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VIDEO PRODUCTION :: THE LINE OF ACTION




What is the line of action
How do you establish it?
What is screen direction?
Why would you NOT want to break the line of action?
Typical set ups
Triangle system (3 cams)
How to establish line of action in moving  sequences
How to establish a new line of action
What arecutaways and inserts 

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THE LINE OF ACTION and SCREEN DIRECTION

The line of action (also called the 180 degree rule, organizes camera angles to preserve consistent screen direction and space. The line of action is an imaginary line running through the space in front of the camera. When edited together, shots taken with the correct line of action set up can be intercut together without confusing reversals of right and left screen direction.

Using the line of action convention will help you make sense of which directions characters face. It can sound confusing, but it's actually common sense.

To determine the line of action: Figure 1

  • Imagine two characters sitting in front of each other (Bob and Ellen.)
  • Draw an imaginary line between them, usually, this line is the line that connects them...especially their eyes.
  • Establish a working space of 180 degrees (a semi circle) on this line.
  • To maintain logical screen direction, for any sequence of shots taken with this set up of characters, only camera positions within this semi-circle will be permitted. 
  • The screen direction (which way the characters are facing on the screen) of any shots taken from either one side of the line of action, will be consistent. 
Typical Line of Action Set-Up

If your first shot (of Bob) in the scene is taken from camera A, then you cannot cross over and take a shot of Ellen from Camera Positions D, E, or F.  Doing so will mess up your screen direction. 

Here is what each of your cameras will show and why you cannot cross the line (by going, for example, from camera A to camera F):

Figure 2

As you can see, your establishing shot is from camera B. If you shoot Bob with Camera A and you want your screen direction to be consistent with your establishing situation (they're sitting in front of each other talking), then you have to shoot Ellen from camera C...or from anywhere in the semi-circle, as long as you don't break the line of action.

*Notice the "look space" left in front of each person... as if he/she were looking at the other.
 

The Triangle System

The Triangle system (convention) proposes that all the basic shots for any scene can be taken from any three points within the 180 degree semi circle. These three points establish a triangle. This triangle convention is widely used in TV talk shows, sports programs, sit-coms, and soaps. 
 
 

Figure 3

As you can see in these following figures, you can get a variety of types of shots all by choosing just 3 points within your 180 degree semi-circle:
 

Profile Shots: A very basic set up for conversations between two people. Notice the look space. Figure 4

 
Over the shoulder Set Up:
The line of action is between them, and you can cut between shots from Camera A and Camera C. Notice how in this shot, the look space is filled by the other person.

Figure 5

 
Point of View Close UpsFigure 6
This perspective can be very intimate...or confrontational.  Notice that you still leave a little bit of look space, an asymmetry in the frame. 
The Line of Action in 
Moving Sequences
When you're following something moving (like a train, a car, someone walking down the street...being followed) the line of action is established by the direction in which the onject/person is moving. Breaking the line of action in a moving sequence will make it look like suddenly the object/person is moving in the opposite direction.
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HOW DO YOU ESTABLISH
A NEW LINE OF ACTION?

1. You can set up a new sight line.  In a conversation between Bob and Ellen, Tim walks into the shot...interrupting the conversation. Bob up at Tim and Boom! you have a new line of action - between Bob and Tim. 

  • Note: you can also treat Bob and Tim as one character in a line of action with Ellen. 
  • Or you can put Tim in the Middle, forming a triangle...this gets tricky.

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    Figure 7

2. A character can cross the line: Figure 8
    NOTE: Where you draw the NEW SEMI CIRCLE depends on which position you choose to use in your PIVOT SHOT . SEEFigure 9

    If you use camera A when Bob gets up, then the accepted positions must be in the semi-circle in "part Three" below. 

    If you use camera B when Bob gets up, then the accepted positions must be in the semi-circle in "part Two" below.

    See Figure 9
3. You can Move the Camera across the line so the viewer follows the movement and does not get disoriented.Figure 10


Cutaways Shots and Insert Shots:

Insert shots magnify something already in the frame: Bob pulls out a letter and looks down to read it to Hellen. If you cut to an insert C.U.  of letter, then the next shot can establish a new line of action.

Cutaways  show something outside the frame. Cutaways need motivation, a reason to cutaway from the sequence you've got. Ex: In a conversation between Bob and Ellen, Bob's phone rings across the room. He looks up. Cut to CU of phone. THe next shot can establish a new line of action.

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