When making films its important you don’t just concentrate on the acting you have to concentrate on the camerawork. The camerawork and angles are the basics of movie making this is because it’s been done since the beginning of film making and have an impact on the audience. The 3 main types of basic film making which have an effect on the audience are:

Match On Action

This occurs when he or she is for example having a cigarette and the camera is using an established shot (meaning we can see the whole scene in one shot) we see his about to put the cigarette in his mouth but then the camera moves towards his left side and we see the cigarette was in the same position as it was in shot A and is the same position in shot B.

The audience never notice when this occurs because the editing has to be on the spot and it happens so FAST that you have to keep your eyes open to make sure you don’t miss it. Many directors are criticized by the viewer’s when they notice the tiniest mistakes and they are often the match on action shots because this mistakes occur when in shot A their hands are crossed and then in shot B his hands are out.  

Shot Reverse Shot

This type of shot happens when a conversation in the film occurs and we can see whose talking. For example in the clip below the two are talking to each other and we see that it’s not just an established shot which just shows us only the scene but does not show us their faces and sometimes you can’t see whose talking. Shot reverse shot is very important this is because we can see the characters expression when talking and this tells the audience how the character feels and we also see who they are talking to.

 

In this example we see the two having a serious conversation between each other and they use shot reverse shot so we can see their reaction and the emotions on their face. 

The 180 degree rule

This rule is often used but for some people it’s very hard to understand. The 180 degree rule usually occurs during a conversation in a film. An imaginary line also called an Axis which connects the characters together and the camera cannot go over the imaginary line but stays on the side it first started shooting from. So the camera can be positioned anywhere on that side and if crossed its breaks breaking the 180 degree rule. It can only be broken until the audience are aware of where the characters are standing and where they are.

Some directors choose to break the 180 degree rule and sometimes you can’t see how its breaking the rule for example we see that both Leon and Matilda are having a conversation, it seems that it’s not breaking the 180 degree rule but if you look carefully the camera goes over the imaginary line. 

In this video they explain in detail how the 180 degree rule works. They show examples and what happens when you break the 180 degree rule.