The 180 Degree Line

The 180 degree line is a standard rule used in every piece of film, TV or moving image. The rule refers to the angle in which cameras can be placed and change to and from but still have characters in the same places e.g. left or right. If a camera goes over this degree or is on the wrong side of the line the characters will switch places and this will confuse the audience.

BELOW: a diagram explanation of the 180 degree rule

The best way to understand the rule is to watch it in context. Below is a a link (due to copyright you cannot embed FRIENDS from youtube) to a scene from the US TV series "Friends" a series which involves many scenes of the characters talking in coffee shops or appartments and the use of the 180 degree line is constant throughout the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3PLxXdLukg

In this clip it keeps strictly to the 180 degree line rule. The clip would have broken the rule though if there had been a shot from the back of the sofa. This would have changed the perspective of where the audience see the characters.

In our preliminary one of the requirements was to demonstrate our understanding of the 180 degree rule. We kept to this rule and spoitioned ourselves the edges of the line. Below are from our example of the rule.

On the right is the perspective from Chloe our female protagonist.

On the left is an example of the camera being put directly ON the line without going over. This helps to create a POV shot from Chloe.

On the right is the perspective from Aidan our male antagonist.














All these shots are within the 180 degree line or placed on the line. If our shots had gone over the rule would have been broken and would have confused our audience.

George