Continuity Editing Explained: The 180 Degree Rule & More

[00:00:01]hi folks and welcome to the first part  of our video lesson series on editing   hope you enjoyed mad max fury road um we'll  get to that in a little bit today we're talking   about continuity editing specifically issues  of space but before we get into the definition   of continuity editing i just want to begin with an  example of continuity editing or at least a little   bit of that example i'm going to show you the  opening of david fincher's film the social network   do you know there are more people with genius iq  living in china than there are people of any kind   living in the united states that can't possibly be  true it is what would account for that well first   off a lot of people live in china but here's  the question how do you distinguish yourself   in the population of people who all got 1600  under sats i don't know they take sats in china   they don't i wasn't talking about china anymore  i was talking about me you go to 1600 yes i could   sing in an acapella but i can't does that mean you  actually got nothing wrong pc or you get into a   final club or get into a final foot you know from  a woman's perspective sometimes not seeing in an   acapella group is a good thing this is serious  on the other hand i do like guys who wrote crew   well i can't do that i was kidding yes i got  nothing wrong with the test have you ever tried   i'm trying right now two row crew to get into a  final club to real crew no are you like whatever   delusional maybe it's just sometimes you'd say  two things at once i'm not sure which one i'm   supposed to be aiming at but you've seen guys who  will crew right no okay well they're bigger than   me they're world class athletes and a second ago  you said you liked guys who were precise and you   had that one i guess they just meant like the  idea that you know the way a girl likes cowboys   okay should we get something to eat would you like  to talk about something else okay i'm gonna stop   there um if you want to watch the whole thing i  suggest you check it out on youtube i just wanted   to show you what a good example of the most basic  example of continuity editing looks like this is   a shot reverse shot sequence and we're referring  to a number of techniques that you've already seen   within this one minute preview throughout this  lesson this whole opening of the film lasts about   five minutes and it retains this pace that you've  seen throughout and i just want you to get a sense   of what continuity editing does to our visibility  of cuts you may be able to perceive that there's a   rapidity a quickness of this conversation between  these two characters but i doubt that you would be   able to count the number of shots that take place  within the entire five-minute sequence it's 108   shots most of them are from about three or four  camera setups it's very simple um but most of   those cuts are more or less invisible to our eyes  and that has to do with what continuity editing is   as a technique so let's go to the the basics  the definition what is continuity editing it's   a style of editing developed in hollywood  in the 1910s and it became the basis of the   classical hollywood style the term classical  hollywood is a film that i've already used   throughout this course without defining it  but basically classical hollywood refers to   um the uh structure of hollywood filmmaking both  um financial structure um industrial structure   and aesthetic structures that took place between  the 1930s and the 50s so the style itself began   in the silent era it was picked up by  popular narrative cinemas around the world   what is essentially the classical hollywood style  is still very much the dominant mode that you see   when you watch big budget films um or or films  around the world today the idea of continuity   editing is to transmit narrative information  smoothly and clearly over a series of shots what   are the main principles of continuity editing each  shot has a continuous relationship with the next   shot what does that mean it means that cutting is  made to be unnoticed or invisible not literally   invisible but functionally invisible the idea  that you aren't distracted by the cuts because   they conform to your expectations there's minimal  effort for the viewer and following action there's   an emphasis on following human actions we're going  to look at how that manifests itself we're going   to be talking about continuity editing and spatial  comprehension that is spatial as opposed to   temporal which we'll look at in the next video one  of the biggest uh and most important techniques   of spatial comprehension in classical continuity  editing is what's known as the 180 degree rule you   may have heard of it you may have not but we need  you to know what it is it's the rule that says the   camera should stay on one side of the action to  ensure consistent left right spatial relations   between elements from shot to shot the simplest  example is when you have two people having a   conversation just like we had in the opening of  social network you have your two people and if you   kind of connected an imaginary line across them  that's your axis of action the 180 degree rule   states that if you're going to shoot these people  um with a camera from from more than one angle you   better keep it on one side of this axis of action  so if you're going to shoot in if you're going to   shoot one shot from here all the other all your  other shots better be on this side of the axis if   they're on this side