AVANCA | CINEMA 2016
“The Artist”, The Artistic Use of the Academy Aspect Ratio
Ahmad Alasti
University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Behrooz Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari
University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Navid Darvishzadeh
University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Since the dawn of Renaissance, visual composition
has always been a major case of discussion in the visual
arts. But when it comes to the art of cinema, it will not
be exaggerating to call it an oppressed issue. Bordwell,
Staiger & Thompson (1985) are among the scholars
who cared about this issue and allocated a part of their
book, The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style &
Mode of Production to 1960, to this topic (they have
also mentioned chief principles of visual composition
in the classical cinema). Since visual composition
almost includes all factors of cinematography, a good
composition can lead to a good cinematography. In
this Article, According to the achievements of the silent
movie “The Artist” (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011) in the
different fields, especially as in cinematography, we
are going to discuss how this movie has imitated the
principles of composition in the classical cinema such
as centering, balancing, frontality, and depth (mentioned
by Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985)) to make itself
visually closer to the movies of the silent era.
Keywords: Cinema, The Artist, Composition, Classical
Rules.
Introduction
By the advent of the movie “The Jazz Singer”
(Alan Crosland, 1927) as the first valued part-talky
(according to Thompson & Bordwell (2003)), movies
which could present the synchronized voice of actors
as a complementary to their images, it was believed
that silent cinema has come to its end. However,
after this great alteration in cinema and during the
transitional period from silent to talkies, due to inertia,
as a natural reaction of a conservative system against
applied changes, some members of this mature
society, especially actors who had made a vast
progression in acting and transferring their moods and
emotions thorough mere facial mimics, struggled to
hold the fort. Numerous silent movies were produced
during this transitional period, and each one attempted
to allure its lost audiences back to the theaters, but
the majority of them failed. A quarter a century later,
some movies were made by famous directors to pay
tribute to this crucial evolution made in the cinema
(for instance “Singin’ in the Rain” (Stanley Donen &
Gene Kelly, 1952)). Some years later, few movies were
produced that were a little bolder in paying tribute to
silent era; they were indeed silent movies (for example
“Silent Movie” (Mel Brooks, 1976)).
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However, to face “The Artist” (Michel Hazanavicius,
2011) requires a different viewpoint, because it
combines all styles mentioned above. Some factors
that detach “The Artist” from other movies, should be
considered. Fist, This movie narrates a story which
happens in the transitional period from silent to talkies
and recounts the story of a famous silent movie actor
(George Valentino) who motivates a young girl (Peppy
miller) to pursue her acting career. He loses his social
status by development of sound in cinema, and then
Peppy, who is a celebrity now, supports him to regain
it. Notice that in addition to what was said in the recent
paragraph, “The Artist” is technically a silent movie.
It is almost totally silent (except few sequences to
show George’s nightmare about development of
sound and to conclude the movie) and the only
sound companying the movie, is its music. The last,
but not the least factor, is visual composition. Movies
such as “Singin’ in the Rain” which were preceding
the vast incursion of modernism in cinema, didn’t
need to make any effort to simulate the classical
composition, because they were made in the classical
era. Other movies which were made after 1960 and
intended to refer to the silent era, scarcely showed any
tendency to use academic aspect ratio (the dominant
aspect ratio in the silent era) in order to simulate
the classical composition (for instance, not only was
“Silent Movie” filmed in widescreen aspect ratio, but
also it was colored by De Luxe). In fact, “The Artist”
doesn’t overuse the sense of humor to captivate its
audience; instead, it draws them by a good narration
and establishing a well composed scene.
In order to discuss composition in cinema, first,
we should skim through the meaning and history of
composition in the visual arts especially in painting
(Visual Composition in the Visual Arts). Afterward, a
skin-deep look through compositional relationship
between cinema and painting (Cinema and Painting),
will make us able to talk about cinematic composition
(Visual Composition in Cinema). At the end, we will
discuss classical compositions in cinema based
on composition rules discussed by Bordwell,
Staiger & Thompson (1985) and compare them with
compositions used in “The Artist” (some principles of
visual composition in the classical cinema).
