Composition In Storytelling

[Music] to compose an image is to create an everlasting metaphor cinema in its purest form is visual storytelling and the best cinema can tell a story through something as simple as the arrangement of an image staging framing depth balance how do you present space out of all of the disciplines that coincide under the umbrella of cinematography i wouldn't have much hesitation in seeing that composition is the field's most fundamental principle why do i think this because deciding the placement of subjects through the viewfinder of a camera isn't merely a technical decision it's an expressive one

in a nutshell composition is simply how the elements inside the frame are positioned and exhibited to the viewer it's a skill of knowing what to show and what not to show as well as how to show it or how not to show it by intentionally directing the structure within a frame you enhance the meanings of whatever it is you want to say with whatever canvas you want to work with most of the application of composition revolves mainly around visual necessity those checkboxes that need to be ticked when arranging the visual elements of an image is

there enough lighting does the staging block any important visual information case in point as to why composition is a necessary technical skill when constructing any image without it films would be a sensory overload of information without structure but with it you gain focus however as an art it shouldn't be approached exclusively with pragmatism because it's not just where we place our subjects of interest but why what can we say with composition a millennia of visual artists have realized successful compositional templates that are used to this day we still see the rule of thirds golden ratio

triangular composition they're tried and tested formulas to make an image pleasing to the eye yet when the rules that define an area of study are practically ingrained within our minds it can be very difficult to demonstrate versatility be that as it may compositional variety isn't the focus here but what do these compositions say and what can you say when you go against this formula that's what we want to find out if the coolish of effect and sergey eisenstein helped us discover that editing was the tool to create meaning across multiple pieces of film then composition

was how we could tell our stories with one single shot the visual arts exist far beyond film and have endured a much more extensive lifespan in the grand scheme of things cinema is still a relatively new art form and cinema took influence during its infancy from the existing mediums in order to understand its role in the artistic landscape many early directors and filmmakers either directly hailed from theatre or at the very least were influenced by the form yet the impact this had on composition couldn't be ignored because of how different film was composition didn't even

occur to many filmmakers instead techniques were imported directly from theatre often all of the actors would face towards the camera as they would in auditorium and because the projection of film was presented in two dimensions the images themselves were also presented as such typically never harnessing the depth of an image framing wasn't standard practice and thus composition of early cinema was almost identical for every shot in fact many films were just that one shot however once filmmakers realized that cameras didn't need to be locked down in one spot and once the technology that was propelling

the art form improved the imagination of filmmakers began to flourish where composition was once a last minute imitation of the conventional setups of other mediums now it was being championed by artists such as fritz lang and the german expressionists who became pioneers of using composition the tonal leverage wide angles became keynotes for epics whereas canter angles and crooked shapes were synonymous with horror camera movement became less restrictive and could capture excitement like never before an artist like carl dreyer found that a close-up could capture the subtle nuances of an actor's performance through newfound methods of

composing shots the emotional prospects of film had changed forever composition became a technique that could infuse both meaning as well as a visual splendor so how is it used today i think people confuse pretty with good cinematography what was it freddy frances says there was good cinematography and bad cinematography and then there's the cinematography that's right for the movie and i often feel that actually people if reviewers don't mention your work it's probably better than if they do i think that composition can be divided into two separate objectives the first is to attract the audience's

attention at its most rudimentary core composition exists as a tool to accentuate the focal elements of an image what should the viewer be looking at and how do we get them to look at it every image requires systems to guide the eye line of the audience these what are known as compositional influences and their primary purpose is to use visual devices to highlight key subjects but why use them solely to control site when they can also create very interesting subtext a good example is the frame within a frame which if you look out for you'd

be surprised at just how often they're used human beings are prone to find order where there may be none and frames in cinema work to help the elements appear in a much more uniformed manner they tend to dilute the external details of an image and our eyes are drawn to them because within the frame lies order and hopefully our main subject but through this technique emerges deeper implications these frames are often used as a partition to separate so for subtext why not use this separation to symbolize the different worlds beyond both sides of the frame

it can show a contrast as simple as freedom versus isolation or show that by passing through the frame we see a character's decision to pursue a lifestyle contrasted to those lifestyles that other characters are denied entry to [Music] but i think the most interesting use of the frame composition arises when you don't think exclusively as a frame i mean we all know that doorways and windows are good objects to create this composition but things get really thought provoking when you think of how anything can be created into a border for your subject then it becomes

an instance of showing whether your subject is in an open frame or a closed frame for instance in the graduate our main character is constantly pressured and we see this as the border is constantly closed by the people around him composition isn't just about aesthetic quality but creating meaning and any compositional influencer can be used in such a way one of the most popular techniques used in composition is lines of perspective we tend to follow lines in reality as well as in an image especially if they all share the same point of convergence which in

