One of the things you will be asked to do in this course and expected to manage throughout your career is the development of visual communication products. Whether it s still photography, video capturing or graphic design, the first thing you must master is the basic principles of composition. You may have noticed through social networking sites such as Facebook that many people who share the photos they have taken are unfamiliar with proper composition. With proper composition techniques, your visual information products can stand out when compared to others, and given the sheer volume of visual information available to the public, standing out has never been more important. Photo courtesy of 3.bp.blogspot.com Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 1
, as it applies to the production of visual information, is the arrangement of visual elements in an image or frame. determines which visual elements are included in the image and how these elements are arranged in the photo or video frame. It also illustrates how those elements compete for the reader's attention. Proper composition is essential to creating photos and videos that are attractive and tell the story. Good composition can capture the viewer's attention and clearly show the photo s intent. Strong composition allows the audience to immediately understand what is going on in the scene or photo and will lead to a better overall story or image. The main subject in the photograph is the center of interest. Photos should contain only one center of interest. Using compositional emphasis on the subject can ensure the viewer's eye is drawn to the subject. This will help grab attention and the viewer will understand the message you are trying to convey without any confusion. With video, the rule of thumb is simply to show viewers what you want them to see. The camera records everything, so limit distractions. Creative use of angles, light, etc., can turn something simple into something extraordinary. Photo courtesy of www.adorama.com Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy 2 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Fundamentals Fill the frame. You are responsible for everything in the frame, to include wasted or dead space. Different lenses show different relationships between foreground and background, and you can often aid composition by simply selecting the right lens. Longer lenses give flatter, more compressed perspectives, whereas wide-angle lenses communicate intimate perspectives. If you find you have too much space surrounding the subject of your photos, you have two options available. You can zoom in with your lens, provided your lens zooms, or you can always zoom in with your feet. Depth of field refers to the distance between the closest and most distant items that are in sharp focus. This technique can be used to show distance and the special relationship between elements in the frame. Be aware of the background in your shots. Control the background because it is a part of the picture. Fill the frame, but make sure what s behind the subject is relevant to the shot and/or the story. If background elements don't add anything to the picture, then they will detract from the overall composition. If an active background is pertinent to the story, make sure the subject remains dominant in the shot. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 3
Fundamentals (continued) Have patience to wait for the right moment or expression. Other elements that you choose to show or not show in the scene can ensure that the photo is pleasing to the eye. Whenever you plan a photograph, study the subject until you are aware of every single aspect and detail. Then analyze what you see. Decide on the strongest point of interest, the aspect of the scene that first caught your attention. How can you make this feature prominent? Which other elements support the main feature and where should they be placed to balance or add drama to the picture as a whole? Once you have a clear idea of what the main element should be, start thinking about how you can highlight this feature and ensure other details in the scene do not compete for attention. Any other elements that you choose to add to a particular image will either add to or distract from your center of interest; you make the choice. Photo courtesy of www.ianbramham.com Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy 4 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Techniques A key principle to understand is that the main subject should occupy a strong position in the frame. A common, effective method for this is called the rule of thirds. It works by dividing the screen into thirds vertically and horizontally, like a tic-tac-toe board, then placing the subject slightly off center, where two of the lines intersect. This makes the composition less static and more interesting. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 5
Techniques (continued) Shooting from higher or lower than eye level can make your photos more interesting. Low angle shots make the subject appear larger, which gives the perception of power and strength or the impression of height. This, in turn, gives a subtle sense of dominance to the subject. Having the lens slightly below eye level can produce a complementary portrait. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy 6 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Techniques (continued) High angle shots make the subject appear smaller, which gives the perception of insignificance. Moderate changes in camera angle up or down can make the subject appear bigger or smaller without unduly attracting the viewer's attention. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 7
