Breaking 180 Degrees Like a Mofo
The 180 degree rule is a storytelling principle that dictates that the “camera” should not rotate past 180 degrees during a scene because then all objects on the left side of the panel will be flipped to the right. This creates a jarring effect for the viewer and can lead to confusion and quite possibly…even death!
Or so we’ve been lead to believe.
When I was a youngin I used to walk around comic conventions with my portfolio and ask pros to critique my work. A couple butt faces would flip through my pages, find a break in the 180 degree rule, and then scoff at how I’d never make it in this industry.
The truth is that the 180 degree rule CAN be broken. What?? BLASPHEMY you say?!! I’ll explain…
The point of the 180 degree rule is to prevent confusion amongst readers…but what if you want your readers to be confused? What?? BRILLIANT?!! Allow me to continue…
Breaking 180 degrees can be used to great effect during scenes in which the protagonist of the story is shocked by a certain event. This creates a symbiosis between the reader and the protagonist because they are both experiencing the same emotion…confusion.
A great cartoonist who breaks 180 degrees all the time is Osamu Tezuka. I attached a fight scene he did from “Buddha” below.
The last panel on this page breaks the 180 degree rule (note how in panel #2 the bearded character is on the right side of the page and then in panel #5 he’s on the left side).
The bearded character is shocked and confused that his bow and arrow were knocked out of his hands by the boy. As a reader, we are also left disoriented as the characters have instantly switched positions on the page.
90% of the time you see a cartoonist breaking the 180 degree rule they are in the wrong/being lazy…but occasionally you see a master like Tezuka break it to such awesome effect that it blows our minds out of our butts!
Remember: art theory is not about memorizing rules, but about understanding them.
-Professor Dov