STORYTELLING: Storytelling With Pictures & the 180° Rule

http://yonicohen31.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/breaking-
down-180-rule.html

This morning we had a session with Simon with more tips for our stories. One of the things we covered was the 180° rule in order to help us when it comes to filming our trailers or first 2 minutes. This is the line that you usually do not cross when filming so the characters are looking in the correct way without confusing the audience. I had heard about this rule before but only when I came to my interview at the Studios when Simon told me about it.

He brought it up because I showed him my short film from my foundation year and I had broken the rule.
However, this is not always a problem as long as you have a very good reason to break the rule, such as in The Shining.
Stanley Kubrick purposely breaks the rule with the intention to show the confusion of the actor through the audience. As the audience, we understand the scene and it doesn't cause confusion, it is simply to add more detail into the story. If crossing the line is necessary then we can show it without confusing the audience by using a tracking shot and slowly going from the original position to the side and then ending behind one person, which would then swap the people and the way they're looking. On Wednesday our camera workshop will consist of applying this to the short films we will be making. I'm looking forward to Wednesdays workshop as I already have an idea of how I'm going to shoot the scene.