Cinematography
COMPOSITION
Intro to Video
Rule of Thirds
An old theory about composition
It won’t compose the picture for you, but it’s a good
start
The idea is mentally divide the frame into thirds, both
horizontally and vertically.
Then place you elements along those lines, with the
center of interest at one of the four points the lines cross
Examples
Examples
Examples
Balance
Leaving enough space or nose room in the direction the
subject is viewing – leading looks.
This is called compositional weight.
Not just people have leading looks, other objects and
subjects. (TVs, Cars, etc…)
Visual leverage, using the elements within the frame to even
out or balance the composition.
Examples
Examples
Examples
Angles
Reality has three physical dimensions: height,
width, and depth.
In pictures, we have two dimensions: height and
width.
To give the illusion of depth, we show things at
an angle, so we can at least see things from two
sides.
Examples
Examples
Examples
Examples
Frames within Frames
Often you can make a picture more interesting by using
elements of your location to create full or partial frames
within the camera:
Leading Lines
A nice way to direct the viewers eye to your subject:
Backgrounds
Removing any distraction element that take focus away from
where you want the focal point to be:
Doorways
Frames
Visually busy backgrounds
Unusual movements
Simple Solution: reposition the camera placement, move
subject to cover, place prop to hide it.
Summary to Composition
Don’t sell yourself short, set up camera at the first place that
looks ok…take some time to walk around and see what
options are there.
Don’t accept the location exactly how you see it.
Look, then look again as critically as you can…
Remember that shot that was perfect when you set it up, only
to discover when you saw it later, there were telephone lines
running across the frame.
Rule of Thirds, Nose Room, Angles, Frames within
Frames, Leading Lines, Backgrounds.