Rules of Continuity - A/S Media Studies

Match on Action
A match on action, a technique used in film editing, is a cut that connects two different views of the same action at the same moment in the movement. By carefully matching the movement across the two shots, filmmakers make it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted. For a real match on action, the action should begin in the first shot and end in the second shot.

A cinematographic technique which states that the camera must remain on the same side of an imaginary line, perpendicular to the camera's viewpoint, from which the establishing shot is taken. The 180 degree rule is an important element of the continuity style.



180 Degree Rule
Imagine two people standing face to face. Draw a line from the centre of the top of Person A's head to the centre of the top of Person B's. Now extend this line to infinity on both the x and y axes, dividing the two people bilaterally. To follow the 180 degree rule, the camera must, in each sequence of shots, stay on one side of this line. If this rule is not followed, the characters will not appear to be addressing each other and the cinematic illusion will be broken, as the viewer's sense of perspective is disrupted.