Five Conventional Aesthetic Factors of Picture Composition

1. What are the five conventional aesthetic factors of picture composition?

● Field of view
● Headroom
● Noseroom & Leadroom
● Close-up framing
● Distracting backgrounds

2. What is the basic purpose of framing a shot?

● To show images with maximum clarity, and present them so they convey meaning and energy

3. What is the field of view?

● Refers to how close or how wide an object seems to be to the camera

4. List and describe five camera shot designations?

● Extreme Wide/ Long Shot (EW/LS)
● Wide/Long Shot (W/LS)
● Medium Shot (MS
● Close-up (CU)
● Extreme Close-up (ECU)

5. What is one way to organize framing to produce aesthetically pleasing shots?

● By using natural cutoff lines. These lines are at various points of a person’s body. These lines are
effective because the human brain can naturally imagine the parts of the object that is not
included in the frame when the frame cuts off at these lines, completing the mental picture

6. List 5 common natural cutoff lines?

● Head shot
● Bust shot
● Waist shot
● Knee shot
● Full shot

7. What type of shots should you leave adequate space above a person’s head?
● Normal shots, medium shots, and close-up shots

8. What is noseroom and leadroom?

● The space that is in front of a person who is looking sideways toward the camera.

9. What is the difference between a normal close-up (CU) and an extreme close-up (ECU)?
● The close-up shows the head and part of the shoulders of the object. Extreme close-ups only
show a zoomed-in version of the face. Extreme close-ups are used to show small details.

10.When you have framed a shot to convey meaning and energy for maximum visual impact what is one
thing you should pay attention to?
● The background. If the background is distracting or doesn’t fit the foreground, it will make the
foreground seem unusual, unimportant, or hard to focus on.