Basic Cinematic Composition and How To Build a Sequence

H

HollywoodBubbleInc

New member
Hey guys, I'm new to this forum. I shot a 30 second action sequence over Valentine's Day that was created to compliment a tutorial on the basics of filmmaking, such as the 180 rule, rule of thirds and how to properly construct a sequence.

Just wanted to share it with you, in hopes some of you might find some of the stuff useful for your own projects.... :) I am new here so, nice meeting all of you!

-Ruben :thumbsup:

 
While in the medium/close up shots you maintain the left/right relationship that you have setup between the characters, your 'master' shot looks to be on the other side of the 180 line the characters make and you use in the exchange between them.
 
Yes! that was done on purpose. The 180 degree rule here is applied to the medium/close up shots of their dialogue exchange only. I could have set up the master/establishing from anywhere really (that rule is easier to break) as long as the consistency between their close ups stays intact :)
 
I liked the rule of thirds example with the visual lines; as it proved accurate at exactly where my eyes wanted to go on the horizontal and vertical thirds line. :)

In seriousness, the 180 rule is more about eye line than composition. You can surely have both characters on the right side of frame if they have correct eye-line. A person with eye-line off screen right can be on screen right if the composition serves the story. But I understand that is the less typical usage.

Thanks for posting the video and welcome to the boards.
 
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Ryan, yeah, that's very true, all those rule are obviously meant to be broken (and they are all the time) as long as you don't confuse your audience with the positioning of the camera. If you watch the King's speech, they break a lot of those ordinary rules but they maintain the eyelines properly. Thanks! yeah how many posts before I can upload my own Avatar? It's not letting me do that yet ;)
 
HollywoodBubbleInc said:
Yes! that was done on purpose. The 180 degree rule here is applied to the medium/close up shots of their dialogue exchange only. I could have set up the master/establishing from anywhere really (that rule is easier to break) as long as the consistency between their close ups stays intact :)
Click to expand...

I was wondering, as the setting, rooftop did look like it had enough room to setup on that side, unless there was walkways on the area you were shooting from, and it would have been 'uncool' to go on the actual roof...

Since what is shot, is shot... but I wonder if shooting on that side, having the the pursuer burst through the door, right to left, then the girl bringing up the gun, left to right, wouldn't have more of an 'action' impact.
 
I personally think that we should really have someone come in and discuss the rule of thirds - it is getting so common that low budget productions line up the eyes with either of the top crosshairs, yet I've never seen this happen in any theater film in my life. A good example is Lady Gaga's Bad Romance music video, I'm not sure that there's one shot that follows the rule of thirds, although it's cinematography is pretty extraordinary. With my own testing, I find that the rule of thirds leaves too much "head room" behind the actor's head, and I prefer shots where the back and top of the actors head has equal space behind and above it - having the top of the actors head cut off but with 2 feet of space behind the head just doesn't seem cinematic to me. As well, I'm not sure that my eyes line up comfortably with the rule of thirds....are there any alternative rule grids that filmmakers follow for 16:9 filmmaking?
 
Snapper123 said:
are there any alternative rule grids that filmmakers follow for 16:9 filmmaking?
Click to expand...

The easy enough stated 'rule of 3rds', is well... easy to state... put important stuff on a grid made up by 3rds, and most people change from 'snap shooter' to 'something better'... at least for stills...

But more technically the activity is creating visual 'weight' in the scene, and placing things on lines in the scene which lend/support/coerce the eye to move where the photographer wants the viewer to go.

I think it also has to do with editing style and how fast cuts are made. In a slow editing style, perhaps the eye can 'wander' over the scene a bit, hence placing things off the 3rds grid may 'work'. But in fact paced editing, placing sutff on these points, does allow for 1) edits of stuff moving from one place to another on the screen, or 2) cutting to stuff that happens in a similar place on the screen, etc. but still get the movement effect.

Example, car enters frame on left moving right... next scene another car middle of the intersection, dead center... effect, moving car is going to hit dead center car with max impact...

Ok... well perhaps that's a bit contrived, but the point is certain compositions tend to 'balance'... dead center... or 2 objects, one right 3rd, one left 3rd. Things out of balance, one big object left, one small object right, etc... give support to moving the eye around 'forcefully'.

Here's a coupld of examples:
(Also, observe where the apparent 'horizon' line is. It usually on one of the horizontal 3rds, whereas talent is on the vertical 3rds)

This one has 'something going on':

70_1.jpg


Is this one "Irresistible force meets immovable object"?

departed.jpg


And this one... "who's going to pay for drinks"?

tumblr_le0ot1NFJ91qzdzcdo1_500.png
 
nice tutorial sure its helpful to lots of folks. gotta be honest tho, you broke screen direction yourself- when she shoots him he jumps to screen right whereas before he was screen left. I know youre saying its the master, but the edit still results in the change of screen direction which the 180 rule was meant to preserve (shes shooting to the left then suddenly to the right). Granted audiences nowadays are less likely to care (Transformers, anyone?), but hey, im's just sayin'.

and to the person whose confused about how to use rule of thirds, most of the shots in bad romance are intentionally centered- called formal balance in art speak. Not uncommon for a music video. Rule of thirds helps with informal balance, mostly.

and to clarify, the idea is to (usually) put the -eye that is closer to the edge- on or near the upper crosshairs. Looks good for most shots, use your judgment- if slavishly followed it actually may result in the centered composition its trying to help you avoid.

watch this its cute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xpYmWd8_kA

helpful too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNoHrl1qqZ4&feature=related
 
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I need a little help with the rule of thirds

I need a little help with the rule of thirds

I'm still not quite sure on the rule of thirds.

First - Buy Camera
Second - Open Box
Third - Make video explaining camera techniques

Is that about it?
 
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