shot framing

Journalists using videography must be as capable of telling a story with

words as they are with pictures. This lesson is designed to teach you the “language” of framing and shot

composition.

Review of Basic Camera Composition and Framing

Framing• Establishing shot-An opening shot of a scene, segment

or production…used to establish location, mood, setting, time of day; taken with a wide field of view (W)

• Detail shot-shows detail of the subject in a telephoto/narrow angle…good for focusing the viewers’ attention on a subject such as expressions; taken with a narrow field of view (T)

• Dialogue shot-frame up the subject’s upper body and face to see what they’re saying and how they’re interacting with another person(s).

• There are seven (7) typical FIELDS OF VIEW These are used to frame the subject on-screen.

Extreme close up (ecu)

Close-up (cu)

Medium close up (mcu)

Medium shot (ms)

Medium long shot (mls)

Long shot (ls)

Extreme long shot (els)

More on Framing

Noseroom

• The space left in front of nose of person talking to give believability that there is someone off screen they are talking with.

Headroom

•The space left at top of head and top of frame…important since too much headroom looks like the person is short and not enough looks like they’re bumping their head on the top of the frame.

Not enough Too much

Leadroom

•The space left in front of the moving subject to give the believability that there is some place they are going.

Background Composition Tilted horizon-the

vertical and horizontal lines are

inconsistent with the frame. IT LOOKS

SLANTED. Frame up lines with edges of

frame.

Street sign or plant behind the head-

looks like the object is coming out of someone’s

head. Move person away from sign or

move the plant.

Tonal Mergers

• Be careful to make sure the colour and tone of your foreground does not blend into the background.

It is difficult to see the butterfly in this picture

Creating Depth

Because images are two-dimensional, it is important to give the illusion of depth by lengthening the “z” axis. Shooting images with a foreground, mid-ground, and background can lengthen the Z axis and create more depth.

Rule of ThirdsPlacement of subject(s) and cut off points all fall within 3rds of the frame.

Mental Map (also known by Herbert Zettl as “psychological closure”)

• Mentally filling in spaces of an incomplete picture.

Be careful not to cut people off at the neck or at the knees

Shot set-up for continuity editing

• It is important to have a quick lesson in editing so that you can set up your shots in a way that won’t confuse the viewer.

Vector Lines

• When cameras cross the 180 degree line, screen positions are changed and motion continuity is reversed and confused.

• Keeping the mental map intact requires proper vector continuity

• Cameras must be kept on the same side of the vector line

Dialogue VectorA relationship is set up between individuals in

conversation by setting up shots and sequencing them

back to back. This relationship is set up with a

“2-shot” of the conversation. The 2-shot is often followed by a “cross

shot” or an “over the shoulder shot”, which is

used to maintain this connection between

individuals.

Dialogue Vectors Cont’d• In conversational sequences, Person A

should stay on the left and person B should stay on the right. This allows the

viewer to mentally map the subjects’ positions.

Incorrect Vector Sequence -Crossing the vector

A B B A

Correct Dialogue Vector

Notice how person A stays on the left while person B stays on the

right?

A B A B

Motion Vectors

Be careful not to cross the 180 degree line of action or it will look like your subject has switched direction