The document provides tips for effective camera composition and framing when filming, including using a variety of shot types and sizes, following rules of composition like the rule of thirds, and considering how lighting and camera angles can impact the mood of a scene. It emphasizes planning shots in advance and using techniques like tripods to minimize camera shake and create smooth footage that cannot be fixed during editing. Proper filming techniques are necessary to capture high quality raw footage that provides good options during the editing process.

1. In Camera Composition &
Framing
• Think about effective ways to capture what lies beyond the camera’s
view. This includes panning, tilting, tracking, and zooming.
• Remember to be sensitive to in-camera composition since re-
framing a shot in FCP is very difficult because the image quality,
along with the proceeding and following shots will be compromised.
• Superb editing skills in FCP cannot save bad footage.
• TAKE TIME PLANNING SHOTS
• Looking through the lens to make adjustments to framing and
what lies within the frame can make all the difference between a
well composed and poorly composed shot.

2. Types of Shots in Relation to
FRAMING

3. Long Shot
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From Maya Deren’s At Land

4. Full shot
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From Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life

5. Medium Full Shot
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From Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera

6. Medium Shot
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From Mathew Barney’s Creamaster 4

7. Medium Close Shot
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From Mathew Barney’s Creamaster 3

8. Close Shot
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From Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon

9. Close Up
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From Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon

10. Medium Close Up
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From Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon

11. Extreme Close Up
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From Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera

12. Types of Shots in Relation to
SHOOTING

13. Establishing Shot
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From Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon

14. Master Shot
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From Miranda July’s You me and Everyone we Know

15. Reaction Shot
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From Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho

16. Reverse Shot
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From Miranda July’s You me and Everyone we Know

17. Two Shot
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From Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon

18. Three Shot
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From Maya Deren’s At Land

19. Tracking Shot

20. When you plan your storyboards
and shooting scripts be sure to
reference the types of framing and
shooting shots you plan to use.

21. Shooting Tips
• USE A VARIETY OF SHOTS TO CREATE
DYNAMIC PACING.
• Tripods are awesome. Handheld camera work should be
avoided if possible, unless you are deliberately looking for
the “handheld look”.
• REMEMBER FORM AND CONTENT IMPACT ONE
ANOTHER.
• It’s better to zoom in and out when you are composing a
shot, before recording begins. If you do need to zoom
while you are recoding, BE SURE TO USE THE
REMOTE to avoid camera shake.
• If a subject moves in and out of the frame or if you are in
low light levels, you may want to switch off auto focus and
focus manually.

22. RULES OF COMPOSTION

23. The Rule of Thirds
Without the use of the Rule of Thirds With the use of the Rule of Thirds

24. The Rule of Thirds:
• discourages central placement of the subject,
thus creating a more dynamic image.
• prevents a horizon line dividing an image in
half.
• when filming, align the figure with one of the
vertical lines with figure’s eyes aligned with a
horizontal line. When the subject moves, the
majority of the extra room should be in front of
the person.

25. 180 Degree Rule
or The Axis of Action
Deals with the orientation of two
subjects within a frame and
creates consistency between
shots.
An imaginary line connects the
subjects, this line is called the
axis. When you keep the camera
on side of the axis throughout a
scene, the characters will be
consistently positioned on the
right and left. Thus helping the
viewer understand the spatial
relations within a scene.
http://www.viddler.com/v/8a6af804

26. • ESSENTIAL AREA - important information should be
framed within the center 80% of the frame, also known as the
title safe portion of the frame.
Everything
within the
light grey
rectangle is
the essential
area.

27. • LOOK SPACE - space within the frame in the direction the
subject is looking.
If your subject is looking in one
direction, it is best to place
them on the opposite side of
the frame. By doing this, you
are giving the subject space to
look into. This will also draw
the viewer into the image.
• WALK SPACE - space within the frame in the direction the
subject is walking.

28. • HEADROOM - the space between the top of a subject and
the edge of the fame. The eyelevel of the subject should be no
less than one third from the top of the frame unless the subject
of the frame is the mouth or nose (or an extreme close up)
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Too much headroom, a common mistake.
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Good composition, the subjects eyes are one-third
of the distance down from the top of the frame,
following the Rule of Thirds.

29. High Angle Shot
Or Bird’s Eye View

30. Low Angle Shot

31. Forced Perspective
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32. Remember perspective can change the
mood within a scene.
Much of Stanley Kubrick’s film The
Shining was filmed from the
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perspective of a child’s height, or
used low angle shots. This shift in
perspective is naturally unsettling to
viewer.

33. LIGHTING

34. Lighting can also change mood
within a scene.
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Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks
The harsh lighting makes the figures seem even more
foreboding.

35. Shooting outdoors:
-You will be at the mercy of natural light, which alone can
be quite amazing!
- Remember to shoot all shots within a scene in a short
period of time so that the natural lighting does not shift too
much.
- If you are shooting at night, you may need to employ
artificial lighting. Night mode is graining low quality
footage.

36. For shots with little or no movement
within the frame:
You should begin with
a traditional three
point lighting setup.
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White Balance
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38. Timecode:
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