2. The rule states that the camera(s) should remain
the same side of an imaginary line
The line is drawn perpendicular the camera’s
viewpoint in the establishing shot of the scene
The rule enforces continuity of the film
An example is that in a car chase scene, if the
car is travelling from right to left, the next shot
must also be shot from the same side, meaning
the car has to enter the frame right to left again
The same applies for football matches and other
sport
3. The rule should never be broken
Only defence for breaking the rule is ‘for effect’
Breaking the rule will confuse the
audience, especially in scenes of
chase, conversation or sport
Camera must always be on one side of the line
This is an example of
the rule being
obeyed:
4. Crossing
the line when filming over the
shoulder shots shifts the person’s eye
line, meaning that the actors’ eye lines do
not match
-Example from my preliminary task
5.
6. Confusion of audience
Audience lose focus
Become disorientated
Miss vital parts of the film
7. The only way to cross the line without
disorientating the audience is to show the
camera movement
You cannot cut across the line or the viewer
will not be orientated
Once the line has been crossed, and
movement shown, you have to stay on that
side of the line, unless you show the
movement back over it.
8. The clip below shows a violation of the rule
used for effect
The effect created is that of a
shot/reverse/shot, but really, the subject is
just one character