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what is it about Hollywood movies that
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draws the audience into the shots of
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course cameras lenses lighting and
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performance play a major part but at the
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core of a great shot lies a great
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composition so in this video we'll look
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into the art of composition and find out
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how it can help you become a better
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filmmaker I'll show you seven cinematic
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composition techniques used by some of
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the best Hollywood filmmakers these are
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things you can start applying to your
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own work right now and bring a whole new
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level of creativity to your film making
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composition is the way elements of a
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scene are arranged within the camera
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frame in a nutshell what is in the frame
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and where is it located and although
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that sounds very simple a certain frame
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or a thought out composition can draw
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you into the story make it more
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impactful and make something appear more
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cinematic it's all about directing the
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viewer's
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eye let's begin with one of the most
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essential elements of composition focal
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points focal points or points of
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interest can be used to draw the
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attention of your view fewer to a
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specific part of the frame where does
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your eye naturally get drawn to in this
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shot the composition of the shot pulls
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your attention to the focal point focal
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points are highly effective in wide
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shots filmmakers often opt for a minimal
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shot to eliminate any distractions this
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directs the viewer's eye straight to the
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focal point but even in busier frames
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when your frame has a dominant subject
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or focal point the audience will know
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exactly where to look and what is
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important in the shot usually these
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focal points are used together with
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other compositional guidelines such as
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the rule of thirds the rule of thirds is
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one of the most common and important
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compositional guidelines that you'll
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find in cinematography this rule breaks
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your frame into thirds with two
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horizontal lines and two vertical lines
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the four intersecting points of these
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lines are fantastic areas of the frame
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to place your subject or focal point
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this is because the viewer's eyes are
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naturally drawn to these points and it
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will create a much more appealing shot
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just watch any Hollywood movie and
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you'll notice that the main subjects are
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almost always placed on one of these
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points but you'll also see focal points
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placed on other compositional techniques
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such as the Golden Triangle here a
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diagonal is drawn from one corner of the
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frame to the other and then lines from
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the other two corners towards that line
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This creates two balanced focal points
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within a shot framing the subject in the
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center of the shot can communicate that
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this is a person of authority but it
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also works great when the person is
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talking directly into the camera for
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teaching or informing the viewer about
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something like right now when I'm
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talking to you guys another technique to
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pull the viewer's attention to your
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subject or help your storytelling is the
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use of leading lines simply put leading
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lines are natural lines in your frame
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that will lead the audience attention
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towards your subject these lines can be
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stairways Bridges roads hallways
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buildings you name it a lot of films use
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leading lines to show where a character
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might be going and the lines in the
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frame will literally lead you to that
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point but breaking this rule by by using
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chaotic lines can convey a sense of
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confusion or disorder in a scene so
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leading lines not only help the look of
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your shot but also improve your
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storytelling also the distribution of
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space within a frame is important for
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the story you're trying to tell or the
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emotion you're trying to create positive
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space is the area in the frame given to
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the subject and negative space is the
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empty space around them the relationship
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between these two can create different
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moods within a shot or a scene if the
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subject is larger in the frame it can be
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a sign of how important they are
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extremely wide shots with lots of
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negative space can represent the subject
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isolation or vulnerability and make them
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feel smaller extreme close-ups where the
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subject takes up almost the entire frame
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can show their power but also draw you
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into their emotions the position of this
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negative space can also have an effect
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on the feeling of a shot which brings us
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to Headroom and looking room Headroom is
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the amount of negative space above a
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subject's head usually head room is kept
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to a minimum lead room or looking room
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is the amount of negative space in front
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of the subject this is usually more than
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the amount of negative space behind the
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subject also here the rule of thirds can
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be of help placing your subject's eyes
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on an intersecting point of the rule of
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thirds will almost always give you the
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perfect head room and Lead room you will
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also see this being applied when a
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subject is moving there will be lead
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room usually 2/3 of the frame in the
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direction in which the subject is moving
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breaking these rules can create
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intriguing shots and evoke C certain
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emotions giving your subject an abnormal
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amount of head room can make them seem
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uncomfortable small or insignificant
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when a subject is given a small amount
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of lead room it can communicate that
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they are lost trapped or isolated and
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even if the audience doesn't consciously
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realize what the filmmaker intended
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awkward compositions are extremely
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effective in conveying these emotions
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when it comes to mastering the art of
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composition in cinematography having
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access to great references is key and
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that's exactly where the sponsor of this
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video Fram set comes in if you don't
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know Fram set it's basically an
