visual grammar.pdf

8/20/2019 visual grammar.pdf

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Proportion

Classical Greek philosophy expressed the idea that mathematics

was the controlling force of the universe and that it was expressedin visual forces in the Golden Mean. The Golden Mean is just one

way of looking at proportion and size relationships in general.

Contrast

We know a thing by its opposite. Contrast is a function of the light/

dark value, the color and texture of the objects in the frame and the

lighting. It is an important visual component in defining depth,spa- tial relationships, and of course carries considerable emotional

and storytelling weight as well.

cinematography 40

Texture

- tors, texture gives perceptual clues. Texture be can a function of

the objects themselves, but usually requires lighting to bring it out,as in Figure 3.6. We also add texture in many different ways in film-

making; see the chapter Lighting Basics where we will discuss

adding visual texture to lighting as a way of shaping the light.

Directionality

One of the most fundamental of visual principles is directionality.

With a few exceptions, everything has some element of directional-

ity. This directionality is a key element of its visual weight, which

determines how it will act in a visual field and how it will affect

other elements. Anything that is not symmetrical is directional.

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The Three-Dimensional Field

In any form of photography, we are taking a three-dimensional

world and projecting it onto a two-dimensional frame (althoughthis is less true of 3-D filmmaking). A very big part of our work in

directing and shooting visual stories is this essential idea of

creating a three-dimensional world out of two-dimensional images.

It calls into play a vast array of techniques and methods, not all of

them purely design oriented: the lens, blocking of actors, lighting,

and camera movement all come into play. In reality, 3-Dfilmmaking is still two-dimensional, it just has an extra feature that

makes it appear to be three-dimensional — all the basic design

principals still apply whether you are shooting 2-D or 3-D.

There are, of course, times when we wish to make the frame more

two-dimensional, even replicating the flat space of an animated

cartoon, for example; in that case the same visual design principlesapply, they are just used in a different fashion to create that visual

effect. Many visual forces contribute to the illusion of depth and

dimension. For the most part, they relate to how the human eye/

brain combination perceive space, but some of them are cultural

and historical as well — as film viewers we all have a long history of

visual education from everything we have seen before.

Depth

In working toward establishing this sense of depth and three-

dimen- sionality, there are a number of ways to create the illusion:

Figure 3.5 is a deep focus shot from The Long Voyage Home,

photographed by Gregg Toland; it shows a great sense of depth in a

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visual field. In terms of the editing, it is useful to view a scene from

more than one angle — shooting a scene entirely from a single

angle creates what we call flat space. Elements that create a sense ofvisual depth include:

Overlap

Overlap clearly establishes front/back relationships; something “in

front of ” another thing is clearly closer to the observer; as in this

frame from the noir classic The Big Combo (Figure 3.7).

Relative Size Although the eye can be fooled, the relative size of an object is an

component of many optical illusions and a key compositional ele-

ment in manipulating the viewer’s perception of the subject; it can

be used to focus the viewers attention on important elements.

There are many ways to manipulate relative size in the frame, using

position or different lenses.Vertical Location

Gravity is a factor is visual organization; the relative vertical posi-

tion of objects is a depth cue. This is particularly important in the art

of Asia, which has not traditionally relied on linear perspective Lens

Language for an example of how Kurosawa translates this concept

in his use of lenses distinctive to the visual tradition in which he

operated.

cinematography 42

Left/Right

Largely a result of cultural conditioning, the eye tends to scan from

left to right. This has an ordering effect on the visual weight of ele-

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ments in the field. It is also critical to how the eye scans a frame and

thus the order of perception and movement in the composition. It

can also relate to the staging of actors within the frame. In theaterthe downstage (nearest the audience) right corner is considered to

be the “hot”

Linear Perspective

Linear perspective- chi. In film and video photography, it is not

necessary to know the rules of perspective, but it is important to

recognize its importance the rigid nature of French society in Figure3.9, a frame from Paths of Glory ; he uses similar geometry in Barry

Lyndon (Figure 2.2) and Dr. Strangelove (Figure 3.21) for similar

storytelling purposes.

Foreshortening

Foreshorteningthat are closer to the eye appear larger than those

farther away, when part of an object is much closer than the rest ofit, the visual distor- tion gives us clues as to depth and size.

Chiaroscuro

Italian for light (chiara) and shadow ( scouro, same Latin root as

obscure), chiaroscuro, or gradations of light and dark (Figure 3.10),

with lighting is one of our major tasks, this is an important consid-

eration in our work. Figure 3.10 is a shot from Apocalypse Now. S ee

also Figure 5.1 at the beginning of the chapter Visual Storytelling: a

masterpiece by the painter Caravaggio, one of the great old masters

of chiaroscuro.

Atmospheric Perspective

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Atmospheric perspective (sometimes called aerial perspective) is

something of a special case as it is an entirely “real world”

phenom- his paintings. Objects that are a great distance away willhave less detail, less saturated colors, and generally be less defined

than those that are closer. This is a result of the image being filtered

through long (warmer) wavelengths, leaving more of the shorter,

bluer wavelengths. It can be recreated on set with haze effects,

scrims and lighting

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shots from Seven Samurai (Figures 3.14) and The Conformist

(Figures 3.1 and 3.18) or implied in the arrangement of objects and

spaces.The Horizon Line and Vanishing Point

Our innate understanding of perspective lends a special association

to lines that are perceived as horizon lines, lines of perspective and,

vanishing point. Figure 3.13 shows how ingrained the horizon line

is in our perception: three simple lines on white space are enough

to suggest it.

