How lateral movement in film helps to tell the story
Watch this great video backed up by lots of research by the School of Communication at Cleveland State University on how lateral movement -- from one side of the screen to the other -- helps tell the story to the audience in a very subconscious sort of way. It turns out that viewers have very distinct patterns of interpreting what's on screen based on where a character is moving to and from and even what side of the screen they are on. The next time you watch a movie, maybe you'll catch this too!