The Art Of The Image

This lesson we looked at how shots we're composed, the effect that the composition may have on the audience.
We looked at the rule of thirds, showing us 'points of interest' here's an example I found.

 "Rear Window"

Here you can see that Grace Kelly is taller and bigger than James Stuart, emasculating him in his wheel chair. 

There is a lot of empty space in the shot but it is countered by the actors as they are lit and much brighter than the empty space. 

Generally viewers read the shot from left to right 

so Grace Kelly is appropriately placed onto the left line. 

You can see that Lisa is exactly on the line as is Jeff following the guide of the rule of thirds. 

Had one or the other been in the exact centre maybe our focus would have been more on Jeff than on Lisa. But as it is like this Lisa has more attention because we can see her face, her emotions, creating dramatic tension, whereas Jeff's face is covered by the binoculars. 

The Composition of shots are important as they

• Direct the viewers attention within the frame e.g when a character looks at something
• Creates Atmosphere/mood e.g in Rear Window Lisa and Jeff are looking and something, and the audience want to know what
• Generates dramatic Tension and meaning. 
• Help to create a unified style for the scene.

We looked at how Horizons are filmed and how some directors such as Andrey Tarkovskiy who would have the earth covering most of the screen with the sky left smaller, having the earth dominate the sky. Other directors such as Sergio Leone who would have the sky dominate the earth. But neither would have the horizon and earth meet in the middle as it looks slightly awkward and wouldn't normally be done unless to say something different or out of the ordinary.