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Continuity: Screen Direction

Screen direction refers to the direction in which a character or object appears to be moving on screen.

Cara Friez avatar
Written by Cara Friez
Updated over 2 years ago

Screen direction example - The character is moving from screen right to screen left in both shots.

The image above shows the little boy running from screen right to screen left. The editor maintains this screen direction in the following shot having the little boy enter the frame from screen right moving towards screen left.


The movement of characters and objects within a frame is essential to maintain continuity. An important type of movement for an editor to recognize is Screen Direction.

Screen direction refers to the direction in which a character or object appears to be moving on screen. To maintain continuity, the character or object must move in the same direction in each shot.


Screen direction right to screen direction left

The image above shows a character moving from screen right to screen left in both the wide and medium shots.

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