The Rule of Thirds

So you've got your shot types, your camera movement sorted at to a professional standard (we wish), now we move onto a golden rule....THE RULE OF THIRDS. 

The rule of thirds is really simple to understand. You take a picture...like this and split it into three rows vertically and three rows horizontally, like so.

Now our eyes are trained to read from left to right (Unless you're Arabic, Hebrew etc...), so the same applies when looking at a picture or film shot. 

WARNING! It is NEVER a good idea to put an object in the middle of a shot or picture. Its a fatal error that many of us follow. Our eyes never look to the middle first making the object in the middle not as important as you may want it to be. So its just a no no in the world of film and photography UNLESS you have a reason for it, like...I don't know, trickery? 

Anyway by making the subject in the shot off center and in one of the outer thirds, the image becomes more appealing and important to its audience.

So recap:

Rule of thirds pictures SHOULD look like this...              NOT like this.....














If you follow these rules you're on your way to the perfect film!

Camera Movements

Here is another helpful video about the different camera movements used when filming! Short, sweet and to the point!


Other Camera Movements

Crab- A less common phrase for a tracking shot.

Pedestal- When the camera moves vertically in line with the subject it wishes to follow. Like when someone wants to stand up from being crouched on the floor, the camera will follow them as they begin to move.

Follow- Does exactly what you think it does. This shot is where the camera physically follows the subject it is focusing on.

Zoom- This can technically be counted as a camera movement. It gives the viewer the illusion of something being close or far away in the scene. It looks as though the camera is moving towards or away from an object but in fact it hasn't moved at all.

The next blog post will be all about the rule of thirds, an important rule to follow when working out where to place your objects and characters. If you don't, things could go down hill VERY fast.

Shot Types when filming

Here's a link that will show and explain all the different shot types you can use when       filming!

    


Extreme long shot- Also known as the establishing shot. This clues the audience in on the location of the film and maybe allows them to get a basic opinion on what sort of genre the film is going to be. Usually there will be someone (a character) walking in the distance to show a minor relationship between the location and the character.   

Long Shot- This shot give use a closer look at the character themselves and a full shot of their body showing us how they are feeling.    

Mid-shot- This gives the audience a closer look at the features of the character. Like the long shot it gives us an incite into how the character is feeling but the detail it far greater. The close up shot is usually from the hips upwards.   

Over the shoulder shot- The over the shoulder shot can be used when two or more characters are talking and establishes where the characters are and yet again shows how they are feeling with more detail.  

Two person shot- The two person shot is exactly what it says on the tin. Its a bit like the mid-shot just with two people in the shot rather than one. The allows the subject (characters etc) to share similar stage presence.   

Close up shot-This shot is used to show an important facial expression that clearly shows how the character is feeling. It can also be used to focus in on a certain item that is vital for the audience to see, maybe a document or a murder weapon!  

Extreme close up This is a very detailed shot that focuses in on a certain feature. For instance in your western films you can almost guarantee there is a close eye shot of two characters during the shoot out scenes!  

When using camera shots, directors and the film crews don't just do shots for any old who har, they've always got a purpose, a meaning behind why they have been used.

Predicted Production Work Flow

When creating a film, the production work flow is needed to ensure that each aspect of a film is collected and organised. If one part of this workflow is missing or done in the wrong order, things could get messy and you film could just go downhill from there, but thats the extreme.

Above you will see our idea of what the workflow should be when creating a film.We were given the task of ordering the jobs within the production team to see what we thought the work flow was when creating a film. This is the process we will be following when creating our final film. This isn't accurate as some of the things that needed to be done may be in the wrong order, its just our estimation of what order things will need to be done in order to create our film.

Welcome

Hi all! Charlotte here. Student from Great Wyrley High School. Just a little note to say hello and welcome to my AS media blog. I'll be filling you in on all the work and filming I do on my media course. The specification title that I shall be following is OCR AS Media Studies There'll be all sorts for you to follow as I complete my AS media course. The next few posts will be all about the pre-filming research techniques used during filming such as:

• Shot Types

• Camera Movement 

• Cut Types

• Rule of Thirds

• Match On Action

• 180 Degree Rule

• Continuity

The first post will be showing you the different shot types you can use when filming.
Until then!