This document discusses various techniques for composition and framing in film including aspect ratios, subject placement using the rule of thirds, oblique versus frontal staging, figure placement in balanced and unbalanced compositions, shot types like low-angle and high-angle shots, as well as framing techniques such as foreground/background, loose vs tight framing, and frames within frames. Examples are provided from films like Casablanca, Do the Right Thing, American Beauty, Pan's Labyrinth, Atonement, Notorious, and Juno to illustrate these different techniques.

1. MISE-EN-SCÈNE
Composition & Framing

2. Aspect ratios

3. Academy ratio = 1.37: 1
Casablanca. Michael Curtiz, 1942.

4. A deep frame that emphasizes the z axis
Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee, 1989.

5. A shallow frame that understates the z axis

6. Subject placement using the rule of thirds
American Beauty, Sam Mendes, 1999.

7. Subject placement using the rule of thirds
Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro, 2007.

8. Subject placement without looking room creates tension
Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro, 2007.

9. Subject placement in center
Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro, 2007.

10. Subject placement in center

11. OBLIQUE staging
feels natural.
FRONTAL staging
feels artificial and
threatens to break
the fourth wall.
Atonement. Joe Wright, 2007.

12. Hitchcock’s rule: The size of the object in the frame should be
directly related to its importance in the story at that moment.
Notorious. Alfred Hitchcock, 1946.

13. Juno. Jason Reitman, 2007.

15. Figure placement in a balanced composition
Juno. Jason Reitman, 2007.

16. Figure placement in an unbalanced composition
Juno. Jason Reitman, 2007.

17. Figure placement in a balanced composition
American Beauty

18. Low-angle shot

19. High-angle shot

20. Dutch angle shot

21. Foreground and background

22. Loose framing

23. Tight framing

24. Frame within a frame

25. Frame within a frame

26. Image Profiler