Shot/reverse shot
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique wherein one character is shown looking (often off-screen) at another character, and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer unconsciously assumes that they are looking at each other (the 180 degree rule). However, shot reverse shot is also often combined with creative geography to create the sense that two characters are facing each other, when in fact they may be being filmed in completely different locations or at completely different times. These techniques are all features of the "classical" Hollywood style of continuity editing, which deemphasizes transitions between shots such that the audience perceives one continuous action that develops linearly, chronologically, and logically.
By comparison, an alternating sequence shows the systematic intertwining of actions or motifs occurring in a single diegetic space, and therefore involves cutting back and forth from one action or character to another, but does not necessarily imply that the subjects of the shots are interacting directly with one another.
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.
See also
