Framing and Composition – for comics, video and installations.
1.30 − 3.00 – Framing for Comics.
Status Update for mapping.
Overview of trajectory >> maps / comics / video / installations…
Refresher from week 1 : choice of moments / framing….. Shot to shot…
What we can learn from cinema / video framing conventions.
3.00 − 4.00 Break + Exercise : Take a series of photo stills to demonstrate a journey.
4.00 − 5.30 Creating comics with Photos.
Exploring panel design for the page *and* screen.
WEEK 3 EXERCISE:
Take a series of stills to demonstrate a journey.
10 black and white shots. ( To emphasise framing and composition, without any colour distractions )
– Going from cafe or library / tram stop to studio
– Going from studio to library/ cafe / tram stop
Choose one emotion you wish to convey during the journey:
– Stress / fear ( example motivations >> about to get fined / fail course / meeting someone who has bad news etc )
– Excitement / anticipation (example motivations >> receiving award / about to graduate / heading on a date / etc )
Explain how your
- Establishing shot
- Framing
- shot choices
- and sequencing of shots – help convey your chosen emotion.
( Choose shots from the cinematography list here: http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/index.htm )
Groups of 3 : 1 actor in frame, 1 camera person, 1 director
Comic Journey Considerations:
- Foreground, mid and background.
- Storyboard on paper – before you shoot.
- Distance, angle and point of view- from camera to character.
- Where are you directing the viewer’s eyes?
- What motivates each shot to be following on from the previous one?
Create 1 or 2 A4 pages in Photoshop for compositing your images.
Import your images, and scale them for positioning within these pages.
Save the PSD file a few times, saving it as a different name each time,
then try some experimental lay-outs of your images with each example,
using your page design to emphasise the emotion you are trying to portray.
Look at the comic examples to get inspiration.
‘22 comic panels that always work‘ – by Wally Wood
Examples within Print Comics: Little Nemo archive from start of the 20th century…
Examples with Online Comics: Patrick Farley Spiders Part 1 ( via the Wayback Machine ) and more recent Spiders ( via electricsheep )
http://activatecomix.com/comix
Examples from Photography + Cinema
Rule of thirds? Example with line overlay.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fW_HVme8g
http://criterioncollection.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/112-play-time.html
http://criterioncollection.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/97-do-right-thing.html
http://criterioncollection.blogspot.com.au/2007/02/65-rushmore.html
http://thefinecut.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/analysis-of-scene-dead-ringers.html#more
http://www.cutonaction.com/scene-analysis/cafe-scene-from-breaking-bad/
http://www.cutonaction.com/scene-analysis/railroad-scene-from-the-movie-sin-nombre-2009/
Lynda courses available for Premiere + After Effects.
FROM Cinematography Theory And Practice – Blain Brown, Focal Press. 2012
THE FRAME
“Setting the frame is a series of choices that decide what the viewer will see and not see. The first of these decisions is where to place the camera in relation to the scene. After that, there are choices concern- ing the field of vision and movement, all of which work together to influence how the audience will perceive the shot: both in outright content and in emotional undercurrent and subtext to the action and the dialog.”
MORE THAN JUST A PICTURE
“Let’s think of the frame as more than just a picture — it is informa- tion. Clearly some parts of the information are more important than others, and we want this information to be perceived by the viewer in a certain order — we want the information organized in a particu- lar way. Composition (and lighting, which can be part of composi- tion) is how this is accomplished. Through composition we are tell- ing the audience where to look, what to look at and in what order to look at it. The frame is fundamentally two-dimensional design. 2-D design is about guiding the eye and directing the attention of the viewer in an organized manner that conveys the meaning that you wish to impart. It is how we impose a point of view on the material that may be different from how others see it.”
Visual Design Principles
Certain basic principles pertain to all types of visual design, whether in film, photography, painting, or drawing. These principles work interactively in various combinations to add depth, movement, and visual force to the elements of the frame.
Unity • Balance • Visual tension • Rhythm • Proportion • Contrast • Texture • Directionality
Types of Shots
- Wide shot (or long shot)
- • Establishing shots
- • Full shot
- • Cowboy
- • Two shot
- • Medium
- • Close-ups
- • Clean single
- • Dirty single
- • ECU
- • Over-the-shoulder
- • Cutaway
- • Insert
- • Connecting Shot
- • Transitional Shot
Elements that create a sense of visual depth include:
- • Overlap
- • Size chang
- • Vertical location
- • Horizontal location
- • Linear perspective
- • Foreshortening
- • Chiaroscuro ( the use of strong contrasts between light and dark )
- • Atmospheric perspective
The 4 basic elements you need to know when shooting a video:
- – Distance from Camera [types of shots]
- – Camera height
- – Direction on screen
- – Camera movement
https://vimeo.com/1461280 framing and composition
https://vimeo.com/14315821 rule of thirds
NEWS:
Drawing Out : An international symposium on Drawing and Writing ( 17-18 April )
This two day super-symposium brings together international artists and writers from diverse disciplines to consider the relationship between drawing and writing within a series of dynamic and thought provoking presentations and provocations.
Drawing will be explored in its widest sense together with writing.
For more information or to register your interest, please email Emma Barrow,emma.barrow@rmit.edu.au
Draw like you talk – make it happen! >> RMIT Design Hub Project Room 1 & 2 (accessible via the forecourt (off Victoria St))