Techniques (continued) Leading lines are elements intended to direct the eye of the viewer into the composition. Objects of secondary interest, such as fences, roads or edges, can form leading lines directed to the subject. Straight lines convey a sense of strength and power. Diagonal lines convey a sense of motion. Horizon line, which divides land and sky, can also be a strong visual element. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy 8 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Portraits Portraits can add visual variety to a website or newspaper. A good portrait shows more than merely what someone looks like. It captures their expressions, reveals their mood and tells something intimate about the person. Focus on the eyes. If the subject is skewed, focus on the eye closest to the lens. If you focus on the nose, it can lead to the eyes being a little bit out of focus. This is referred to as "soft," which can lead the subject in the photo to be less interesting. If most people look someone in the eye when speaking, the eyes should be the part of the image in the best focus. Props or an environmental setting can help show what a person does or give insight into their personality. Showing the environment, in particular, can add impact and visual variety to your stories. It can aid the viewer in understanding the reason of the image or written story. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 9
Video Strategy Our eyes take information in through a variety of angles, focal lengths and focal points. We see something from afar, move closer to clarify and move even closer to be sure of what we re seeing. A proper video sequence artificially recreates this reality. A sequence is two or more consecutive shots with the same subject in all shots. It advances the story and has its own beginning, middle and end. Consider the following example of video sequencing: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaijiaqavui When shooting video, you should think about capturing everything as a sequence. This means you take wide shots, medium shots and close-ups of whatever is happening. Use a wide variety of angles. Change the elevation of your camera so the view is not just eye-level but high, medium and low. Then, when it comes time to edit your story, you can assemble a compelling story. As briefly mentioned before, there are a few basic shots you should know about and use when shooting video sequences. These are long shots, medium shots and close-ups. Long shots let the viewer see the entire scene, establish the subject location, and show the viewer what s going on around the subject. Medium shots bring the subject closer to the viewer and begins to isolate the subject from the surrounding environment. They let the viewer know what role the subject plays in the surrounding environment. Close-ups complete the cycle and show the most emotion or detail. They take the viewer completely into the action and tell the viewer what the subject is doing, or how the subject is reacting. This is the best shot for depicting emotion in human subjects. In general, the best close-ups are of faces and hands. Hands show action while faces show the reaction. When used with long shots and medium shots, close-ups answer questions the viewer might have. Organizing these types of shots in a story creates a smooth, continuous flow. The viewers should feel like they experienced the event. For a sequence to work, the action must match. The position of things at the end of one shot cannot change at the beginning of the next shot. Jump cuts occur when action jumps unnaturally forward or backward in time or when an object jumps unnaturally into a new position on the screen. Cutaways are a commonly used device to eliminate jump cuts. Cutaways are interspersed shots of peripheral action that diverts the viewer's eye for a moment so that when the camera comes back to the subject, any jump in the action could plausibly be explained as having happened during the cutaway. When shooting video, as with still photography, it is important to properly use your screen space. Make sure there is both lead and look space. Lead space is space in the direction of the action in an image, and look space is space in the direction the subject is looking. Space above a subject's head is important too, you don t want the subjects to look cut off. Remember that television is horizontal. Adjust accordingly. Photo courtesy of www.127wg.ang.af.mil Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy 10 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Conclusion Proper composition is what separates an average photographer or videographer from a great one, making you and your personnel better communicators. Using just the basic guidelines of composition will greatly improve the quality of your photos and videos and enhance your publication. The use of the techniques discussed in this lesson will allow you to produce industry-standard visual information products that better engage your audience and leave lasting impressions. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 11
References and Additional Resources London, B., Stone, J. and Upton, J. (2008). Photography (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Zakia, R., and Stroebel, L. (1993). The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography (3rd ed.). Boston: Focal Press. Shook, F. (2005). Television Field Production and Reporting (4 th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. DOD. (2011). Visual Information, DODI 5040.02. DOD. (2013). Visual Information Production Procedures, DODI 5040.07. Dotson, M. (2000) Make it Memorable. Chicago: Bonus Books, Inc. Douglass, J. and Harnden, G. (1996). The Art of Technique: An aesthetic approach to film and video production. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Excell, L., Batdorff, J., Brommer, D., Rickman, R., and Simon, S. (2011). : From Snapshots to Great Shots. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. Schenk, S. and Long, B. (2012). The Digital Filmmaking Handbook (4th ed.). Boston: Course Technology. Home Fundamentals Techniques Portraits Video Strategy 12 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs