Digital Photography and Imaging - Week 2

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Lecture 2

Fig 1.1

Introduction to Basic Composition

1. Focal Point - Human eye tends to look at other human eyes first as the focal point, as it is human nature. Strong focal point helps to naturally draw the viewer's eyes on important pieces of your design.

2. Scale and Hierarchy - Communicate hierarchy by drawing attention toward and away from certain elements, thus signifying their importance.

3. Balance the Elements - To master asymmetrical balance is to think of each element as having 'weight' to it. Smaller objects weigh less than larger objects, and heavily textured elements weigh more than flatly coloured elements.

4. White Space - People tend to see the eye direction of the object. White space is mostly known as 'empty space' to balance up the main focus of a composition. It can help boost your design's clarity and overall look by balancing out the more complicated and busy parts of your composition with space that helps your design to breathe.


Rule of Thirds
Position the most important elements of your image at these intersection points, you will produce a much more natural image. Tip: any horizon is placed on either the top horizontal line or bottom horizontal line.

Fig 1.2

A further explanation of the rule of thirds: https://adashu89.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/the-rule-of-thirds/

The rule of thirds is a way to:

  • Use composition techniques that are in line with what's naturally pleasing to the eye
  • creatively use negative space
  • create conversation between the subject and background

Golden Ratio
A mathematical ratio, commonly found in nature and when used in a design, fosters an organic and natural-looking compositions that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Fig 1.3

The golden ratio creates a sense of artistry through harmony and proportion. It is a useful guideline for determining dimensions of the layout. To apply the golden ratio, set your dimensions to 1:1.618.


Composition Framing and Cropping

Single Shot:
It features an individual character as the primary focus.
  • Clean single - no part of any other character is visible in frame, best used to convey a character's isolation
  • Dirty single - includes another limited presence from another character in the frame
There can be close up (CU), medium shot (MS) or wide shot (WS)

Two Shot:
When two characters are visible in a frame, with both faces being clearly visible. This creates a visual relationship between the two characters.

Three Shot:
When three characters are visible in a frame
And so on, the number can keep increasing.

Crowd Shot:
Well, a crowd. (Can't count, big numbers)
No matter how many characters you create in a single frame, you are creating a relationship between them.

Over the Shoulder (OTS):
Acts like a hybrid between a single and a two shot, more similar to a single, where it is focusing on one character at a time. We get perspectives from both sides, and feel like we are included in the moment.

Point of View (POV):
Can cover a wide range of perspectives. POV shots are paired with a POV audio, so we can see and hear what they are going through.

Insert Shot:
Close-up on a detail. The way the information is framed and shown is more prominent than the detail itself. It can be combined with POV shots or from a third-perspective view.



Practical 2
PROJECT 1A: COLLAGE DESIGN ELEMENTS

1. Choose and identify your collage's design elements to be cut out and compose it into your own concept & story.
2. Pre compositing your collage's design elements into a composition.


In class, I selected images and words that stood out in the magazines I brought, and cut it out. At first, I wasn't sure about what story or feeling I want to go with, but I figured out with the flow when selecting my elements. I then did trial and error, arranging the elements I had to make a good composition. These are my final compositions that I made.

Pre-composition #1
Fig 2.1


Pre-composition #2
Fig 2.2


Pre-composition #3
Fig 2.3


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