It can be noted that, the term visual composition is
more accurate than composition. Using composition
instead of visual composition, may be misleading into
music composition or literary composition. However,
many sources have used composition instead of visual
composition. Therefore, these two terms will be used
interchangeably in this article.

2. Visual Composition in the Visual Arts
Studying visual arts is a vast and an old field in
the art history. Therefore, in this section we will take
a brief look at composition in visual arts and mostly
focus on painting. The meaning of the term visual
composition, has been unstable over the centuries.
Garvey-Williams (2014: 11) simply defines composition
as the arrangement of pictorial elements. Composition
in general can be defined as bringing elements together
to establish a reciprocal relationship. Freeburg (1923:
18) considers composition as a form and believes
that by such assumption, it should be revealing
and expressive at the same time. Canaday (1958)
examining composition in two and three dimensions,
as a flat pattern and as structure concludes, no matter
what, it is always an expression. “Composition is
directed by an unconscious sense of order in regard to
the relation of color , shape, position, etc, and often by
a geometrical correspondence of elements” (Moholy-
Nagi, 1947: 71). Composition has always been “one
of the basic and essential parts of the art of painting
since Alberti’s Della Pittura of 1435” (Puttfarken, 1986:
156). Puttfarken also discusses two different chief
approaches toward composition as concerning it with
the composing the figures and their interplay in a
narrative or dramatic scene (as Leon Battista Alberti
faced it), and as a procedure for endowing figures and
objects with different degrees of visual value or weight,
according to their position within the overall appearance
of the picture (as French Roger de Piles did).
The need for composition in all art forms is inevitable.
Every painting must have some kind of organization,
whether that organization is an effective one or an
ineffective one . Roberts (2008) states that whether
or not a painter believes in composition, it effects the
success of every painting he creates. Dunning (1991)
classifies the six methods of climax that most painters
since the Renaissance (until the invention of all-over
style by Jackson Pollack as an alternative climax)
have structured their paintings with them (these six
methods of climax can be found in Raphael’s Portrait
of Angelo Doni): Climax by transition from large to
small shape, climax by transition from flat to volume,
climax in dark and light, climax in focus and blur,
warm and cool climax, and climax in depth. Moholy-
Nagi (1969) discusses the color composition and
representational composition. The difference is that
“color composition carries its subject within itself, in its
color” (Moholy-Nagi, 1969: 14).
Mastering composition is a method in which one
must acquire the power “to see the shapes and forms
of objects, textures, lines, masses [...] as well as their
relationship to each other”. (Zakia & Page, 2011: xv).
Roberts (2008) considers mastering composition as an
habitude to see abstractly, and then defines abstract
as “to draw away from” (Roberts, 2008: 8). Roberts
also states that composition is not an intellectual idea
to apply, but it is the basis, on which all of the great
representational paintings repose. It can be noted that,
composition differs from construction. However they
are “the aspects of the same problem. [...] Composition
Capítulo I – Cinema – Arte
is the product of the highest subject evaluation of
elements and their relationships. [...] A construction,
on the other hand, strives toward a known objective,
through predetermined technical and intellectual at
every point of its existence” (Moholy-Nagi, 1947: 31).
3. Cinema painting
Film historians have always admitted that
filmmakers have been inspired by composition
of paintings. Directors and cinematographers
constantly imitated composition of famous paintings.
Marcel Carne -one of the key practitioners of the
school of poetic realism in cinema- once said “One
must compose images as the old masters did their
canvas, with the same preoccupation with effect and
expression” (Giannetti, 2002: 43). From the very first
years of cinema, painting has exerted its undeniable
effect on this nascent art. “Aspects of self conscious
artistry emerged as early as 1896 when George
Melies realized the potential of narrative language and
augmented his narrative with painted backdrops of
fantastic imagery” (Cook, 1996: 15). Notwithstanding
that classical Hollywood cinema strove for imitating
the visual composition of famous classical paintings
(for instance DeMille (1976: 168) declares that he was
inspired by Dore, Van Dyck, Corot, and Reubens), “the
complex and the dynamic equilibrium of great western
painting is usually lacking in Hollywood compositions,
[and] overall balance and an avoidance of distractingly
perfect symmetry generally suffice” (Bordwell, Staiger
& Thompson, 1985: 51).
