An Introduction to Film

characters and moves to a position 180 degrees
opposite its original position, the position of the
characters in the image is reversed: character A is
now on the right, character B is on the left.
Screen direction can also suggest meaning in an
abstract or symbolic way. For example, the earlier
discussion of Run Lola Run described how Lola
runs against a deadline. If you study the patterns of
her running, you’ll see that she actually does run
againsttime by continuously going in a counter-
clockwise pattern. Thus, the screen movement and
rhythm of editing reinforce the major theme: her
need to beat the clock if she’s going to save her
boyfriend’s life.
The 180-degree system remains a convention
(not a rule) that can be broken if the director desires.
Sometimes, for example, the director might wish to

Shots 1 and 2 are taken from positions within the same 180-degree space (green background). When viewers see the

resulting shots on-screen, they can make sense of the actors’ relative positions to one another. If a camera is placed in the

opposite 180-degree space (red background), the resulting shot reverses the actors’ spatial orientation and thus cannot be

used in conjunction with either shot 1 or shot 2 without confusing the viewer.

DVDThis tutorial illustrates the 180-degree

system by analyzing its use in a scene from Alfred

Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

MAJOR APPROACHES TO EDITING: CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY 363

FIGURE 8.1 The 180–Degree System