Screen direction is the direction that actors or objects appear to be moving on the screen from the

point of view Point of View or Points of View may refer to: Concept and technique * Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the pronoun used in narration * Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or ...

of the

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

or audience. A rule of film editing and

film grammar In film, film grammar is defined as follows: # A frame is a single still image. It is analogous to a letter. # A shot is a single continuous recording made by a camera. It is analogous to a word. # A scene is a series of related shots. It i ...

is that movement from one edited shot to another must maintain the consistency of screen direction in order to avoid audience confusion.

Continuity Editing Continuity editing is the process, in film and video creation, of combining more-or-less related shots, or different components cut from a single shot, into a sequence to direct the viewer's attention to a pre-existing consistency of story across ...

is an essential rule that filmmakers follow to push their narrative forward in a navigable manner. "Camera left" or "frame left" indicates movement towards the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

side of the screen, while "camera right" or "frame right" refers to movement towards the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

side of the screen. "Foreground" refers to the apparent space close to the camera (and thus to the audience), and "background" refers to the apparent space in the distance away from the camera and the audience. A majority of films will track from left-to-right rather than right-to-left. Some theorists believe simply controlling the direction of the shot can control the reactions of the audience. Another theory suggests it is due to right-hand dominance of the general population, i.e. left-to-right movement is more "natural" for the audience. This can go as far as making characters that move left-to-right good, and characters moving right-to-left evil. As an example of screen direction in use, if an

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

is shown in one shot walking from screen left to screen right and then is shown in the next shot to be moving in the opposite direction (screen right to screen left), the audience will assume that the actor has changed direction and is walking back to where he started (in the absence of obvious contextual or environmental cues). If the shot shows him again moving from screen left to screen right (as in the first shot), the audience will assume that the actor is continuing his previous movement and extending it to apparently cover a greater distance even if that is purely a fabrication of editing. Another example would be if two characters are shown in a medium shot, say from the waist up, looking at each other, it is generally established that one is on the left of screen and the other on the right. The one on the left looks right to the other character and vice versa. When the editor cuts to a close shot of a person, it would be disorienting if the character looked the other way. The audience would assume that the character is looking at something else. In the coverage of the scene, it is customary in film technique to be sure that screen direction is maintained. In a close up, the environmental cues are at a minimum. It is the responsibility of the

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

, and

script supervisor A script supervisor (also called continuity supervisor or script) is a member of a film crew who oversees the continuity of the motion picture including dialogue and action during a scene. The script supervisor may also be called upon to ensure wa ...

on the set to maintain consistency of screen direction so that later during editing, the myriad short pieces of film can be properly assembled by the editor into a coherent film that tells the story intended. Usage One of the keys to maintaining screen direction is the

180-degree rule In filmmaking, the 180-degree rule is a guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. The rule states that the camera should be kept on one side of an imaginary axis be ...

, which cuts a horizontal line through the frame. Actors are then filmed from only one side of the axis, maintaining the orientation of the space for the viewer. This can be manipulated specifically to create a shift in perspective. Depending on the context, disrupting the typical line of sight can be an effective way to show a sense of chaos.

Avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

, and some

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

and

video production Video production is the process of producing video content. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard drives, SSDs, ...

s often deliberately violate screen direction rules in order to create audience

disorientation Orientation is a function of the mind involving awareness of three dimensions: time, place and person. Problems with orientation lead to ''dis''orientation, and can be due to various conditions. It ranges from an inability to coherently understand ...

ambiguity Ambiguity is the type of meaning (linguistics), meaning in which a phrase, statement, or resolution is not explicitly defined, making for several interpretations; others describe it as a concept or statement that has no real reference. A com ...

. However, unless it is done very skillfully, violation of screen direction can appear to the audience to be the result of filmmaker ineptitude rather than experimentation. Making use of this rule can have a significant psychological impact on the audience.What is Screen Direction in Film - A Comprehensive Guide. Retrieved October 23, 2024. https://rfm.rezaid.co.uk/post/what-is-screen-direction-in-film For instance, creating anticipation in a shot. Filmmakers will use

foreshadowing Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of an upcoming event later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about u ...

via filming angles. They might have two characters run into each other from opposite directions, flipping the standard 180-rule. If the director wanted to create suspense over someone being followed, they would need to maintain continuity between the direction the characters are moving on screen.

References

Cinematic techniques {{film-tech-stub