Cinema and painting may establish various
relationships between each other. Poulton (1999)
discusses the ways, Painting has been used in film,
and classifies the co-occurrence of painting and film
in sixteen categories (Some of these categories has
been taken from Doss (1983) and Sitney (2002)).
Films that directly quotes paintings is one of these
categories in which “The direct quotation of a painting
saturates the frame or the sequence of the film with
multiple meaning” (Poulton, 1999: 10). Tashiro
(1996: 33) calls these movies Blasphemous. Some
examples of movies which directly quote paintings
are: “Viridiana” (Luise Bunuel, 1961) that its famous
scene relies on Leonardo’s The Last Supper, “The
ten Commandments” (Cecil B. DeMille, 1923) which
“quoted paintings primarily from south” (Poulton, 1999:
51), “An American in Paris” (Vincente Minnelli, 1951)
in which “Pollack’s method of dripping paint over the
canvas [...] can be compared to Minnelli’s reliance
on dance and color, camera movement and music”
(Vacche, 1996: 31), “Nostalgia” (Andrei Tarkovsky,
1983) that “makes use of Della Francesca’s paintings”
(Everett, 2007: 15), and “Barry Lyndon” (Stanley
Kubrick, 1975), that imitates the visual composition
of paintings like John Constable’s Malvern Hall, and
William Hogarth’s The Tete a Tete.
Light is a Fundamental determinant in cinema.
Hollander (1989) discusses the Northern European
and Southern European artists, and discloses some
information about lighting that can be useful when
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analyzing lighting as a part of composition in cinema.
Vacche (1996) by applying an intertextual and a
thematic approach, and bringing up some examples,
compares the mood of some movies with their
corresponding paintings.
4. Visual Composition in Cinema
Good composition in cinema cannot easily be
defined in a single sentence, because its controlling
elements are more immense than those of composition
in other arts. One way of defining composition in cinema
states that “the distribution, balance, and general
relationship of masses and degrees of light and shade,
line, and color within a picture area” (Luccitti, 1995:
130). Conveying emotion is one of the most significant
parameters in the narrative cinema. Therefore, “the
best cinematic composition is that arrangement of
elements in a scene or succession of scenes which
enables us to see the most with the least difficulty and
the deepest feeling” (Freeburg, 1923: 18). Harmony
between different elements of a movie to serve under
superintendency of narration, is the key point in
classical cinema, and composition is not exempt from
this rule. Hence, a Good cinematic composition is
“arrangement of pictorial elements to form a unified,
harmonious whole” (Mascelli, 1965: 197).
One of the factors that supports complexity of
composition in cinema, is the parameter of time.
Painting or still photography “deals in space relations
only” (Mascelli, 1965: 198) while motion picture “is
composed in both space and time [and] The time
dimension is just as important as linear dimensions
and placement of pictorial elements within the
frame “ (Mascelli, 1965: 198). Another reason which
makes cinematic composition more complex is that,
composition in a movie “is dealing not only with shape of
people and objects, but the shape of motion” (Mascelli,
1965: 198). The importance of visual composition is
due to the fact that, the “right combination of framing
and composition helps the continuity of the sequence”
(Ablan, 2003: 33), subsequently, provides the
continuity in the whole movie which is the basis of the
classical cinema.
Composition is derived from personal taste. It is
originated from nature of human being and “most
of us are inherently good at composition” (Sawicki,
2011: 1). Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985: 50)
believe that classical spatial system is arbitrary.
