RULES

In a recent Media lesson, we learnt about The Rule Of Thirds and The 180 Degree Rule.

The Rule of Thirds is used within posters and is used to lead the eye around the poster in the way the designers wanted.
For example, the poster for The Holiday uses The Rule of Thirds very obviously.
Each of the characters faces are on a 'hotspot' which means the eye is naturally drawn to these places on the poster. The title of the film is in the centre square, so the eye is also drawn there.
The 180 Degree Rule is that when filming a person you can only move the camera 180 degrees in one direction.
Here you can see that the camera moves to the right of the pair. If the camera were to move in the other direction and cross the line, it would appear that the subjects are facing the wrong way and the shot becomes disorientated.
However, you can break The 180 Degree Rule as long as you show the audience it's happening.
For example, in this clip from Children of Men, at 1min 19, The 180 Degree Rule is broken and the audience sees that it is broken so are not disorientated.

The rule here is broken so that the audience can follow the footsteps of the character and can therefore see the action.