Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 6.9. (above) Where thecamera can go without creatingthis jump in directional relationshipsis defined by a 180° semicircleon one or the other side of theline. The camera can go anywherein that 180° arc and screen directionis maintained. The camera cango closer or farther away, higher orlower as long as it stays on the sameside of the line.Figure 6.10. (top, left) When startinga scene, which side of the linethe camera is on establishes screendirection.Figure 6.11. (top, right) With thecamera on one side of them, thewoman will be on the left and theman will be on the right.Figure 6.12. (bottom, left) If thecamera is shifted to the other side ofthe line, their positions are reversed.Figure 6.13. (bottom, right) The manis now on the left and the woman ison the right — the screen directionis reversed. These two shots couldnot be cut together without creatinga jarring effect.is shifted to the other side of the line. In D, the audience will see, forno reason they can understand, that Ralph is on the left side facingright and Lucy is on the right side facing left. It will confuse theaudience: they won't be able to readily understand and assimilate theinformation. While their brains try to sort it out, their attention willbe drawn away from the story. Not only will they be distracted fromwhat the characters are saying, but if it happens often enough, it willannoy and frustrate them. What is it that delineates where we canput the camera to maintain continuity and where we can’t?The Action AxisThere is an imaginary axis between these two characters. In our firstexample of the car, the movement direction of the car establisheswhat we call the line. In all of these diagrams, it is represented by thelarge dashed line. The line is referred to by several terms; some peoplecall it the action axis or the action line. If we stay on one side of it for allour shots — everything cuts together perfectly (Figure 6.10). If wecross over to the other side — the characters will jump to oppositesides of the screen. Safe locations for the camera are symbolized bythe 180° half circle (Figure 6.9). This semicircle is a symbol only;in practice the camera can go nearer or farther, higher and lower, inrelation to the subjects; the lens focal length can change, and so on— what is important is that by keeping the camera on the same sideof the line, the screen direction does not change.These Are the Rules — but Why?The basic rules of not crossing the line are well known to all workingfilmmakers, but many do not stop to consider the fundamentaltheory and perceptual issues that underlie this principle. It is importantto understand it at a deeper level if you are to be able to solvethe trickier issues that do not conveniently fall into one of the basiccategories of this system. More importantly, it is only when weunderstand the whole theoretical system that we can truly understandwhen it is permissible to break the rules.First, we have to consider directionality. What do we mean bythat? What is something that’s not directional? Not much, really. Afeatureless cylinder or a globe painted all the same color are non-cinematography82