30-degree Rule of Filmmaking

Develop your knowledge and understanding of this rule of classical editing.

Introduction

The 30-degree rule refers to the direction of the camera in relation to the subject being filmed. If you are cutting from one shot to the next, the camera should angle at least 30 degrees from its previous position so the change in perspective will feel natural and meaningful to the audience.

Continuity editing is the traditional style of filmmaking that emphasises the world of the story by making sure the audience remain focused on the characters and action. The 30-degree rule helps editors arrange shots into a smooth and effective sequence that progresses the narrative.

We are going to use scenes from the Jurassic Park franchise to illustrate how audiences can be distracted by clumsy cuts, but also how directors deliberately break the 30-degree rule to heighten the tension of the scene.

Contents

The Viewing Axis

Let’s start with a simple sequence from Jurassic World (2015) to define two of the key concepts behind the 30-degree rule. Claire has just watched footage of velociraptors ambushing a group of soldiers on her tablet. Her two nephews are in the back of the van. Suddenly, a soldier slaps his bloodied hand against the driver’s window and screams for them to leave – it’s an effective jump scare. She speeds off while the man is mauled by one of the dinosaurs.

In this first shot, the camera is positioned directly in front of the protagonist as she tells the boys to “just hold on back there!”

When the director cuts to a profile shot of the character, the direction of the camera has shifted a full 90 degrees so the audience can see the dinosaur rushing out from the mist and crashing through the window. It’s another great jump scare.

The purpose of each shot is clear. The close-up conveys Claire’s fear, and the profile shot is perfect to show the attack. It is also worth noting Claire occupies the right side of the frame in the first shot and is on the left in the second, forcing the audience to shift their eyes and leaving space for the raptor to appear. The movement feels natural and exciting.

Imagine a line running from the camera lens to the subject being filmed. This line of action is also known as the viewing axis. We can measure the second position of the camera in degrees. In this first example, the camera has moved 90 degrees to the second viewing axis. This substantial shift ensures the edit feels invisible to the audience and our focus remains on the action.

Scale

The third shot moves back 90 degrees to the first axis so we can see the terror on Claire’s face and the tremendous danger posed by the raptor.

Notice how the scale of the protagonist in the frame is similar to the previous shot. Scale can refer to the type of shot, from an extreme close-up to an extreme wide shot. The use of two successive medium shots of Claire reinforces the sense of continuity.

Scale can also refer to proxemics and the relationships between objects in the frame. For example, an extreme long shot of a character in vast landscape could connote their vulnerability. Or one character could be standing over another to suggest an imbalance of power. The way the raptor is positioned in front of Claire increases the creature’s physical presence in the shot.

Breaking the 30-degree Rule

The fourth shot in this brief sequence tightens on Claire’s face with the raptor dipping in and out of the frame. Importantly, the viewing axis is the same.

According to the 30-degree rule, keeping the same line of action in two successive shots is supposed to disrupt the rhythm of the scene because the collision of similar compositions will not make sense to the audience. However, cutting from the medium shot of the protagonist to the close-up offers an effective change of scale that emphasises the frenzied violence of the attack and makes the edit seem purposeful.

Jurassic Park

Have you ever experienced a moment of disorientation when watching a particular scene in a film, television programme, or YouTube video? Perhaps the movement on the screen felt unnatural. Or your eyes were suddenly looking at the wrong part of the frame.

Filmmaking is a challenging and expensive process. Things inevitably go wrong during the production, leaving the editor with no choice but to splice together shots that briefly disrupt the audience’s immersion in the story.

Consider these two successive shots from Jurassic Park (1993):

Rostagno is the “smart-looking guy in workers clothes” who owns the amber mine where the scene takes place. Dressed in a suit, Gennaro is the expensive lawyer who wants to discuss the park’s safety. The first shot tracks the two men from the small raft to where the entrance of the mine is located. It is a great shot, especially the image of Gennaro slipping on the rocks just before he raises concerns about a previous accident.

