Good visual composition is at the heart of video production. When you create strong images you can shoot strong shots and build meaningful sequences. Images come first. Shots are built on the images within them. Then it becomes possible to make meaningful, interesting and engaging sequences.
Image Composition
In video you are restricted by the horizontal frame. It dictates the nature and possibility of your composition. Viewers can only know what you tell them from their own experience of the subject matter and the information you provide within this frame.
Viewers - How do people experience the images you compose?
Middle - It is generally believed that people start near the middle of the frame and then circle outward around that midpoint in viewing an image. You need to control how they travel through your image through your composition of elements.
Reading - In western culture we read text left to right and there is substance to the argument that we read images in the same way. In middle eastern cultures texts are read from right to left and it becomes possible to argue that images presented to people in those cultures will be read in that way. In the east, specifically China, there are multiple ways to read a text and therefore Chinese people can approach an image in many different ways. What this means to video creators must use strong composition to guide viewer experience of an image. Producing for this audience means understanding and using any and every tool that is available and some of your tools are aesthetic and some are psychological.
Know and Use the Three Visual Axes
X axis - horizontal, stable, immovable
Y axis - vertical, stable, potential for movement
Z axis - diagonal, dynamic, builds the appearance of movement, is at the core of creating a sense of depth within an image
Thirds - The rule of thirds is a starting point for building an strong image. The rule of thirds helps with:
Creating Balance in the Frame
Handling Horizons in the Frame
Handling People in the Frame, through
Head Room - positioning eyes near the top third line to maintain appropriate head room
Nose Room - positioning a person left, right or center in the frame according to their line of sight
Lead Room - positioning a person or subject left, right or center in the frame according to their direction of movement or potential movement
Vectors - these are the visual forces within a frame that lead the viewer's eyes through the frame
Graphic - these vectors are created by objects and grouping of objects in the frame that create a line or direction within the frame. Graphic vectors are typically ambiguous in terms of direction and this means the viewer can move in any direction.
Index - these are strong indicators of direction through an arrow, a pointed finger and the line of sight of a person within the frame. The direction they create is clear and they are very powerful within the frame. They should not be overused and line of sight is the most subtle of these types of vectors.
Motion - these are the lines created by the actual or implied motion of an object or subject within the frame. These are the most powerful forces within a frame as people are naturally drawn to motion within their visual space.
Angle of View - These is the angle at which people see the subject within a frame. These angles can be widely varied but they are most simply understood in vertical terms.
Eye-level - looking a subject directly in the eye at the same altitude of the eye. This puts the viewer in a neutral position in relation to the subject and allows other factors to tell the story.
Low-Angle - looking at a subject from above their eye-line. The camera is looking down at the subject. This puts the subject in a subordinate position to the viewer or it makes the subject looks smaller than the physical reality. Children are often shot from this angle.
High-Angle - looking at a subject from below their eye-line. The camera is looking up at the subject. The puts the subject in superior position to the viewer or it makes the subject look larger than the physical reality. Cowboys, heroes, and monsters are often shot from this angle.
Worm's Eye View - looking up at everything in the frame from the ground.
Bird's Eye View - looking down at everything in the frame from the sky.
Figure-Ground is the basic relationship between everything within a visual frame. Figures are everything within the frame that has the potential for movement and/or leaving the frame. The Ground is the stable environment or context in which the action takes place and consists of basically immoveable objects. When a producer makes it appear that the Ground is moving through a dolly or tracking shot then the viewer must resolve the conflict and it results in the viewers' impression that they are moving through the environment because it is more easily understood that people move because environments don't. Producers must always be aware of the relationship between the Figures within a frame and the Ground because an unnoticed relationships can create unwanted visuals and meaning for the audience and producer.
Shot Composition
A shot is an image with the added dimension of time. Producers must manage the inclusion of time within the frame through composition which is built on the previous concepts but presents increased challenges.
Because of time a shot always has the potential to become something new. So an image that appears to be poorly composed can become better composed over the duration of a shot. Awkward composition and the need for resolution can also become a clue for viewers that something is going to happen or someone is going to come into the frame in order to complete the composition of the shot.
Imbalance can be balanced over the duration of a shot.
Continuous Framing - this is a very difficult approach which means that every image in the shot is well composed and meaningful. The producer must have control over every element in the shot to make this happen.
Key Framing - this is a less difficult approach which means that several specific images, key frames, over the duration of the shot are very well composed and that the intervening images will be generally well composed because of these key frames.
Destination Framing - this is the easiest approach which means that the focus of composition is given to the last frame in the shot and everything that leads up to that image is of less concern. This creates the highest probability that there will be awkward compositional moments within a shot.
The Rule of Thirds applies the same within a shot as it does within an image, except for the even greater emphasis on the execution of lead room because the objects within a shot are actually moving so they need space within the frame that gives them space to move into or to ultimately move out of the frame.
Vector Movement
In a shot the vector forces within the frame can be actual movement by the subject, the camera, the camera head or the lens.
Subject Movement
X axis movement across the frame. If the camera is too close to the subject this can appear as an unidentifiable blur rather than the subject actually moving across the frame.
