In this visual composition module, we explored the process of planning to shoot a video and delved into the art of visual composition guidelines through photography. Our goal was to not only understand the fundamentals but also put this knowledge into action for our pre-production video montage plan.
Reading and Writing
In the first two chapters of The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, the author provides a comprehensive introduction to the essentials of camera operation and composition. Chapter 1, titled “Basics,” covers the fundamental workings of a camera, explaining concepts like exposure, color temperature, and the settings on both video and film cameras. It also delves into the role of lenses and the concept of depth of field. Chapter 2, titled “Composition,” explores the art of crafting visually compelling shots. It introduces the rule of thirds as a guiding principle for balanced compositions and emphasizes the importance of balance in elements such as leading looks, masses, and colors. The chapter also touches on camera angles, the use of frames within the frame, leading lines, and the significance of background control. In essence, these initial chapters set the stage for understanding how to operate a camera effectively and create visually engaging and well-structured shots.
In Chapter 5, titled “Camera Moves,” the focus shifts to the art of camera movements. We are introduced to essential camera moves, including zooms, pans, tilts, and their combinations. The chapter emphasizes that each camera move should serve a specific purpose, contributing to the viewers’ understanding of the narrative rather than distracting from it. It offers valuable guidance on the importance of starting and ending camera moves from well-composed static shots, ensuring smoother transitions during the editing process. Additionally, the chapter provides practical tips on making camera moves comfortable, particularly in pans, and highlights the significance of moving from an uncomfortable to a comfortable position. Chapter 6, titled “Montages,” explores the concept of montage editing as a powerful tool in condensing time, setting moods, and summarizing information in film and video production. A montage is defined as a series of related shots that, when executed effectively, create a seamless visual narrative. The chapter emphasizes the importance of ensuring that each shot in a montage is distinct from the preceding one, enabling a smooth and coherent visual transition.
One Market Media’s article, Video Pre-Production Planning Checklist – 11 Steps to a Successful Project, provides a checklist for effective video pre-production planning, highlighting 11 critical steps to consider when preparing for a successful video project. It emphasizes the importance of meticulous planning to achieve business objectives through video content. First, start by defining your business objective, aligning it with specific goals, and identifying your target audience’s demographics and needs. Develop key messages that convey your core ideas concisely. Set a clear budget to manage costs effectively. Create a creative brief that summarizes the project’s context and generate creative concepts that align with practical considerations. Outline your creative approach and create a detailed storyboard. Understand the planned distribution of your video and tailor its length to the target audience and sales cycle. Establish approvals and pre-production meetings to involve relevant stakeholders and prevent post-production surprises. Finally, plan scheduling and production logistics meticulously, considering location, equipment, talent, and contingencies to ensure a smooth production process. This comprehensive approach will help you create a compelling and effective video aligned with your business objectives.
Altogether, these steps contribute to a higher likelihood of success in video production, allowing businesses to effectively achieve their objectives and engage their target audience.
Creately’s article, How to Make a Storyboard for Better Videos, explains the importance of storyboarding in creating successful videos. Storyboarding is a pre-production tool that visually sketches critical scenes in a video, similar to a comic strip, helping identify inconsistencies in the script and visualize the video’s flow. It offers four key steps:
- Planning the video by defining objectives, key messages, video length, and promotional channels.
- Visualizing the script with details like characters, props, themes, and settings.
- Adding script and notes to each storyboard frame.
- Collaborating and revising the storyboard with your team.
The article highlights the benefits of using storyboards, such as effective concept visualization, communication, planning, and cost savings. It also addresses common mistakes to avoid like lack of clarity, overcomplicating shorts, ignoring pacing and time, neglecting shot continuity, and forgetting the audience’s point of view. In the end, storyboarding is presented as a crucial step in creating successful videos for businesses.
Research to Inform
In this section, we explore three film scenes that exemplify specific guidelines for proper visual composition. Each of these examples highlights the significance of visual elements in storytelling and their impact on the viewer’s experience.
In the iconic showdown between Iron Man vs Captain America and Bucky in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016), the use of the environment as a natural frame within the scene is particularly noteworthy. As Captain America races toward Tony Stark, with his shield in hand, the structural elements of the environment, including the surrounding wreckage and debris, serve as a powerful frame. The composition visually encapsulates the characters and their impending clash, emphasizing the intense and emotional nature of their confrontation. The debris acts as a symbolic boundary between these former allies, framing the clash and the deep divide that has driven them to this pivotal moment in the film.
In Thor’s coronation scene from the first Thor film (2011), leading lines are masterfully utilized to emphasize the atmosphere and Thor’s significance. The throne room’s architecture, featuring golden pillars, patterns on the floor, and staircase, creates strong leading lines that converge toward the center of the frame, where Thor is positioned. These lines effectively guide the viewer’s eye toward him, underscoring his central role in the coronation ceremony. This use of leading lines not only enhances the visual composition but also reinforces the importance of the moment, making it a visually captivating and a thematically significant scene.
In the flashback scene from “Avengers: Infinity War,” a young Gamora is introduced to a deadly blade by Thanos. As he balances the knife, the use of depth of field plays a crucial role in conveying the emotional weight of the moment. While the foreground showcases Thanos and the curious Gamora, the background is deliberately blurred, where her people are horrifically divided. This creative use of depth of field not only highlights the intimacy of the interaction between the two characters but also serves to intensify the stark contrast between the innocence of the foreground and the brutality unfolding in the background.
To conclude, these three video clips vividly demonstrate the power of proper visual composition in storytelling. Each example showcases how visual elements, such as natural framing, leading lines, and depth of field, can heighten emotional impact, underscore thematic significance, and immerse the viewer in the narrative.
Create
This week, we delved into the pre-production phase of our visual montage project. First, we completed the visual composition scavenger hunt exercise, focusing on still photos that aligned with various visual guidelines. The most challenging task included capturing a moving subject by panning the camera to follow it to ensure it was centered within the frame. Another challenging aspect was finding a similar object in that space to capture with proper framing and balance. My favorite visual composition, however, centered around leading lines, exploring the dynamic aspects of guiding the viewer’s gaze to a subject or area.
For the pre-production planning document of my montage, I filled out the necessary details like the creative brief with notes on narration and music. The location I chose for my montage is a small local library with historical roots dating back to 1834. The library’s charm, community connection, and architectural beauty make it an ideal setting for my project. A challenge that may arise during the shooting process, as encountered during the scavenger hunt exercise, is that due to the age of the building, the lighting on the second floor presents difficulties as there doesn’t seem to be a light switch, only natural light from the windows. In the end, I believe that the combination of the scavenger hunt exercise and pre-production plan, along with the creation of my storyboard, has prepared me for the next phase.
Here’s a link to my Scavenger Hunt: Visual Composition and Visual Montage Pre-Production Plan.