[Dominic]

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i should point out that there are times where you can disregard the rule (usually because you are going for something specific) and there are time when you clearly can't (like when you don't know what the hell you're doing). this was one of the latter

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an example of when you can't is when two people are facing one another, having a conversation and you cut back and forth between one person and the other. This is known as their "eyeline."

first you see person A looking to the left of the camera

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next you have person B looking to the right of the camera

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what this does is give the impression they are talking to one another. However, if both people were looking in the same direction:

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they will give the impression that they aren't looking at each other, rather, they are both looking off in the same direction. It's disorienting.