Golden Ratio debunked

[Psynema]

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3044877/the-golden-ratio-designs-biggest-myth

Love this article LOL. I'll get flamed to hell for this most likely.

Never liked it. People like overthinking something as simple as framing. Your brain naturally looks at the edge of the frame and goes from corner to corner, a diagonal X. Watch any film, anything falling on that X is easiest to read. The X also ALWAYS intersects the intersections on a rule of thirds grid. Likewise any good example of the Golden Ratio can be replicated much more efficiently with a diagonal X as a framing reference. ALL OF THEM.

 

[David Jimerson]

Not unrelated, it's been an annoying cliche' of the last 15 years or so where if a character is supposed to seem "smart," they start rattling on about the Fibonacci sequence.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Not unrelated, it's been an annoying cliche' of the last 15 years or so where if a character is supposed to seem "smart," they start rattling on about the Fibonacci sequence.

The problem is of course... most viewers' math understanding doesn't reach above Muhammad ibn Musa al Kharizmi's method of balancing and completions, in fact, I don't think most people reach above times tables, and with calculators, nothing beyond adding on the 10 digits that make up both hands... so, how can you quickly put a label on a character as 'smart'...

And here's the Missing Manual for understanding, and seeing where the filmmakers went off in to loolooland with "Interstellar"(2014).

 

[David Jimerson]

They could at least try to find something different. But then, they could try to find a city other than San Francisco for a sci-fi disaster movie, too. You can only wreck the Golden Gate Bridge so many times.

 

[Drew Ott]

Good article, except that it too falls into cliche in the end by quoting "genetics" as the reason people want to believe in the Golden Ratio.

 

[Bruce Watson]

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3044877/the-golden-ratio-designs-biggest-myth

Love this article LOL.

Yawn... I do love what "writers" will do when a deadline approaches. Where was his editor?

 

[bill totolo]

This begs the question, how is everyone framing their compositions out there?

 

[Zak Forsman]

This begs the question, how is everyone framing their compositions out there?

i'm shooting 16k for a 2k finish so i don't have to decide.

truthfully, 3 is my lucky number. and i'm an editor too. so my compositions are based on the old rule of thirds with a lot of consideration given to making sure the point of attention within the frame will match across the cut.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

i'm shooting 16k for a 2k finish so i don't have to decide.

truthfully, 3 is my lucky number. and i'm an editor too. so my compositions are based on the old rule of thirds with a lot of consideration given to making sure the point of attention within the frame will match across the cut.

So, you don't add in a Fibonacci spiral in of composition in there as well?

And the ever popular sexy babe...

 

[Batutta]

Not unrelated, it's been an annoying cliche' of the last 15 years or so where if a character is supposed to seem "smart," they start rattling on about the Fibonacci sequence.

I think Pi kicked off that trend, but that film was actually about the Fibonacci sequence so it was warranted. I think with composition you can overthink things. 9 times out of 10 I get better results by just doing what feels right.

 

[craigbowman]

I think I got a "Fibonacci sequence" stuck to the bottom of my shoe. It was harder to scrape off than gum!

 

[bill totolo]

Zak, I think you posted about "eye-trace" before. Ever factor that into your framing/blocking?

 

[Zak Forsman]

Yeah, when I'm storyboarding a sequence I'm very mindful of it. The idea being, if an actor's blocking moves them from Point A to Point B within the frame, when that shot cuts, the point of interest within the frame (or "eye-trace") is matched in the the following shot. I remember seeing some scenes from Bad Boys 2 of all things and thinking how well this had been implemented. For me it serves a purpose similar to the 180° rule. It helps the audience maintain their sense of orientation by making a cut less disruptive (because they are already looking where they're supposed to be).

The most simplified version of this is the Mad Max Fury Road example of "keep the cross hairs on the nose" composition. Miller reportedly decided the easiest way to maintain eye-trace was to choose a single point of the frame and to keep as much of the action and drama center there so the viewer didn't need that split second to figure out where they should be looking after each cut.

http://vashivisuals.com/the-editing-of-mad-max-fury-road/