Video Space
Media Concepts
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Video Images
 Video images are not behind the screen but on
it, and that creates two fundamental differences
from the real world.
 Video information is limited by the borders on the
image (Aspect ratio Figure 3-1)
 The screen is flat, or nearly so, which means it has
only two dimensions instead of three.
 Space and time work very differently in the
special world on the screen.
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The Laws of Video Space
 What is outside the frame does not exist,
unless that existence is implied.
 Height and breadth are determined solely by
the frame, and depth is only an illusion.
 Size, position, distance, relationship, and
movement are not fixed.
 Direction is determined solely by the frame.
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The Frame
 The frame is not just a passive border
around the picture.
 The frame defines and controls what the
viewer sees.
 Screen composition and movement are
defined by reference to the frame around the
image.
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The Frame Controls Content
 Video makers use the frame to alter
reality in countless ways.
 Framing “Off” and Framing.
 Real world elements outside the frame do
not exist in the video world.
 Elements that do not exist in the real world
can exist in the video world if the video
maker implies that they lie somewhere
outside the frame.
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The Frame Determines
Composition and Movement
 Composition is the organization of the
elements of the picture.
 Movement refers to motion on the
screen, and viewers perceive that motion
by two sets of clues:
 How rapidly the background changes in
relation to the subject in the foreground.
 How quickly the subject moves in relation to
the frame.
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Video Dimensions
 In the video world, the dimension “height”
is not always vertical and “breadth” is not
always horizontal. The dimension called
“depth” doesn’t exist.
 Height is the dimension parallel to the
sides of the frame.
 Breadth is the dimension parallel to the
top and bottom of the frame.
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The Illusion of Depth
 Real world objects actually shrink in size
in the video world they really do shrink in
size.
 Depth is a trick video makers can
manipulate it.
 But must use a variety of compositional
techniques to create the illusion.
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Spatial Relations
 Video makers routinely change the space in the screen
world to fit the needs of the moment.
 Changes in size, position, and distance are all changes
in scale.
 Relationships among Objects usually means putting
things together in the screen world that are far apart in
the real world.
 Screen-world relationships between unconnected
places and people can be created by recording them
separately and editing the different shots together.
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Direction of Movement
 Real world direction are fixed – north, south,
east, and west.
 Screen world compass directions are quite
meaningless.
 Direction is perceived with reference to the
borders of the screen.
 Conventional direction are generally observed
by video makers (i.e. flying from Europe to
America showing the plane moving left to
right).
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