180 degree rule

Of what I understand of the 180 degree rule is that it is also referred to `the line of action.

An example of this is: If Bob is on the left and Dave on the right, then Bob should be facing right at all times even if Dave is in the corner of the frame, Dave should be facing left at all times if even if Bob is in the corner of the frame. If the camera goes past 180 degrees and is on the other side of the characters it will look like Bob is on right facing the left and Dave is on the left facing the right when it shouldn't be like this. You can only brake the 180 degree rule if you are trying to do special effects.

For a better example I got this example from Wikapedia:


The 180° rule is a basic film editing guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.

The camera cannot cross the dotted line in the centre as it would create confusion to the audience, this is because the camera (if on the other side of the line) would visually switch the two characters around, thus making them look as if they were the opposite character.