Staging, Shots, & Lenses

Staging
• “good camera work begins with
composition”~Joseph V. Mascelli, The 5
C’s of Cinematography
 Basic Guidelines

• Golden Rectangle
– Creates focal points
– Isolates objects in dead center
• 3/4th face view
– We tend to see faces 1st (focal attention)
– Avoid profile (side) view
• Proscenium arch
– Frames your picture, focusing on central stage.
• 180 Degree Rule
Dead Space- Golden Rectangle
 Proscenium Arch
• With
lighting or
objects/
scenery,
frame
your
action.
180 Degree Rule
How to Think about Composition
• Compositional Lines
– Direct eye flow
• Form
– Organization of objects in scene may create shapes
(triangle, circle, etc.) which entail certain
emotions/characteristics.
• Masses
– Pictorial weight of an object, area, figure, or group of these.
• Movements
– Movement conveys different emotions
• Power of a vertical rocket or waterfall.
Achieving Pictorial Balance
Psychological weight is influenced by relative
eye attraction in the picture.

Elements attract in accordance with its size,

shape, tonal value, color, movement,
direction faced, contrast with its surroundings
and placement in the frame.
~Joseph V. Mascelli