(show turn of talking)

Changing position of the actors can also change the line of action

show camera breaking the line(shift camera from initial view to other side)
NEUTRAL SHOTS

-place camera on action line(Ex. shot of actor directly walking to camera which is
on action line)

-allows you to cut to a shot on either side

CAMERA MOVEMENT

-Shifting action line

-place shots within the established arc

-create shifts with action in the scene

-use camera movement to show a shift

-use neutral shots or cutaways

CUTAWAYS

-shot of the surrounding landscape followed by a shot of view of opposing side of

action line

-if you establish a new action line, you will be locked on that action line until
action line shifts

WHY ARE CAMERA ANGLES IMPORTANT

-perspective: by shooting in different angles, you can give audience multiple

perspective of what you’re looking at

-emotion: different perspectives can help you convey different emotions

-editing: it can make editing easier if you have multiple angles to choose from

WHAT ARE THE 12 MOST POPULAR CAMERA ANGLES

-WIDE: usually captured in a wider angle camera lens to see more of your
surroundings; to establish location so viewer can understand where scene; portray loneliness,
insignificance, feeling of being removed from the action

-LONG: used to establish location but with bigger emphasis on subject filling the entire
frame of their full body; look is best created using the tire focal point shooting from a
distance
 -MEDIUM: you see from waist up and used for the viewer to focus on action done or
words said by actor; great for viewer to feel close to the subject; view shot for people
when you have a conversation with them

-COWBOY: between long and medium; framed from midthigh up; popular in western
films; show details around the waist like a gun

-TIGHT(CLOSE UP): just the head and shoulders of the subject; used for dialogue and
expression; for important or intense or intimate pieces of dialogue or action to help
viewer know to pay attention; typically best shot in focal length(50-100mm)

-DETAIL (EXTREME CLOSE UP): used for emphasis or importance in a specific detail
in your image; great for creating mystery and depth in a story; typically shot in tire focal
length(50-100mm)

-LOW ANGLE: used to make subject appear larger than life; portray power and
dominance; portray wonder and majesty as long as subject is smaller than surroundings

-HIGH ANGLE: does opposite of low angle; make subject weaker and inferior or smaller
and vulnerable

-DUTCH ANGLE; any time you slightly tilt the horizon of your frame; used to convey
uneasy emotion; world is on the side; something is wrong

-OVER THE SHOULDER; when two subjects is talking to one another; to make the
viewer as if they are the person talked to

-POV (point of view): shot where the character is looking at; to understand their state of
mind on a personal level; for action and sports scene; shot on a wide angle lens for
surroundings

-CUTAWAY: interruption of a continuously filmed scene; to transition to new scenes; for

sidestory happenings aside from main story

DON’T ADD TOO MUCH ANGLE SCENES

:look if it convey your goals

:follow 180 degree rule

30 degree rule

-in editing, camera angle a and camera angle b is atleast 30 degrees apart

-ideally, they will each be a different angle

How many angle per scene

-depend of story

-important action(5 different angles)

12 CAMERA ANGLES TO ENHANCE YOUR FILMS

-“Michael bay”

shoot at lower angle to elevate character; camera movement is opposite direction

of model movement

-“zoom push”

zoom as you push forward;can also pull out

-“model reveal

place models in a straight line;start camera with one model and move to another
one; models face move opposite direction of camera

“ingredients on the lens

show ingredients; use plastic wrap or cloth

-bicycle reveal

let the subject enter the frame;then hold the shot and let the subject speed of the
frame;good for open scene

-pan up

actor look up as the camera pans up

-pull back

bring subject in the frame with movement;establish scene then transition to actor

-forward push wide

same as push back; use wide lens

-cross movement

put subject against the flow of other subject or people

twirl

use foreground and change angle of camera

reflections

use reflections like water or mirror for cinematic effect

centered look back

 shoot in slow motion; keep model in center frame as they are moving forward
and at the right spot make them look back