Introduction to the 180-degree rule and jump-cuts

180-degree rule

When shooting for continuity, videographers often use the 180-Degree Rule.

This means that for every shot in a scene, the camera, or cameras, stay on the same side of an imaginary line drawn through the middle of the set. Following the 180-Degree Rule keeps the subjects in a scene on the same side of the screen in all shots, which maintains spatial continuity and 'eyeline', and makes the video feel natural. In the image below, you can see a top-down view of how this is set up.

A bird's eye view of two people sitting opposite each other at a table. There is a horizontal dashed line drawn halfway across the photo. two cameras on tripods occupy the lower half of the dashed line.

In the first of the three images below you can see an 'establishing shot' where the female subject is on the left and the male subject is on the right. Following the 180-degree rule preserves this screen orientation throughout the scene, keeping the girl on the left and the boy on the right. In the second image, both cameras are on the same side of the line. This preserves the relative positions of the girl and boy - in shots from both cameras (seen at the bottom of the image) she is on the left and he is on the right. However, in the third image, the camera on the left has moved to the other side of the line. This means that when a shot from each camera is compared (see the bottom of the image), the subjects are now both on the left. When these shots are edited together, they look awkward.

A side view of two people sitting opposite each other. Two cameras on tripods are in the foreground on either side. A bird's eye view of two people sitting opposite each other with cameras positioned over the shoulder of each person, both cameras are on the same side of the room. Two image overlays depict the camera views of the subjects.

A bird's eye view of. Two people sitting opposite each other, two cameras are over their shoulders but one on one side of the room, and one on the other. Two images overlay the camera views of the subjects. A red cross symbol denotes that these are bad camera angles.

Below you can see an enlarged example of what happened when the camera moved over the line. In the first two images the subjects are looking at each other and each subject stays on the same side of the screen (female on left, male on right). In the last image the two subjects have switched sides on the screen.

A camera filming a man looking at a woman with the camera angle over the right shoulder of the woman in the foreground. This view matches the opposing angle of the woman looking at the man with the camera filming her from over the left shoulder of the man.

A camera filming a man looking at a woman with the camera angle over the left shoulder of the woman in the foreground. This angle does not match the opposing view of the woman looking at the man with the camera filming her from over the right shoulder of the man.

Considering eyeline match can make this a bit clearer. A matched eyeline means that the subjects are looking in opposite directions relative to each other, rather than in the same direction. This means that when cutting between the over shoulder shot of each person's face, the subjects appear to be looking towards each other. Matching eyelines help the video to feel natural and seamless.

A woman looking at a man. The camera is filming from over the left shoulder of the man. A dashed line follows the woman's eye line.

The correct angle of the man looking back at the woman. The camera is filming from over the right shoulder of the woman. A dashed line follows the man's eye line.

The incorrect angle of the man looking back at the woman. The camera is filming from over the left shoulder of the woman. A dashed line follows the man's eye line.

The following are two videos of this scene. The first follows the 180-Degree Rule and the second breaks it. See if you can spot the difference.

180-degree rule

Breaking the 180-degree rule

Of course not every scene is a simple conversation with an establishing shot, followed by intercut over-shoulder shots. In more complex scenes, subjects can move around within a shot and change sides or positions. However, to keep the edit seamless, in any subsequent shots the relative positions of the subjects should be the same as the end of the previous shot.

Many videographers don't always follow the 180-Degree Rule, but if you're feeling unsure about how to approach a scene or how to shoot something, it's a good rule to fall back on.

Jump-cuts

A jump-cut is the film industry's term for the effect you see when two shots or clips of similar shot size and composition are cut together. When this happens, anything moving on screen, usually a person, appears to jump unnaturally from one position to another.

Jump-cuts can be used for narrative effect, for example to show time passing. They're also used in music videos, where cutting between similar shots of the singer in different environments is used to create rhythm and interest. However, they need to be used with planning, because they do break the rules of continuity which can mean they look jarring in the middle of an otherwise continuous video.

These are two examples of a jump-cut:

Jump-cut 1

Jump-cut 2

Options for dealing with jump-cuts

Jump-cuts can be avoided through pre-shoot-planning, or they can be covered up. Often videographers use a combination of both options!

Let people leave the screen

One good way to avoid a jump-cut is to let people leave the shot completely when they're moving between environments. You can also have them enter from off-screen at the start of a shot to get the same effect. If someone leaves the screen completely, then they can appear anywhere in the next shot, and it will appear seamless. If you cut between two shots of someone in the middle of the shot in two different environments, the effect is less seamless.

Seamless transition from scene to scene

Jarring transition from scene to scene

Change shot size

If you're filming a documentary with interviews, one way to reduce the instance of jump-cuts in your edited interview material is to reframe the interviewee between questions, so there are a variety of shot sizes to choose from.

Edited reframing

A-roll B-roll editing

If you're shooting a documentary-style video using interviews, you will most likely create your visual narrative by shooting video to illustrate what the interviewee is talking about or shooting other material within the interview scene to cover your jump-cuts. This has the added bonus of allowing you to cover most of the interview and cover up any jump-cuts created in the editing process. This is known as A-roll/B-roll editing. The 'A-roll' is the interview, and the 'B-roll' is the video that illustrates the interview or covers your jump-cuts, played over the top of the interview.

Cutaways

Cutaways are one of the most common ways to create a visual narrative. They are traditionally material shot separately from the interview to illustrate what the interviewee is talking about. In more contemporary corporate or promotional material, cutaways can form a more metaphorical visual narrative that complements and extends an interview or narration track rather than directly illustrating what is being discussed.

Edited interview without cutaway

Interview cutaway

In a journalistic or current affairs interview you have the option of cutting to a reaction shot to cover any jump-cuts.

Jump-cut
Reaction shot

If you're shooting a scripted video you can still use cutaways - a POV, WS, reaction shot etc can all cover a jump-cut created by the editing process. In the example from the introductory video, you can see a cut out to a WS, followed by cut-ins to close-ups.

Cutaways

Cut-ins

In both interview-driven and scripted videos, close-ups of hands and eyes can be used to show the subject or character's frame of mind as well as covering cuts.

Cut-in 1

Cut-in 2