Camera Composition in Film Preliminary Exercise (Individual Task)

 Camera Composition in Film

In January 2022, GM&T was given a group project in which each member of the group had to pick two of the eight composing strategies. Each team member had to identify the approach, show it with a photo, and then utilize an actual scene from the storyboard they collaborated on. The way actors or aspects of the scene look in the camera frame to create or add to the story told in a film is referred to as composition in movies. Composition is an important phase in filmmaking because it highlights specific objects in the camera frame while ignoring other components. In simple terms, camera composition refers to how images from a movie, such as characters, setting, set design, and props, appear and are positioned in the camera frame to express a certain message or story. When gazing at a photograph or viewing a movie, composition is an important component of cinematography since it guides the audience's gaze. 

Multiple persons are responsible for setting the parts of each movie when making a film. The director of photography is the person in charge of putting together a film's visual composition. They are the camera crew's leader and are in charge of the entire team. They are the ones that have the most responsibilities. Their major role is to determine how a photo should appear, in addition to designing the composition. To do so, they select the lighting, set design, camera lenses, and any other cinematographic requirements necessary to accomplish the desired scene shot.

4 major Composition techniques are subdivided into other composition techniques.

   The Rule of Third: 

 Balance: Symmetry and Asymmetry

Blocking: Leading lines and Shapes

 Depth of Field: Deep Focus and Shallow Focus

BALANCE: SYMMETRY AND ASYMMETRY

Balance

There are two techniques in balance symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Symmetrical Balance

Definition: Symmetry in film can be defined as a sense of unity through the repetition of one or more elements.  Purpose: In this film he uses this to help balance his subjects of the film and to create a mirror effect. This helps emphasize what the main character would be seeing and to add suspense and tension to the shot.

Insert Image researched and referenced of the frame using the composition technique.

Name the film and the year of release and document why the director used the technique.

Film: The Shining  Year of Release: 1980  Director: Stanley Kubrick, Mike Flanagan

It’s my world!

Analysis of the framing technique.

The shot size of this photo is a master shot, the camera angle is eye level and the framing is POV or point of view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asymmetrical Balance

Definition: Asymmetrical balance occurs when you have different visual images on either side of a design, and yet the image still seems balanced. To be considered asymmetrical, a design needs to have unequal visual weight on either side, but those unequal visuals need to balance each other.  Purpose: Because asymmetrical balance is achieved by integrating a variety of design elements, it is considered to be livelier and more dynamic than symmetrical balance, which repeats elements and gives a calmer, quieter sensibility.     An asymmetrically framed shot has a natural visual dynamism to it. It also makes for a more seamless edit to the next shot, especially if that shot is another asymmetrically framed shot.

Insert Image researched and referenced of the frame using the composition technique.

Name the film and the year of release and document why the director used the technique.

Name of the film: A clockwork Orange.  Year it was released: 1971  Director of the film: Stanley Kubrick  The director utilizes unbalanced composition or asymmetrical balance to create tension. He utilized an unbalanced design; the individual elements dominate the whole and the composition becomes less than the sum of its parts. The director used asymmetric balance to connote visual tension.  In other words, asymmetrical balance occurs when you have inequality between two sides of a picture, but the image still looks complete and sensible.    The wife is doubled in the mirrors.  The ensuing rape scene is composed chaotically with rapid motion and asymmetrical framing, contrasting the balance of the initial shots. The best adjectives to describe their intention is chaotic, uproarious, thunderous, roaring. Let’s look at the mirror. First, we must understand that physically, mirrors reflect light and thus reflect the world around us. Spiritually, light has symbolic attachment to illumination, awareness, and wisdom etc. Therefore, in terms of spiritual symbolism, mirrors reflect truth. They reflect what it is. Psychology, however – as it often does, disagrees entirely and flips this symbolism on its head. In a psychological sense, mirrors symbolize the threshold between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. By looking into a mirror, one may look towards the depths of their unconsciousness. The image the mirror produces is therefore symbolic and can be made sense of in both conscious and subconscious thought processes. Now let’s look at the red outfit of the wife. Across cultures, people intuitively associate red with the concept of anger. This relationship makes sense given that many people get red in the face from increased blood flow when they're angry. It's not just mood and emotions that red can affect. The woman in the scene is walking across a hall who has two long mirrors as walls. She is wearing a red outfit. Her facial expression and posture are vivid, with connotes that she feels powerful, emotionless, and fearless. The lighting is not too bright nor too dark, which is accompanied by leading lines that help the audience direct themselves to the character. Her hair is short and released onto her shoulders which connotes confidence. This shot is a full shot because you can see the entire body of the character from head to toe. The camera frame used for this is a single. The angle is a pan angle.

The interview!

Analysis of the framing technique.

See instructions for analysis expectations!!!!  The image illustrated above is an example of asymmetry.   The genre is thriller. Student who comes back from the restroom patiently waits for the teacher to open the door. Patience is what is being emotionally transmitted to the audience. For this particular shot we used full shot size, a pan angle, and a single shot. The setting is in front of a door of a class. The antagonist is patient. The set design is basic. The antagonist’s costume emphasizes the theme of the storyline, she is wearing typical clothes that people in the time period of the story line would wear to school.