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The Power of the Edge: the Frame

As we visually identify an object or group of objects in a frame, we

are also subconsciously aware of the frame itself. The four edges ofthe frame have a visual force all their own. Objects that are close to

the frame are visually associated with it and viewed in relation to it

more than if they are farther away. The frame also plays an impor-

tant role in making us aware of those spaces off-frame: left/right,

up/down, and even the space behind the camera — all part of the

filmspace of the entire composition and crucial to making the visualexperience more three-dimensional. This power of the frame itself

is also important in our choice of aspect ratio — which is shape of

the frame. It has changed over the history of film, generally from an

almost square shape (Figure 3.19) to a wider, more horizontal rect-

angle (Figure 3.18) to an extreme wide frame as in this frame from

JFK (Figure 3.20).Open and Closed Frame

An open frame is one in which one or more of the elements either

pushes the edge or actually crosses the edge (Figure 3.21). A closed

frame is one in which the elements are comfortably contained

within the frame (Figure 3.22), which is associated with more

formal composition. Although we look at the frames here as still

photographs, most frames of a motion picture are dynamic, even to

the point of normally don’t perceive the blurring but it affects our

perception.

Frame within a Frame

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the aspect ratio of the film. A solution is to use a frame within a

frame — which means using framing elements within the shot.

Figure 3.24 is an example from Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss. It isparticularly useful with very widescreen formats. Frame within a

frame can be used not only to alter the aspect ratio of the shot but

also to focus attention on important story elements.

Balanced and Unbalanced Frame

We touched on balance before; now let’s look at it in the context of

the frame. Any composition may be balanced or unbalanced. Thisshot from Dr. Strangelove (Figure 3.22) is both a closed frame and

also - position of the frame to comment on social structure is a

constant JFK (Figure 3.20) is also an unbalanced frame. This is more

than just composition: the graphic design of the frame also

conveys story information about the situation.

Positive and Negative Space The visual weight of objects or lines of force can create positive

space, but their absence can create negative space, as in this frame

from The Black Stallion (Figure 3.23). The elements that are “not

there” have a visual weight as well. It is important to remember that

the space off-screen can be important also, especially if the

character looks off- screen to the left, right, up, down, or even past

the camera.

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Movement in the Visual Field

All of these forces work in combination, of course — in ways that

interact to create a sense of movement in the visual field. These fac-tors combine to create a visual movement (eye scan) from front to

back in a circular fashion (Figure 3.26). This movement in the frame

is important not only for the composition but also plays an impor-

tant role in what order the viewer perceives and assimilates the sub-

jects in the frame. This influences their perception of content. In

analyzing frames in this way, remember that we are talking aboutthe movement of the eye, not movement of the camera or move-

ment of the actor or object within a shot.

The Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds starts by dividing the frame into thirds (Figure

3.25). The rule of thirds proposes that a useful approximate starting

point for any compositional grouping is to place major points ofinterest in the scene on any of the four intersections of the interior

lines. It is a simple but effective rough guideline for any frame

composition. The rule of thirds has been used by artists for

centuries.

MISCELLANEOUS RULES OF COMPOSITION

If ever there were rules made to be broken, they are the rules of

composition, but it is important to understand them before

deviating or using them in a contrary style.

Don’t cut off their feet. Generally, a frame should end somewhere

around the knees or include the feet. Cutting them off at the ankles

will look awkward; likewise, don’t cut off their hands at the wrist.

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Naturally, a character’s hand will often dart in and out of the frame

as the actor moves and gestures, but for a long static shot, they

should be clearly in or out. Watch out for TV Safe — as video iscurrently broadcast, there is considerable variation in the size of the

picture on the home screen. For this reason, most ground glass

markings

When framing for our important foreground subjects, whether or

not to include the heads of background people is a judgment call. If

they are prominent enough, it is best to include them composition-ally. If there is enough emphasis on the foreground subjects and

the background people are strictly incidental or perhaps largely out

of focus, it is OK to cut them off wherever is necessary.

If the situation does call for not showing their heads, you will

probably want to avoid cutting through their heads at nose level.

For example, in a scene where two people are dining, if the waiterapproaches and asks them a question, you clearly want to show all

of the waiter. If the waiter is not a speaking role and he is merely

pouring some water, it would be acceptable just to show him from

the shoulders down, as the action with his arm and hands is what is

relevant to the scene.

Basic Composition Rules for People

When it comes to people there are some other framing principals

that are important to observe.

Headroom

Certain principles apply particularly to photographing people,

particularly in a medium shot or close-up. First is headroom — the

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amount of space above the head. Too much headroom makes the

wasted compositionally as it is often just sky or empty wall. It adds

no information to the shot and may draw the eye away from thecentral subject.

Noseroom

Next is noseroom, also called looking room (Figures 3.30 and 3.31).

If a character is turned to the side, it’s as if the gaze has a certain

visual weight. As a result, we rarely position the head in the exact

middle of the frame, except when the actor is looking more or lessstraight toward or away from the camera. Generally, the more the

head is turned to the side, the more noseroom is allowed. Think of

it this way: the look has visual weight, which must be balanced.

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visual grammar.pdf