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example search by particular
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filters to really fine-tune what you
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might be looking for a filter that I use
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a lot is frame size so let's say I want
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to look for medium and medium wide shots
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and I also want the shot to only have
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one person now I can even add a
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composition filter for example
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symmetrical shots and right away Fram
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set is showing me a bunch of great shots
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I could use as inspiration for future
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projects if you also want to start using
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Fram set to access tons and tons of
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reference images all you need to do is
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click the link in the description and
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use the code stand 10 for a 10%
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discount no matter how you compose your
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shot A good rule of thumb is that your
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frame should be balanced When comparing
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these two shots you can you can
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automatically sense which one of these
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is balanced or unbalanced in an
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unbalanced image one side of the frame
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feels heavier than the other and even
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though a viewer doesn't necessarily know
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what it is that is wrong they can feel
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that something is off adding something
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to the other side of the frame can help
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bring balance to a shot again the rule
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of thirds can be helpful with bringing
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balance to your image when you're
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shooting interviews or dialogue the
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ideal location to place your subject's
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eyes is on the upper horizontal line and
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you'll see this over and over again in
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almost all Hollywood films for wider
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frames or shots with Horizons placing
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your subject on one of the two
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horizontal lines can bring balance to
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your shot whereas placing it in the
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middle often makes a frame less
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interesting balance can also mean
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symmetry the human mind naturally loves
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order and balance and that is why we are
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drawn to the beauty of symmetry having
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both sides of your frame match each
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other in some way or another is visually
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pleasing to our eye breaking the rules
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of balance and opting for or an
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unbalanced frame can make the audience
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uneasy it's all about what you're trying
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to tell with the shot the technique of
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framing within a frame is a powerful way
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to direct Focus to your subject while
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helping convey your story visually this
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can be done in many different ways by
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triangles circles squares and so on a
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frame within a frame gives the viewer a
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smaller area of focus within a shot and
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puts emphasis on what or who is
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important within the scene framing a
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subject can help evoke certain emots
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motions a small frame can make the
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audience feel uncomfortable and
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claustrophobic by using a frame within a
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frame filmmakers can create a sense of
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separation between the audience and the
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characters making the audience feel like
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they are distant Spectators of the scene
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and the use of frames is also a great
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way to add depth to a shot which brings
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us to one of the most important
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compositional methods in cinematography
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depth in film making we're representing
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three-dimensional space in a
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two-dimensional medium and the best way
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to do this is by making use of depth you
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can divide space into three sections
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foreground mid-ground and background
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these sections can then be used to layer
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a composition shallow depth of field can
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be used to separate the subject from the
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background and provide more emphasis to
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that subject naturally the viewer's eyes
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will get drawn to whatever is in focus
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and blurring out the background can also
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remove any distractions from an
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otherwise busy scene pulling your
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subject away from the background helps
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in creating depth within the shot if you
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film someone directly up against the
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wall the image will have absolutely no
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depth so even if you're shooting in a
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very small space try putting your
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subject as far away from the background
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as possible or shoot into a corner of
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the room this will naturally create more
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depth in your shot adding something to
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the forground will also add depth to an
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image even smaller out of focus objects
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will add another visual layer to the
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shot the image will then have foreground
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mid-ground typically the subject and
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background and these layers create depth
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and the technique you'll see a lot of
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filmmakers use to draw attention to a
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specific object in the shot is by
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pulling Focus from one thing to another
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you might not become aware of something
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until the moment when the camera focuses
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on it it will automatically tell us what
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is important and what we need to be
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looking at another beautiful way films
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can draw our attention to a certain
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subject in the frame is by using color
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and contrast filmmakers can use color in
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the frame to direct the viewer's eye
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they can make a subject stand out very
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obviously by having them in a certain
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color in monochromatic shots the dark
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subjects are being separated from the
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colored background drawing your
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attention to them and using
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complimentary colors can be a great way
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to separate your subject from the
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background and emphasize them in the
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shot similar to color contrast can be
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used to organize and Define a shot's
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composition our eyes are naturally drawn
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to the brightest parts of an image so
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having your subject lit and surrounded
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by Darkness will help keep the audiences
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focus on them but the opposite is also
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true the character as a silhouette will
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make them stand out against a bright
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background now there is no doubt that
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all of these techniques rules or methods
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can help you improve your cinematography
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but a very important thing to keep in
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mind is that there is no such thing as
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right or wrong in film making there's
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only more interesting and less
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interesting so whatever compositional
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technique you're using just make sure
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it's interesting