compositional terms would typically be your subjective focus however your concentration should lie on how they converge use lines to pin your character in a corner showing them trapped under the circumstances we find them in or have lines that highlight your subject but converge away from them showing the emergence of a new path on their journey lines are simply optional in creating a one-point perspective simply showing the mise-en-scene leading towards a character is an alternative and it can also show them battling against the odds you get where i'm going with this there are necessary traits of

composing images in order to create a sufficient picture all of these methods are just different takes of how filmmakers can say look at this and all of them achieved through good composition but that doesn't mean that they can't be implemented for added depth attracting viewer attention is the core tenant of composition though if you manage to attract their vision as well as convey a message through the visual elements then you've done your job very well however to gain the most out of a film's composition it requires what i believe to be a crucial approach to

the craft to fulfill the second objective of composition you must show us what subject has control of the scene you scared the [ __ ] out of me it seems as though what composition is best at is displaying the power dynamics within an image the positioning of objects seems to be the greatest way to translate visually the degree of control that characters hold in a scene but control itself can be categorized into two separate meanings artificial control and primal control artificial control is everything we spoke about the control of the aesthetics and where we should

be looking however primal control is where power dynamics lie what subject holds more weight in the narrative at that moment in time this can mean control within interpersonal relationships or between characters and environments and nothing shows power more than size and scale in an image alfred hitchcock himself said that the size of an object in the frame should equal its importance in the story awesome wells was a director that took advantage of this in this shot from the lady from shanghai wells used a low angle to make the gun seem larger infusing it with artificial

control as our eyes are drawn to it and primal control because it appears physically commanding similarly in touch of evil we open with a close-up of a bomb immediately understanding its importance and although it recedes from view it still maintains primal control even when artificial control has shifted nothing has dominated the image since an example of how composition can make something out of sight but not out of mind however this line of thought doesn't apply solely to objects in a scene but characters too in this shot from citizen kane a young cane is framed in

the far background our eyes are drawn to him granting artificial control but he's overshadowed in size and surrounded by the adults in his life giving them the primal control of the scene yet later in an almost identical scene we see an older cane dwarfed again however as the conversation continues he walks towards the foreground characters and towers over them the composition has rearranged its primal control showing a man that has taken charge of his own destiny composition doesn't just have to be focusing on the one shot it can be a cumulative effort whose meanings emerge

over the course of a film such as how in american beauty lester becomes less insignificant in the image as he takes control of his own life but size is just one example of presenting primal control as well as how it can change primal and artificial control aren't one in the same the subjects they're allocated to may differ and they can alter in one shot a character slowly approaching the camera signifies an impending threat and one character shrinking to display another character looming over them is a very popular technique but typically when we think of powerful

character compositions a couple of images spring to mind domination of the frame typically requires that you strip away all the details and focus on a single element a way to enhance this even more is frame centrality more often than not when you want a character to appear imposing give them the center of the frame when a subject has the center they almost automatically receive artificial control and in turn primal control and if the image is balanced it denotes that control has no leanings away from our subject which makes balance a good way to instill primal

control when there are multiple subjects a balance shot can show an interpersonal tug-of-war or that two characters are a perfect match for one another as the connotation is that control is distributed evenly and so the best way to show conflict and a shift in primal control is to imbalance the image needs a jump and seeing is how we've spoken a lot about things we put into the frame let's talk about another essential component of composition taking things out of the image negative space is often used to show the vast expanse of an area however on

a psychological level negative space can create apprehension as we expect something to take place of the void we see but in terms of characterization it can be used to create instances of characters that have no hope shown by the emptiness that lies beyond them or perhaps the great distance characters must endure to achieve their goal just remember that reducing the amount on screen can create unique moods less can be more and there's one major difference in the image composition of film compared to other visual arts movement a salient factor about many of the most iconic

and beautifully composed images in cinema is that they're often static and it's not difficult to understand why composition is about geometry and subject placement and as soon as the camera moves the lines become morphed and the staging is altered however with a technique called reframing camera movement and composition can complement one another through repositioning the camera you can create two or more single shots and very creative directors can compose multiple types of shots without even moving the camera by composing various shots back to back the tone of a scene can be completely changed in this

shot from punchdrunk love we see this as we switch from a simple conversation [Music] to isolation and loneliness it's just for verification through the credit card company and this is confidential every single shot in cinema uses composition but those images that haunt us astound us they evoke such emotions not just because they're beautiful but because they carry meaning composition can still be used to affect us on a psychological level and that's how you should think when composing images what emotions can i display create a sufficient structure to your image make sure that it's visually pleasing

find your focal elements and use interesting visuals to highlight them and then everything else you do from there should be an artistic venture to convey your message every subtle change you make in positioning of your framing creates a new emotion it creates a new piece of art and all of this achieved through composition a skill that can make images last forever