Composition is everything
Knowing the mechanical and technical ins and outs of a given camera system is all well and good - an important skill base - but such knowledge is a support structure not an end goal. A Cinematographer, a Director of Photography, does not Aim for camera familiarity, they Aim for Good Composition - meaningful, emotive, dynamic, engaging composition.
The great beauty of studying Composition as a conceptual paradigm and artistic framework, is that the rules stand the test of time, having governed Michel Angelo as much as Vittorio Storaro. Moreover, as we move into a cinematic landscape where the camera is just one option among many for image acquisition and construction the rules of Composition are none the less universally applicable.
This article by CG Artist Philip Straub is absolutely superb in succinctly laying out the fundamentals of image composition. He is writing in the context of graphic art but the concepts are directly applicable to the moving image as well.
What underlies Straubs article is the idea of focus and strength in the image. How to draw the gaze of the viewer, how to build balance that gives subjects strength and context. The article is compelling and compulsory reading for anyone who looks through a lens - physical or virtual - or builds and image - either ink or pixels.
Posted at 12:00AM Aug 11, 2008
by Mike Jones in moving image theory |
