Chapter 2

Picture Making Basics - Part I

Rules of Picture Making
- No absolute 'rules' for effective picture-making
- Basic Grammar gives defi nite results
- Arranging pictures too systematically produce mannered and artifi cial results
Constraint
During a busy shooting schedule there isn't time to linger, experimenting over the
composition of each shot.
Why all Rules?
Learning rules, help take quick decisions
Objective
Understand compositional basics to know what to look out for, and realize how to adjust the
shot for the most appropriate effect.
Control what viewer sees
Painters arrange objects on the canvas to suit an idea, while a video camera operator usually
has to make the most of what is there already.

Change a picture's appeal by

- selecting viewpoints carefully
- choosing correct lens angle
- framing the shot properly
- repositioning items
- Use them all meaningfully
Selecting shots
Whether you shoot the subject with one camera, or inter-cut between two or more, you must
create a logically correct sequence of pictures

Take shot based upon consideration for previous shot and the shot to follow the present
shot

A well-chosen sequence of shots adds much more than just illustrate the subject for your
audience.
Persuasive shot
Picture-making is not about creating beautiful pictures, it is about providing appropriate
pictures.
Your arrangement expresses your point of view;
- how you have interpreted a situation
- what you want to say about it
- how you decide to guide the viewer
 i want my audience to see that my subject sees

she looks back but there was no one.

She Enters the Lobby through the glass door (Its dark outside. She has an uncanny feeling that someone
is following her) Walks through the lobbyStops for a moment and then starts walking again. ( The same
eerie feeling) Turns her head just before she (There was no one or was there someone) Cont
 i want my audience to see that my subject Does not see

she looks back but there was no one.

She Enters the Lobby through the glass door (Its dark outside. She has an uncanny feeling that someone
is following her) Walks through the lobbyStops for a moment and then starts walking again. ( The same
eerie feeling) Turns her head just before she (There was no one or was there someone) Cont
 i want my subject to see But not my audience to know what my subject sees

she looks back but there was no one.

She Enters the Lobby through the glass door (Its dark outside. She has an uncanny feeling that someone
is following her) Walks through the lobbyStops for a moment and then starts walking again. ( The same
eerie feeling) Turns her head just before she (There was no one or was there someone) Cont
Unspoken invitation to viewers
Rather than saying 'Look around at anything that happens to interest you', you want to draw
their attention to certain aspects of a scene

- Invite them through the shots you select

- To concentrate on an interesting feature
- To notice the intricate details
Make sure that your audience views the appropriate things in a given scene.
Shot duration
If you hang on to any shot for too long, your audience will certainly begin to lose interest.
Too brief shots may 'fl ick past the eyes without entering the brain'!
Aim at
- helping your audience to understand
- guiding their thoughts
- not distracting them by irrelevancies
- presenting a logical sequence of ideas that can be followed
- taking the trouble to choose shots carefully

Random pictures - random thoughts

Convey the point fi rst time round. Audience cannot ask what you meant, or re-read what you
said.
Remember
- If there is too much to see in the picture the eye fl its around hopefully, but probably fi nishes
up concentrating on nothing
- When there are no visual accents to grab the attention the eye wanders
- If there is too little to see the attention soon falls
But if you can arrange things so that your main subject stands out from its surroundings, then
your audience will concentrate on it, and is less likely to heed other things in the picture.
Clutter
- Guide your audience's attention to particular features of the scene or to the main subject
- Get closer (tighter framing)
- Alter viewpoint
- Use a shallow depth of fi eld, so that only the main subject is in focus.
- Move it apart from the rest.
- Use contrasting tones.
- Use strong compositional lines.
- Position the subject higher in the frame.
- Use lighting to isolate it (light pool, shadows)
 1. Avoid Confusion 2. Get Closer 3. Alter view point

6. Use contrast in tones

4. Reduce Depth of Field 5. Isolate Subject

7. Use compositional line 9. Isolate subject by lighting 8. Place it higher in frame

Composing pictures

Theory and practice

A centipede who walked around happily..
Restrictive and complicated rules of composition or the pleasures of picture-making

Forget about rules

but
Consider what we do and do not like to see in pictures.
Consider knowing compositional principles