This is an imaginary straight line established from the movement of one or more characters, their looks or their position in the frame, dividing the space into two 180 degree semicircles whose function is to establish the correct positions for the camera so that the viewer is visually oriented.
180 degree rule
(180-degree rule / Règle des 180°)
After the early years of cinema in which all films were made using the sequence shot, the need arose to emphasise details showing them in close up, to shorten the time between motifs of interest and to explore a scene through different viewpoints. Each of these leads to the camera being placed in different locations. However, it was soon realised that it is impossible to place the camera just anywhere in the 360 degrees available. Some locations are better than others in the sense that in some cases the perception of new information is immediate and in others there is a certain spatial disorientation leading to a slow reading of the initial shot. This lack of orientation for the audience is the enemy of the fluidity of the story which classical cinema seeks.
The law of the axis is also known as the law of 180 degrees because its starting point is the 180 degree vision of the human being
The 180 degree rule is known as such because its starting point is the 180 degree vision of human beings. This law began to take shape when film-makers started to fragment the planning of a single set, that is, towards 1900, with the films from the Brighton Group of film-makers. The characters talking in the 1911 films by Thomas Harper Ince already reflect planning that uses the 180 degree rule, with one of them looking to the right of the frame in shot 1 and the other to the left in shot 2. Shortly afterwards, a feature film The Birth of a Nation (1915), by David Wark Griffith, used the 180 degree rule taking advantage of all its possibilities and anticipating the generalised usage of this language resource. The climactic sequence of the shootout in the hall of mirrors in the thriller The Lady from Shangai (1947) by Orson Welles, does away with the 180 degree rule by creating a space full of mirrors, where the axis of looks loses meaning because the characters look simultaneously to the left and the right through multiple images.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford / L'Assassinat de Jesse James par le lâche Robert Ford
Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, the film chronicles the last days of the most famous gunman in history, Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and his death at the hands of the young Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), a member of his gang. It is the year 1881 and Jesse is 34. While planning his new robbery, he continues fighting with his enemies who are trying to get the reward money and glory that would come with his capture. However, the greatest threat to his life could come from those he trusts most.