Y axis movement across the frame. The same as X axis movement but a rare occurrence outside of launching rockets.
Z axis movement can occur diagonally across the face of the frame or appear as depth into or out of the frame.
Diagonal - movements in different directions appear to have different difficulty or speed
Bottom Left to Upper Right - subjects/objects appear to move easily
Bottom Right to Upper Left - subjects/objects appear to move with more difficulty
Top Left to Bottom Right - subjects/objects appear to move faster
Top Right to Bottom Left - subjects/objects appear to move slower
Depth
to Viewer - subject/object can move from background to foreground to fill more and more of the frame
from Viewer - subject/object can move from foreground to background to fill less and less of the frame
Cutting from To Viewer to From Viewer is an easy edit and can provide the opportunity to change time or place as well as just accelerate action.
Camera Movement
Dolly - Z Axis - the camera physically moves in or out (toward or away from) the subject. The camera moves through the environment with or without the subject basically causing the subject to be stationary in the frame and the ground to change within the frame. When the camera is following the subject or moving without a subject through an environment it gives the viewer a sense of movement. If the subject is facing the camera and the camera is moving backward through the environment the audience can experience an interesting but unnatural sensation because we rarely walk backward through an environment while we chat with our friends.
Truck - X Axis - the camera physically moves along side the subject as it moves. The subject remains stationary within the frame as the ground constantly changes. This is a very interesting shot, particularly for sporting events, but it is ultimately unnatural because we rarely walk sideways for long periods of time as we chat with a friend. It can be very effective in bursts as though the viewer is turning the head to look at the subject while moving with the subject. It is also particularly effective if the subject is moving through a crowd and the camera is outside the crowd so that the subject remains framed and the movement is created by the people, in front and behind the subject, who are constantly changing and possibly blurred by the truck motion.
Crane - Y Axis - the camera physically moves vertically, up or down, from one spot to another. This is a good way to make audience members believe they can fly. It is also a good way to establish a relationship between two subjects when those two subjects are vertically separated from one another. A crane gives a stronger sense of vertical space then a cut from point 1 to point 2 and provides a sense of movement that is missing in a tilt.
Camera Head Movement
Pan - X Axis - The camera turns to the left or right from a stationary position. It is a very natural movement when one thinks of watching a tennis match from the middle of the grandstand or a football match from the seats at the middle of the pitch. There are also many more natural forms of a pan as people often observe action of any kind and life in general from a stationary position.
Tilt - Y Axis - The camera looks up or down from a stationary position. It is a very natural movement when one thinks of looking up at building or looking down into a canyon. People experience most vertical objects with a tilt of the head from a stationary position.
Lens Movement
Zoom - Z Axis - The lens changes it internal characteristics to draw a subject or object closer to the viewer or to push the subject or object farther away from the viewer. The Zoom In is a force of focus on a particular subject. The Zoom Out is a force of focus away from a subject. While focus is a natural act within a visual environment the reframing of the visual space is unnatural. There are also lens effects in a zoom that we will talk about later.
Perspective of View (POV) - also called point of view
Third Person - the typical way a video production is experience, the viewer is separate from the action and watching it from a position where the action in the frame will have no direct effect on the viewer. This is used in fiction and non-fiction.
First Person - the viewer is the camera experiencing the content for themselves. The moving camera and the dolly in particular communicate the presence of the viewer in the visual space. The ground elements of the frame appear to be moving so the viewer can be led to believe that they are moving because we all know that ground elements do not move. In this type of shot other subjects or characters address the camera directly reinforcing the sense of engagement in the production.
Third Person OS - the viewer is really separate from the action but is moving through the shot with a guide. The camera moves through a space but the camera is at the back of the subject or character who is always in view. The character or subject may show awareness of the audience through direct address, talking to the audience even though engaged in the environment of the story (this can be really great or a total disaster in terms of story telling). It is not necessary for the subject to acknowledge the audience for a shot to be made in Third Person OS (Over Shoulder).
Practical Shot Guidelines
Keep shots steady, you cannot fix it later
Shoot twice (2x) as many close-ups to medium shots and wide shots
Shoot for eye contact
Shoot at the eye-level of the subject, unless you want to make a statement about the subject
Compose the shot dynamically. Don't point and shoot and hope to get lucky with a good shot.
Hold shots long enough to edit any element. Hold 10 seconds before and after a move.
Work around the angles of view. Imagine that you are on a sphere with your subject at the center.
Shoot 30 to 1, 30 minutes raw video for 1 minute edited video.
Plan to improvise. Make a plan and be ready to improvise from the plan.
Planning and improvisation will guarantee you can get the shot that works well.
I will provide more video examples of the shot composition concepts in the next class and we will talk about sequencing and editing concepts as well as get out and shoot some video.
Because of the necessity for fully understanding shooting, editing and storytelling and the fact that we cover animation and fx in other classes, including interactive as well as 3D, I am going to make sure we cover visual storytelling completely and diminish the time given to animation and fx.
until then...
Absences:
Ray & Stephy