However, the composition of the second shot disrupts the momentum of the scene because our view of the characters on the screen has not changed significantly in terms of viewing axis or scale, so it feels like a glitch in the film rather than a deliberate combination of shots. This awkwardness is heightened by Rostagno looking over his shoulder before the cut and then turning around again in the second shot. The action in the background doesn’t quite match either.

This unnatural movement in the sequence may have been avoided if the director of photography had moved the camera more than 30 degrees either side of the first axis. That is not always possible when filming in a difficult location and sticking to a tight schedule.

The Lost World

These two successive shots are from Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997). They both last around five seconds each but can you tell the difference between them from our screenshots?

The scene depicts the Hunters emerging into an open plain covered by long “elephant” grass. The previous shots feature the men moving from the left to the right of the frame to maintain continuity. High angle shots establish the setting and the long shots with the velociraptors in the foreground is an action code that sets up the chaos.

Spielberg cuts to the first shot in our example. Backlit by the full moon, the men use their torches to work their way through the grassland. The medium shot is effective because the audience can see the anxiety on their faces.

However, imagine streaming this film at home. The second shot is so similar in composition you would be forgiven for thinking you accidently sat on the remote and jumped forward ten seconds. Instead of heightening tension, this collision of shots creates confusion and pulls the audience out of the moment.

The editing may have made more sense if the scale of the men and the viewing axis were different. Perhaps one of the shots should have been left on the cutting room floor to avoid breaking the 30-degree rule and disrupting the flow of the scene.

Fallen Kingdom

Our next example comes from the end of the auction scene in Lockwood Estate when the Indoraptor is released from its cage and viciously attacks the megalomaniacs gathered in the room. Eli Mills rushes into an elevator to escape the carnage. The door closes. He breathes a heavy sigh of relief. But the Indoraptor’s tail whips against the button and the doors open again.

The antagonist turns to face the predator. Those shots could have been trimmed by a few frames to make the movement appear more natural, but we want to focus on this reaction shot with his vulnerability conveyed by the high angle and his position in the frame.

The light flickers in the elevator and the camera tightens on the character so we can see the full horror in his eyes.

The two shots are very close in both composition and perspective. They have the same subject – a suited Elis Mills looking terrified with his hair blown back by the dinosaur’s breath. They feature the same perspective – the high angle positions the audience in the dinosaur’s point of view. The viewing axes are the same. Only the scale has changed. This cut is an obvious break in the 30-degree rule.

Toby Jones delivers a great performance so some viewers will appreciate the death of the antagonist. Other viewers will feel disorientated by the forced change in scale.

Montage Theory

Sergei Eisenstein argued editing was more than “a mechanical process of sticking pieces together” and the process should be considered a form of artistic expression because the “collision” of shots produced new meanings.

For example, the cut-in of Claire in Jurassic World felt natural and worked because the quick editing matched the frenzied rhythm of the raptor attack. It also provoked an emotional response from the audience – terror.

By contrast, the cut-in of Elis Mills here feels unnatural and awkward because it follows a slower paced sequence which is more typical of a horror film than an action film. The jump to the close-up does not match rhythm of the action or add any further emotional resonance to the character’s death.

There has to be a reason for breaking the 30-degree rule otherwise the cut may disrupt the audience’s engagement with the characters and action in the scene.

Final Thoughts

In the ancient words of Quintilian, a Roman rhetorician, “the perfection of art is to conceal art”. Filmmakers need to conceal the edits, so the audience allow themselves to become immersed in the story. If the editing becomes too obvious, it may distract the viewer from the action on the screen. That’s why the 30-degree rule is important.

Of course, breaking the rule can also produce appropriate meanings, especially if the filmmaker intends to create a scene that unsettles the audience.

If you are making your own film, make sure you think carefully about the lines of action between the camera and the subject. Even simple shot-reverse shot sequences need to follow the 30-degree rule, so the audience does not become disorientated by the editing.

You should also read our introduction to the 180-degree rule which is another tactic filmmakers to maintain continuity in the sequence.