Shot/reverse shot

Shot/countershot in Greed (1924)

Shot/reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character (a reverse shot or countershot). Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.¹²

Context

Shot/reverse shot is a feature of the "classical" Hollywood style of continuity editing, which deemphasizes transitions between shots such that the spectator perceives one continuous action that develops linearly, chronologically, and logically. It is an example of an eyeline match.¹

References

Film Studies Program (2002). "Editing guide". Yale University. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
Staff of "Hamlet on the Ramparts" Project. "Film lexicon". MIT. Retrieved 2016-07-30.

Sources

Bordwell, David; Thompson, Kristin (2006). Film Art: An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-331027-1.

[yale-1] Film Studies Program (2002). "Editing guide". Yale University. Retrieved 2010-03-30.

[2] Staff of "Hamlet on the Ramparts" Project. "Film lexicon". MIT. Retrieved 2016-07-30.

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