Screen Direction
Screen direction is the left-or-right sense of movement that one shot establishes and the following shots have to honour.
What this is about
It matters most when a shoot is spread over days and places. The hero drives out of the city on Monday, arrives at the coast on Thursday, and both units have to agree that the journey runs left to right for its whole length. The same holds for chases, for someone following someone else, and for a phone call cut between two rooms. In practice the script supervisor notes the direction, the schedule groups same-direction shots together, and a move straight towards camera works as a neutral reset when the story has to turn around.
A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.
What runs differently here
Where this differs from the general case:
- The 180-degree rule governs one scene; screen direction can stretch across an entire film and several shooting days.
- A move straight to or away from camera has no direction, which makes it the standard way to change one legitimately.
- Mirrored footage flips number plates, signage and lettering, so plan the direction rather than fixing it in the grade.
With TillyGen
TillyGen carries a direction note on travel shots, so images split across days still leave and enter on the correct side.
Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.
Frequently asked
How do I change screen direction without confusing the audience?
Show the turn: a move into or out of camera, a visible curve in the road, a signpost. The change has to happen on screen, not between two cuts.
How long does it take to get started with TillyGen?
A first project takes under an hour to set up. There is no configuration phase in which templates and fields have to be defined before the tool produces anything.
Can the results be exported?
Yes — as PDF for the crew, CSV for downstream systems and through the API for anything automated. The plan stays the source; the exports are views of it.