Filming & Production
Leading lines
Also called: lines that lead the eye
A road, a fence, a table edge, a shaft of light, the direction somebody is looking. The eye follows them without being asked. That lets composition direct attention before a word of the script has done any work, which is a lot of value for something that costs nothing. Lines get found rather than built, and the finding is done by moving: half a step left, dropping into a crouch, shooting down a corridor instead of across it.