Character positions

1. 4. Positioning of Characters & Objects within a4. Positioning of Characters & Objects within a
frameframe
• Positioning within a frame can draw our
attention to an important character/object
• A film-maker can use positioning to indicate
relationships between people
• TASK: What does the positioning in the
following images reveal about the
characters/film:

2. IMAGE 1
In this picture both of the people
are positioned on either end of
the sofa, which shows how they
may not be on good terms with
each other at the moment in
time.

3. IMAGE 2
In this picture the man is much
closer to the camera, with camera
focus on him, whereas the lady is
much further away from the
camera and is also slightly
distorted as the camera focus is
not on the woman.
This positioning is used to highlight
the importance of the characters,
and in particular how the woman
is clearly not the focus of the
scene.

4. IMAGE 3
The characters in this scene are
standing shoulder to shoulder, in an
almost symmetrical way. This is
used to highlight how they are not
only showing their high status, but
also how they both are no better
than each other.

5. IMAGE 4
In this image, Vin Diesel is
positioned in the very centre of
the picture, which draws the
viewer’s attention straight to him.
The fact that he is also standing
above the millions of other people
in the picture shows his heroic
from.

6. IMAGE 4
In this image, Vin Diesel is
positioned in the very centre of
the picture, which draws the
viewer’s attention straight to him.
The fact that he is also standing
above the millions of other people
in the picture shows his heroic
from.