Continuity Editing

The 180 Degree Rule

A basic film editing guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to eachother. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subject, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.



This diagram shows the 180 degree rule.















Shot reverse shot

A film technique wherein one character is shown looking (often off-screen) at another character, and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

Shot reverse shot is a feature of the "classical" Hollywood style of continuity editing, which deemphasizes transitions between shots such that the audience perceives one continuous action that develops linearly, chronologically, and logically.


This image shows the Shot reverse shot.











Match on Action Technique
This technique is a cut that connects two different views of the same action at the same moment in the movement. By carefully matching the movement across the two shots, filmmakers make it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted. For a real match on action, the action should begin in the first shot and end in the second shot.