Rogar Deakins frames his subjects in a way that makes the audience feel part of the scene by placing the camera between facing characters and capturing emotions from a close perspective. He uses ultra-wide lenses to provide facial distortion and dollies into close-ups to make subjects feel powerless. His style contrasts with Oliver Wood's, who frames subjects tightly from a distance, creating a sense of spying that expresses emotions clearly but reveals little background. Studying both styles taught the documentarian about composition and how lens choice, distance and camera placement affect framing.

1. SMALL SCALE RESEARCH:
HOW DOES ROGAR DEAKINS FRAME HIS SUBJECTS AND HOW DOES
THIS DIFFER TO OTHER FORMS OF COMPOSITION?

2. Background info:
Deakins is a 66 year old British cinematographer based in Devon
and is best known for his work with the Coen Brothers.
Deakins started his journey working in painting and graphics,
which allowed him to make the transition to photography where he
learn the art of composure, framing and lighting. He became a
documentary photography in Torquay.
Deakins then began travelling around the world for 7 years after
finishing his degree in film and television studies. On his travels he
worked with a number of production companies all over the world,
particularly working in Africa in places such as Zimbabwe where
he documented the conflicts at the time. Deakins said that the fact
he started with filming documentaries gave him great knowledge
for his future profession, as he said working on documentaries
teaches you to capture the most important details under pressured
time conditions. He also said that working with film cameras as
oppose to digtial taught him to be selective about what he filmed,
focusing on only the most critical elements of a story.

3. The Deaken’s Style
Deakens tends to place the camera in between facing characters to make the
audience feel part of the scene and to capture the emotions of the characters from
a close up perspective.
Shooting on ultra-wide lenses to provide facial
distortion
Dolly into close up- Deakins said he loved to progress into a subjects space to make them feel powerless in a scene and
for the audience to intrude on their life and feel a part of the action.
Consistent with the rule of 3rds and never breaking the line
Wide lens positioned close to the face, showing the
expression and emotion of each character

4. Opposition
Deakins cinematography contrasts directly opposite to that of Oliver Wood. Oliver Wood worked alongside director Paul
Greengrass, who liked his subjects framed in a very specific frame.
Half of other
subject’s face
taking up frame
Tight, close up shot
Tight,
close up
shot
Very little background revealedShows subject’s
emotions in detail
Shaky shots,
unsettling
mood
Back of
subject in
frame
Telephoto
lens used
Shot from a distanceSense of spying
Emotions
clearly
expressed

5. Practical Task
In order to get a sense of what Deakins does and how he achieves it, I decided to attempt to replicate a comedy scene in
the same style of cinematography as Deakins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CbCyGFMKms

6. Inspiration
Deakins has inspired me in a number of ways. When it comes to composing and framing my shots, his work has really
opened my eyes to the opportunities of composition, and will make me think very carefully about what I want to achieve
from each shot and how I plan on representing the character. I came up with a list of different ways of composing my
shots, based on 2 famous cinematographers, Richard Deakins and Oliver Wood.
Roger Deakins Oliver Wood
Clear & simple shot
Rule of thirds
Shot on ultra wide lens (27mm or 32mm)
Camera positioned in-between dialogue
Low angle shots used looking up on subject
Shot reverse shot
Each character gets separate shots, always shot on singles
Long takes, awkwardness is left for a while to make audience feel
uncomfortable and funny
Isolates individuals when they have no control over the scene
Dolly into people to exaggerate facial features
Wide angle lens to greaten the effect on distorting hand movements
Tighter shots, focusing on the individual
Shot on a telephoto lens (200mm)
Shot from a long distance away
Sense of people being spied on and watched from afar
Shot over the shoulder
Usually hand-held or intentionally shaky

7. Conclusion
I think that after studying the framing and composition of both Deakins and Wood I’ve learnt about how important
framing in cinematography is, and the specific effects of the way in which the camera is placed in terms of choice of
lens, distance, and steadiness.
I think that in my documentary, there are times in which I’d like to use Deakins’ style to make the audience feel engaged
in the story, whilst at other times, using Wood’s style of shooting from a distance may look really nice in a documentary,
particularly when I want to make it look undercover as if by spying I am revealing something about the story.