of the axis what you get is  a reversal of screen direction what does that mean   well i'll show you what it means um so once again  let's look at it with the social network example   here's our two people in the shot rooney's on the  left eisenberg is on the right uh jesse's on the   right and you make sure that when you do uh when  you give a shot from over the shoulder that rooney   is always on the left side and jesse is always on  the right side what happens if we break that rule   well what happens is that there's going to be  something like this where you get jesse looking   left and then rooney looking left and the theory  suggests that if this happens we will become   confused and we will no longer have a a sense of a  spatial relationship between these two characters   so what is the name of the technique um that we  looked at the name of the technique as opposed   to the rule that says keep the camera on one  side of the axis of action is shot reverse   shot um that means two or more shots added  together that alternate characters typically   in a conversation characters in one framing look  left the other framing uh they look right over   the shoulder is the name of the camera position  which we talked about in cinematography that is   very common in shot reverse shot editing these are  all these interlocked terms and you it's important   to know that they're all connected but that they  mean slightly different things similarly the term   eyeline match refers to this when the first shot  shows a person looking off in one direction and   the second shows a nearby space containing what  they see eyeline match suggests that when i see   this shot of jesse eisenberg and i see him  say looking in this direction i'm going to see   who or what he's looking at in the subsequent  shot that's an eyeline match now a point of   view shot which is a term i've already used  throughout this class without defining it   but i should do that is a kind a special kind of  eyeline match a point of view shot is a subjective   shot that reproduces a character's optical point  of view often preceded and or followed by shots   of the character looking so this famous example  of a point of view shot would end from a famous   film that is full of point of view shots you might  say it is the main structuring logic of the film   that uses point of view shots is both a point  of view shot and an example of eye line match   it is both but sometimes we have eyeline  matches that aren't point of view shots   so just keep in mind right that we have these  three terms that refer to aspects of this kind   of shot construction but they aren't synonymous  they're connected but they mean slightly different   things um a few more uh aspects of uh continuity  editing that we've already seen in the opening   of the social network the establishing shot  it's a shot that shows a broad view of where   the subsequent action will take place or show  spatial relations among the important figures   in a scene so there's two kinds basically of  establishing shots you can call this very very   common example of establishing shots in television  shows and sitcoms where you see the exterior of a   building and then you cut into the interior of the  building that's an establishing shot but also this   is an establishing shot when you have a wide  view of all three people and then you cut into   two people the first shot is an establishing shot  because it's it establishes the relationships   uh there are spatial relationships  between the figures in uh in the scene   so in the same way this large two shot and  that's a kind of industrial uh jargon for   what you would call a shot with two people in  it uh or the two main people a two shot is also   an establishing shot because it it's a wider  view of our two characters sitting at the table   what is a match on action a match on action is  a cut that splices two different views of the   same action together making it seem to continue  uninterrupt many many shots in continuity editing   in which people or things are moving happen to be  match on action shots for this is a good example   because it's isolating a very simple action  humphrey bogart as you can see here stands up   is taking off his jacket and boom right in the  middle of taking off his jacket the other shot   from the other side continues that movement  and our eyes instead of seeing the abruptness   of the cut they fixate on the smoothness of  the movement that's why it's such a useful   continuity editing technique it's continuous it's  smooth it flows it doesn't interrupt our sense of   the important stuff that is people talking  doing important things within a narrative   okay so this is a good example right he's  forcing her to the left in one continuous motion   and then as you cut he is still doing that motion  in fact notice how our eyes made that smoother   than it in fact is that's because match on actions  rely on our eyes being able to play a trick   on us right um so you can get away with a lot  of imperfection in match on action but it still   makes it a match on action um a silly example  of a match on action is when you violate the   principles of classical hollywood continuity  editing to use the kind of perceptual synthesis   of movement to play a little trick like in this  backstreet boys uh video and you can see this   all over the history of film as well in the same  in the same way avant-garde films like daisies   which we'll be watching in the next unit play  with the match on action perceptual synthesis   in order to violate a principle