The 180-Degree rule is a little more complicated than the previous techniques. Rather than being an editing technique, it is in fact a continuity technique. It is best demonstrated by this diagram, showing where the camera can and can't shoot from.
It basically means that if the camera breaches the "line" across the shot, then the characters or objects will switch sides, which can confuse and disorientate the viewer. It also ruins any attempt at verisimilitude, as you can see in the video at the bottom of this entry.
How Is It Done?
Through imagining a line across the two characters, then a semi-circle doming towards you from that line, the filmer can see the areas that they are allowed to shoot from. The camera can be positioned in any area within this semicircle without ruining the continuity of their shot.
However, as the video below illustrates, if the line is crossed, everything seems to reverse and the characters will miraculously jump sides. This means that the audience will lose their grip on the storyline, to focus on the error. The correct way to film it can be seen below.
The only time that the camera can cross the line is when it is all in one take. If the camera moves round the two characters without cutting the shot, the effect will be that the camera has simply moved to show the characters, therefore the audience will not be confused as to why they are on different sides.
Why Is It Done?
The 180-Degree rule is used for continuity, because without it the verisimilitude is ruined. Filmmakers would not want this to happen, as it would disorientate the audience and this will then mean that they are drawn away from the plot and action, instead feeling that the film is perhaps badly made.
Here we can see a video on examples of correct, incorrect and one-take shots.
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