Module 23

Updated: 08/13/2005

Elements of
Composition:
 
Part I

Tn the next series of modules will address 15 guidelines on composition, starting with the most important of all —  

 
Clearly Establish Your Objectives

1. First, clearly establish your objectives and hold to them throughout the production. Your objectives in doing a production may be anything from creating an experience of pure escapism to doing a treatise on spiritual enlightenment. 

Few people would start writing a sentence without any idea of what they wanted to say. Visual statements are no different. Good writers, producers, directors, and editors know the purpose of each and every shot. 

So, before you record any shot, have two things clearly established in your mind:   

• the specific reason for the shot
• the purpose of the shot within the overall production 

"I couldn't resist it, it was such a pretty shot," is not a legitimate reason for including an extraneous scene in a production—no matter how pretty or interesting it is. At best you'll slow down the pace of the production; at worst, you'll confuse your audience by suggesting that the shot carries some special meaning that they need to keep in mind.

Slow = Boring

And speaking of slowing things down, "slow" is commonly associated with "boring" — excuse enough to switch the channel to try to find something more engaging. And, with dozens of channels to choose from, there's real competition for viewer attention.

If information is presented either too slowly or at a level that is beneath an audience, the production will be perceived as being boring. If it is presented too quickly or in too abstract a fashion, the audience can become lost and frustrated.

In either case they will probably quickly consider other options.

The speed at which ideas are presented in productions has increased dramatically in recent years. We can clearly see this in long-running TV series. Compare specific soap operas of five years ago to the same series   being done today. In order to stay competitive (i.e., hold an audience) these programs now feature exotic locations, faster cutting, greater and more frequent emotional swings, faster-moving and richer story lines, and...

...those two ingredients that are always relied upon to increase the flow of adrenaline: regular dips into violence (or the threat of violence) and sex (or the possibility of sex). 

In novels authors used to spend many pages elaborately setting scenes. Now readers are apt to say, "Enough! Get to the point!" 

As a university professor who has been teaching television production for a few decades, I can attest to the fact that the vast majority of video projects I see are too long. Shots are held long after the point of the scene is made. In fact, a good editor could cut these projects or productions down by at least half—and make them more effective and interesting in the process.

This brings us to an important maxim:

"But," the question is often asked, "Isn't good production always good production, no matter how much time passes?"  

Unfortunately, from a commercial perspective the answer is "no." 

Most of yesterday's classic films are rather boring to today's audiences. Among other things, they simply move too slowly.

Citizen Kane is considered by many film historians to be this country's greatest film. In terms of production techniques it was far ahead of its time. But, now, after a couple decades, its production techniques are so behind the times that it's difficult to get a group of average people to sit through this film. 

TV writers used to be content following a single dramatic idea (plot) for an entire show. Today, to hold an audience, dramatic television typically consists of parallel stories and numerous plots and subplots intricately woven together.  
  

Depicting Emotional States

It's in depicting emotions that we often find the greatest difficulty in determining what's relevant.

Seemingly unrelated scenes of people running through stalled city traffic, lines of people pushing through turnstiles and shots of people jamming escalators might be important to establishing a frenzied state of mind in a character trying to cope with life in the city. But a shot of "a darling little girl sitting on a bench" in this sequence would not only leave the audience wondering what her role was, but would probably mislead them into believing that there is a relationship between her and the central story line.

Viewers assume that every shot, gesture, and word of dialogue in a production is there to further the central idea. In other words, each shot should further the story in some way.

Strive for A Feeling of Unity

2. Strive for a feeling of unity. If a good film or prize-winning photo is studied, it's generally evident that the elements in the shot have been selected or arranged so they "pull together" to support the basic idea. When the elements of a shot combine to support a basic visual statement, the shot is said to have unity. 

The concept of unity applies to such things as lighting, color, wardrobes, sets, and settings.

For example, you might decide to use muted colors throughout a production to create a certain feeling or atmosphere. Or, you may want to create an overall atmosphere by using low-key lighting together with settings that contain earthy colors and a lot of texture. 

By deciding on certain appropriate themes such as these, you can create a consistent feeling or look that will give your production unity. 
  

Compose Around A
Single Center of Interest

3. The third guideline applies to individual scenes: compose scenes around a single center of interest. 

Multiple centers of interest may work in three-ring circuses where viewers are able to fully shift their interest from one event to another. But competing centers of interest within a single visual frame weaken, divide, and confuse meaning.  

Think of each shot as a statement.

An effective written statement should be cast around a central idea and be swept clean of anything that does not support, explain, or in some way add to that idea.

Consider this "sentence": "Man speaking on phone, strange painting on the wall, coat rack behind his head, interesting brass bookends on desk, sound of motorcycle going by, woman moving in background...." 

