There's one magic rule that can help you create impressive visuals in a film shoot, and that's the 180° rule!By applying this rule wisely, you can immerse the audience more in the story and enhance their perception of the relationship between the characters and the objects. This article will reveal the application tips of this rule for you to make your movie more engaging!Imagine you're filming a great conversation scene. Your character is standing on the left side of the screen, while your opponent character is standing on the right. At this point, you can use the 180° rule to enhance the audience's perception of the tension between the characters. By placing the camera in the center between the two characters, you can make the audience feel the confrontation and conflict between them.
The 180° rule applies to the relationship between one person and another person or object in all spaces within the painting (right, left, or left). The 180° rule is used to maintain consistency in the orientation of the screen between one person and another person or object in a given space.
Imagine that when one person faces another person or object, an imaginary axis forms between them. The most obvious axis is the line of sight when two people look at each other. As long as these two people are in the same shot, this axis will exist, even if they don't really look at each other.
Now, let's put a camera between these two characters. Suppose the camera is focused on a person, and instead of looking at the camera, that person looks at another person to the right of the camera. Then, we turn the camera around so that it is pointed at the second person. At this time, the second person is looking to the left of the camera.
Next, if we were to shoot a single shot of these two people and edit them together, the first shot followed by the second, what we would see on the screen would be the relationship between the two subjects looking at each other.
In other words, their gaze is correct, and the viewer is able to understand the spatial relationships between the characters.
If the axis is jumped at this dramatic moment, that is, crossed the axis, the audience will be confused. Let's say we continue to shoot the first person, have the camera go over the axis to shoot the second person, and then cut back to the first person. In this way, the viewer will find that the gaze of the two people does not coincide, which can disrupt the viewer's perception of the spatial relationship between the characters, resulting in a diminished effect of the dramatic moment.
So, when shooting, we should avoid jumping the axis. There are other ways we can use to create visual effects, such as moving the camera cart, changing the camera angle, or using a two-person lens. In this way, the audience can clearly understand the relative positional relationship between the characters, enhancing the visual impact of the dramatic moment.
As long as we can keep the viewer clear about the relative positions of the characters at all times, we can safely cross the axis. We can push a shopping cart through or around the axis, or we can switch to a two-person shot on the opposite side of the axis. Except for the first person jumping to the left of the frame and the second person jumping to the right at the same time, the audience is still able to accurately understand the orientation. In the right dramatic moment, this kind of interchange of the position of the characters in the picture can become another interesting drama*** Allowing the characters to swap positions within the picture is a common actor scheduling technique used by directors, and it is also an effective technique to emphasize a certain moment. This technique can be even more powerful, such as forcibly swapping the positions of Character A and Character B in the frame, as if they were being pulled by an invisible force.
Of course, it is possible to jump the axis with the characters separated from each other. The 180° rule is not absolute, and beginners don't have to be too rigid about it. In some cases, breaking this rule may result in better visuals and narratives.
In movies, jumping between characters can have a strong dramatic effect. The effect of this dramatic energy can be psychological, such as creating tension through opposition and conflict between characters;It can also be physiological, such as enhancing the viewer's visual experience through camera movement and editing techniques.