Lighting

Lighting can be the difference between a professional, interesting shot and a dull and rookie one. Different lighting can set specific moods, playing to the audiences sub conscious. For example, in a horror film, there is more likely to be a range of darker shades and low key lighting, in contrast a comedy is likely to use high key lighting with bright colours and a warm temperature. Below are a few examples of lighting techniques in film:

Bokeh - Blurring background light sources and focusing on a subject matter in the foreground.

Soft light - Soft pools of light on a part of an actors face.

Light tint - Different tints can be used over a light to give the scene a different look. Matrix uses a green tint in many shots to show futurism. 

Contrast - The use of silhouetting  and high contrast enhances the mood of a shot, making the actors either stand out or difficult to make out depending on what contrasts to what background.

Balancing colour temperatures - using lights of different colour in the same shot can reiterate the location, mood and atmosphere. This is put to best effect in Terminator 2 at the end scene in the steel mill. Orange and blue are used in the same shot to show molten metal and moonlight.

High key - Using brighter lighting so that the characters are easily visible, mostly used in comedies.

Low key - Using darker lighting and colours to set a mysterious and uncertain atmosphere in the shot. Mostly used in horror films.

Hot edges - This technique requires using a soft light on the front of the character (Fill light) and a stronger light on the rear (Backlight) to give the character a hot edge around their body.

Top lighting - When a light source from above shines down on the subject matter, illuminating it from above.

The Rule Of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a camera composition rule. It has been described as one of the most important rules of photography. It consists of diving the shot into nine parts by drawing two lines equidistant from each other horizontally and vertically. Points of interest should be focused on these lines to increase the visual aesthetics of the shot. For example, in a portrait, the focus should be off centre to cover one of the cross sectional lines. Below is several examples from my own source to demonstrate the rule.

By placing points of interest along these lines, the picture becomes more balanced and can be interpreted more naturally by the viewer.

As you can see from the picture (left) the lines provide a guide for the position of points of interest. Eye lines should be on these lines for example.

Here are a few examples of the rule of thirds in action. As you can see, the main focal points of the photograph are along the lines. This makes the picture far more aesthetically pleasing to the viewer and keeps them interested in what is going on in said picture.

When filming my main or preliminary tasks, I will be keeping the rule of thirds in mind. A good film uses this compositional technique in almost all aesthetic shots. As you can see below in the film clip, the rule of thirds is used to make the shot more visually appealing to the viewer. Eyes of characters are often along the cross sectional lines of the rule of thirds. I will be using this technique in my own future films.

Composition

Composition - An orderly Arrangement of elements using the principles of design

Composition is the way the picture is structured, there are a number of different techniques to consider when putting together a picture or photograph and each one will change the balance of it and how the audience interprets it. Below is a list of different compositional techniques and how they influence the picture.

The relative placement of objects in the picture - Too many objects and the picture becomes complex and difficult to interpret, too few objects and the picture becomes simple and uninteresting.

Rule of thirds - just like in my earlier post, rule of thirds is a useful tool in composition. imagining the frame is split into 9 segments and an important aspect of the picture is along one of the intersections makes the image far more interesting to the observer.

Rule of odds - Ensuring each picture has an odd number of focal points keeps the observer guessing, they find it more difficult to comprehend the situation and therefore become more engrossed in it.

Leading lines - Lines that go from the edge of the picture and lead into the centre are called leading lines, they draw the observer into the centre of the image.

Lines of sight - The subject of the picture will be looking in a certain direction, following their eye line will lead to another object in the picture. So the observer follows the subjects line of sight onto another subject in the picture.

Point of view - Moving the point of view higher or lower can have a huge impact on the picture, making the piece of work far more interesting.

Framing - By creating a natural frame in the picture, the subject stands out far more. The frame will draw the viewers eyes toward the main focal point in the image.

Simplifying - By making the picture as simple as possible, any irrelevant objects are removed so the picture becomes more satisfying to the viewer.

Filling the frame - The subject of the image is not confined to the frame. Having a subject that is too large for the picture can fill out the frame, making the image more interesting as some of the object is hidden.

Active space - When depicting action in the image, it is important the subject/s are fully inside the frame. If this is not achieved in an action image, the work will feel unbalanced.

Taking all of these compositional factor on board when filming will allow me to create aesthetically pleasing shots that excite the viewer. I will be using these compositional techniques in my final piece.