Although we would laugh at such a "sentence," some videographers create visual statements that include such unrelated and confusing elements. 

We are not suggesting that you eliminate everything except the center of interest, just whatever does not in some way support (or at least, does not detract from) the central idea being presented. 

A scene may, in fact, be cluttered with objects and people; as, for example, an establishing shot of a person working in a busy newsroom. But each of the things should fit in and belong, and nothing should "upstage" the intended center of interest.  

A master (wide) shot of an authentic interior of an 18th century farmhouse may include dozens of objects. But each of the objects should add to the overall statement: "18th century farmhouse." Just make sure you put these supporting elements in a secondary position. 

The viewer has a limited time—generally only a few seconds—to understand the content and meaning of a shot. If some basic meaning isn't obvious before the shot is changed, the viewer will miss the point of the scene. (Recall that one of the definitions of a "director" is one who "directs attention.")

Keep in mind also that the eye sees selectively and in three dimensions.   It tends to exclude what is not relevant at the moment. 
  

Selective Focus to the Rescue

Part of the "film look" that many people like centers on selective focus, covered in an earlier module.

Early film stocks were not highly sensitive to light, and lenses had to be used at relatively wide apertures (f-stops) to attain sufficient exposure.

This was fortunate in a way.  

By focusing on the key element in each shot and throwing those in front and behind that area out of focus, audiences were immediately led to the scene's center of interest and not distracted by anything else. 

Even with today's high-speed film emulsions, directors of photography strive to retain the selective focus effect by shooting under comparatively low light levels.  

The same principles that have worked so well in film can also be used in video.  Note how foreground and background elements have been thrown out of focus in the scene above so that attention will center on the young woman.

This level of image control takes extra planning when you use today's highly sensitive video cameras. The auto-iris circuit generally adjusts the f-stop to an aperture that brings both the foreground and background into focus.

To make use of the creative control inherent in selective focus, high shutter speeds, neutral density filters, or lighting control must be used.
  

Where There Is Light...

The eye is drawn to the brighter areas of a scene. This means that the prudent use of lighting can be a composition tool, in this case to emphasize important scenic elements and to de-emphasize others.   We'll see more examples of this in the modules on lighting.
  

Shifting the Center of Interest

In static composition scenes maintain a single center of interest; in dynamic composition centers of interest can change with time. 

Movement can be used to shift attention. Although our eye may be dwelling on the scene's center of interest, it will quickly be drawn to movement in a secondary area of the picture. Someone entering the scene is an example. 

As we noted in an earlier module, we can also force the audience to shift their attention through the technique of rack focus, or changing the focus of the lens from one object to another. 
  

Observe Proper Subject Placement  

4. The fourth general guideline for composition is: observe proper subject placement.  

In gun-sight fashion most weekend snapshooters feel they have to place the center of interest—be it Uncle Henry or the Eiffel tower—squarely in the center of the frame. 

This generally weakens the composition of the scene.
 

Leading the Subject

Generally, when a subject is moving in a particular direction, space is provided at the side of the frame for the subject(s) to "move into." This is referred to as leading the subject. In a close-up (see below on the right) we might refer to it as "looking room."

Note that in the photo on the left above that space is allowed for the subjects to "walk into." In the photo on the right above "looking space" is provided for the woman.

Rule of Thirds

Except possibly for people looking directly at the camera, it's often best to place the center of interest near one of the points indicated by the rule of thirds. In the rule of thirds the total image area is divided vertically and horizontally into three equal sections. 

Although it's often best to place the center of interest somewhere along the two horizontal and two vertical lines, generally composition is even stronger if the center of interest falls near one of the four cross-points illustrated in the photo on the right below. A few still cameras even have the rule of thirds gridlines visible in their viewfinders.

Note that the photos above have centers of interest consistent with the rule of thirds.

Here are two more examples.

Weekend snapshooters also typically go to some effort to make sure that horizon lines are perfectly centered in the middle of the frame. This also weakens composition by splitting the frame into two equal halves. 

According to the rule of thirds, horizon lines should be either in the upper third or the lower third of the frame. In the same way, vertical lines shouldn't divide the frame into two equal parts. From the rule of thirds we can see that it's generally best to place a dominant vertical line either one-third or two-thirds of the way across the frame. 

It's generally also a good idea to break up or intersect dominant, unbroken lines with some scenic element. Otherwise, the scene may seem divided. 

A horizon can be broken by an object in the foreground. Often, this can be done by simply moving the camera slightly. A vertical line can be interrupted by something as simple as a tree branch.

Here, although the horizon line is in the center of the frame, the masts of the boats break it up and keep it from dividing the frame in half.

 The required reading for this module relates to an important social issue: television production and violence.