Production Rules

180 degree rule.

If Mason(orange shirt in the diagram) is on the left and PJ(blue shirt) is on the right, then Mason should be facing right at all times, even when PJ is off the edge of the frame, and PJ should always be facing left. Shifting to the other side of the characters on a cut, so that PJ is now on the left side and Mason is on the right, will disorient the viewer, and break the flow of the scene.

Match on Action

When filming the camera moves from postion to position whilst making sure the movement flows.

Continuity editing

Continuity editing is the predominant style of editing in narrative cinema and television. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.

Shot reverse shot

Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.

Eye-line match

This shot makes the audience want to see what the character on-screen is seeing.