of uh classical  continuity editing the idea is that you're not   supposed to allow one person to simply  uh float from one space to another simply   by following a movement to the left of the screen  that's exactly what happens here the match on   action gets our mind to sink into the smoothness  of the movement in a similar way another film   we'll be watching in that next unit meshes of  the afternoon by maya darren is doing a similar   thing trying to kind of break the rules by using  the rules and in other words it's using match on   action but it's having a person step into totally  different environments each time so we have to   think of this as some kind of representation  of mental space as opposed to physical space   let's look at a um a more elaborate but still  very very classical example of continuity editing   um it's a little slower a little more  boring i might say than the social network   but it's going to just show us how redundant the  classical hollywood editing principles are now you   notice here that we have kind of taken uh our  camera closer to our characters but we believe   that our spectators won't be confused because  we've maintained the 180 degree rule how do i   know the 180 degree rule has been maintained  because i kept the camera largely to the left   of these two men i maintained the old guy is  looking right and that humphrey bogart is looking   left um and that's what my brain is telling me  that humphrey should always be looking screen left   bernie the chief inspector said  where'd you wanted to see me go onset both pretty and most pretty  wild notice there that we've cut in even   closer and we've used that cut in to  accentuate upon pretty and almost pretty wild   right there what'd you want to see me  about i'm being blackmailed again again but i knew he was a good man at whatever he did  now this is the point where i want to slow down   and just show you what's happening now this has  gone on pretty long you'll notice that the pace   is a lot more slower and more deliberate than  the social network which takes place in an era   in which this kind of pace is not as common  but i want to focus on this moment when they   decide to break up the axis of action they're  going to allow humphrey bogart to get up from   his place which is to the right of the old  man i know he was a good man crossing that   axis no one was more pleasing now  he went to the left of the old man   another drink whatever he was my friend my  son now we've essentially re-established   uh the axis of action and we've allowed ourselves  to cut in because we believe that we now know that   humphreys is to the left looking right and the  old guy is to the right looking left and it just   needs to happen that humphrey needs to have his  eyes pointing that way to maintain almost that   180 degree rule consistently and are you sat here  with another one you can break the 180 degree rule   by re-establishing the axis  of action that's exactly right   randy i could no longer drink and telling stories  of the irish revolution well enough of that yeah we have here is an insert but it's a special  insert that we call a pov shot why because   we know it's from the point of view the optical  point of view of humphrey bogart that i've seen   the action of him taking this card into his  hands and i can intuit because i'm familiar   with the editing system that it represents  his looking his point of view at this object   so now i'm going to fast forward just a bit to  make sure if there's any other uh moments of   interest to make sure we get our vocabulary down  again for the most part we're getting shots that   continue this access of action humphreys  on the left all gentlemen is on the right   he will head across the direction but at this  point he's not going to re-establish the axis   of action it's just going to re-establish  the two shot and then have him leave   so let's just make sure we have our our vocabulary  in place if i were to ask you what is this   moment a good example of the answer would  likely be a match on action why because   there's a very pronounced kind of connection  between the movement of uh hepburn's arm   that motivates the cut to the other side this is  an interesting example when we get to the shot of   of the lightsaber moving that is  a good example of an eyeline match   but what's really interesting of course about  this is that there's no way that he can see   this object he's actually below where it is  even though the logic of editing tells us   that there's a connection between him glancing  to the right and thus getting this picture so   we have to call it an eyeline match  even if he can't literally see it now an example of shining chopped your  wife and daughter up into little bits   which world was broken here  and you blew your brains out with that cut and that's a tricky that's a trick  question in some ways the trick question because   on a certain definition of the 180 degree rule it  would break the 180 degree rule however i would   never test you on on a quiz with this question  why because there haven't been enough shots to   establish this line as an axis of action there's  only been one shot so i can't exactly tell you   what the axis of action really is especially  when it goes right back to the other   angle at that moment so this is just to say that  you need maybe at least two shots to establish   what the access of action is before you break  it to say whether you've broken the 180 degree   rule okay so with that we'll see you  next time for time and continuity editing