30-degree Rule - Wikipedia

Basic film editing guideline

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "30-degree rule" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The 30-degree rule is a basic film editing guideline that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees relative to the subject between successive shots of the same subject. If the camera moves less than 30 degrees, the transition between shots can look like a jump cut—which could jar the audience and take them out of the story. The audience might focus on the film technique rather than the narrative itself.[1]

The 30 degree change of angle makes two successive shots different enough to not look like a jump cut. However, camera movement should stay on one side of the subject to follow the 180-degree rule.

A similar principle applies to changing the focal length of the lens; a change of less than 20 mm while keeping the same angle of view has a similar perception, and the 30 degree rule is often called the "20 mm/30 degree rule" for this reason.[2] Although the axial cut does not follow the 30-degree guideline, effectively making it a specialized type of jump cut, its adherence to the 20mm rule has allowed it to gain an important place within classical continuity.

As Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White suggest in The Film Experience, "The rule aims to emphasize the motivation for the cut by giving a substantially different view of the action. The transition between two shots less than 30 degrees apart might be perceived as unnecessary or discontinuous—in short, visible."[3] Especially in post-continuity editing, there are some cases where jump cuts are used in montage or for aesthetic effect, but generally filmmakers try to avoid them otherwise.

The 30 degree rule is a special case of a more general dictum that states that the cut is jarring if two shots are so similar in angle and distance that it appears there is no reason for the cut. In his book In The Blink of an Eye, editor Walter Murch states:

"[We] have difficulty accepting the kind of displacements that are neither subtle nor total: Cutting from a full-figure master shot, for instance, to a slightly tighter shot that frames the actors from the ankles up. The new shot in this case is different enough to signal that something has changed, but not different enough to make us re-evaluate its context."[4]

References

[edit]

1. ^ "30 Degree Rule - Hollywood Lexicon". Archived from the original on 2017-02-01.
2. ^ Hurbis-Cherrier, Mick (June 30, 2011). Voice & Vision (2nd ed.). Focal Press; 2 edition. p. 600. ISBN 978-0240811581.
3. ^ Corrigan, Timothy; White, Patricia (2013). The Film Experience (3rd ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 978-0312681708.
4. ^ Murch, Walter (2001). In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing (2nd ed.). Silman-James Press. pp. 146. ISBN 1879505622.

External links

[edit]

• "The 30-degree rule", an article explaining the 30-degree rule in depth (showcasing examples and counterexamples from various films).

v t e Film editing
Concept	Choreography Synchronization Attentional control Master shot Parallel cut
Technique	Clues Cutaway Eyeline match Points of view Multiple exposure Optical illusion Split screen Transition Insertion Dialogue Match cut Long shot Insert Timelapsing Cut Jump cut Axial cut Wipe Dissolve Slow motion Prelap Other Fast cutting Invisible cut Montage Supercut
Storytelling	Cut on action Contrast cut Shot/reverse shot Flashback / Flashforward
Action	Smash cut Cross cut Slow cutting Walk and talk
Rule	180-degree rule 30-degree rule
Term	Reaction shot Kuleshov effect Establishing shot Long take Internal rhythm External rhythm Footage B-roll Stock footage
Editing	Continuity editing Soviet montage theory Post-classical editing In-camera editing Video editing Linear video editing Non-linear editing (NLE) Video editing software Offline editing Online editing Real-time editing Vision mixing

v t e Cinematic techniques
Lighting	Background Cameo Fill Flood High-key Key Lens flare Low-key Mood Rembrandt Stage Soft
Sound	Diegetic Non-diegetic Narration Film score Sound effects
Shooting	Field size Wide / Long / Full American Medium Close-up Italian Two shot Camera placement Perspective Over-the-shoulder Point-of-view (POV) Reverse Trunk Single / multiple-camera setup Camera angle Tilt Aerial High-angle Bird's-eye Crane shot Jib shot Low-angle Worm's-eye view Dutch angle Camera movement Unchained camera technique Tilting Panning Whip pan Hand-held Shaky Tracking Dolly Steadicam SnorriCam Walk and talk Follow Dolly zoom Lens effects Focus Racking Depth of field Shallow Deep Zooming Other techniques Establishing shot Master shot B-roll Freeze-frame shot Long take One-shot Insert
v t e Special effects Practical Aerial rigging (wire-flying) Air bladder effect Animatronics Bullet hit squib Costumed character Creature suit Dead-character costume Kitbashing Miniature effect (hanging) Prosthetic makeup Puppetry Pyrotechnics Rubber mask Matte painting Sugar glass Theatrical blood In-camera Bipacks Bullet time Dolly zoom Forced perspective Front projection Infrared photography Lens flares Lighting effects Multiple exposure Filtration Rear projection Reverse motion Schüfftan process Shutter effects Slit-scan Tilted plane focus Time-lapse Fast motion Slow motion Speed ramping Stop motion Visual Bullet time Chroma key Compositing (digital) Computer-generated imagery Go motion Introvision Match moving Optical printing Smallgantics Split screen Stop motion

This article related to film or motion picture terminology is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

• v
• t
• e