There are some rules of visual perception, some of
which are mentioned by Arnheim (1982) and Arnheim
(1974) such as distance increases visual weight, as
it decreases attraction, weight increases attraction,
the higher an object is in pictorial space, the heavier
it looks, and etc. However, some pioneer directors
such as Georges Melies and David Wark Griffith didn’t
perform experiments on visual perception and Gestalt
psychology was not flourished by that time to help them
develop their ability of controlling visual composition to
get the desired result . So, they naturally knew how
to lead viewers’ eyes to their desired portion of the
scene. “ Using common-sense assumptions about
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pictorial emphasis, they sought to guide the viewer’s
eye by means of composition and staging” (Bordwell,
2013: 31). “The art of plastic composition consists in
leading the spectator’s attention through the exact path
and with exact sequence described by author of the
composition” (Eisenstein, 1943: 148).
Esteem of visual composition, has caused some
famous directors to comment on it. Hitchcock’s rule
relates that, “the size of an object in the frame should
equal its importance in the story at the moment”
(Hawkins, 2005: 3). Alfred Hitchcock also cared for
shapes as a part of visual composition and stated that
“drama emerges from the emotions, expressions, and
thoughts portrayed in the character’s face.[...] The
principle task of the filmmaker is the organization of
those oval shapes within the rectangle of the screen”
(Smith, 2013: 181). Robert Bresson who had a keen
sense for cinematography, once said, “The exchanges
that are Produced between images and images, sounds
and sounds, images and sounds, give the people and
the objects in your films their cinematographic life and,
by a subtle phenomenon, unify your composition”
(Bresson, 1977: 24).
5. Some Principles of Visual Composition in
the Classical Cinema
Although, as was related before, it is not fully
accommodating to claim a definite theory for visual
composition in cinema, there are some common
compositional principles regarded in the classical
cinema. “Hollywood’s practices of composition
continue some very old traditions in the visual arts”
(Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson, 1985: 51). Viewer’s
attention should be concentrated on the action,
player, or object most substantial for the narration at
the moment. Mascelli (1965: 197) notes that among
all rules that create motion picture, compositional
rules are the most flexible. Due to anthropocentric
dedication of cinema, it’s time and space principles will
fully intend for continuity and psychological causality.
Composition in classical cinema, as other factors like
editing, sound, and etc, is used to provide the best
basis for story to be narrated in the best way possible.
In other words, All “narrational strategies encourage
us to read filmic space as story space” (Bordwell,
Staiger & Thompson, 1985: 54).
Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985) classify
composition into four major categories which
somehow overlap. These four chief categories
are centering, balancing, frontality, and depth.
Scrutinizing these four major categories due to
Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson’s (1985) statements,
will get us to sixteen extended, minor and more
practical following categories.
5.1. Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985: 51) by
referring to Post Renaissance paintings, claim that
classical cinema provides a chief standard of framing
by locating the faces of erect human bodies, at the
upper section of the picture frame. Nowadays, since
it seems to be too obvious, examples of this rule can
be easily seen in almost every movie. frames 1, 2,

and 3 show some example of this principle in “The
Artist”. Another point that can be noted here is the
fact that the taken snapshots of “The Artist” contain
an unneeded black region at two sides of the frame
in order to compare the academy aspect ratio with the
new fashioned common aspect ratios.
Frame 1- Placing the faces of erect human bodies at the upper
part of the frame. The principle of horizon line isocephaly.
Frame 2- Placing the faces of erect human bodies at the upper
part of the frame. The principle of horizon line isocephaly.
Frame 3- Placing the faces of erect human bodies at the upper
part of the frame; The principle of horizon line isocephaly.
5.2. One of the compositional precept that the
classical cinema barrows from Post Renaissance
painting is “the principle of horizon-line isocephaly,
which guarantees that figures’ heads run along a
more or less horizontal line” (Bordwell, Staiger &
Thompson, 1985: 51). Filmmakers often use the
principle of horizon-line isocephaly when they want to
keep all characters at a same level of interest and don’t
intend to separate a certain character from others, as
seen in frames 1 and 3 from “The Artist”. Although in
Capítulo I – Cinema – Arte
some scenes filmmakers locate characters heads in a
somewhat horizontal line, via other technique (which
will be discussed in following sections) detach the
desired character from others. see frames 4 and 5.
At times, this method is utilized to lay emphasis on a
certain character. In frame 6, the woman standing at
the left side of the frame is more dominant than the
man, due to her higher place in the frame. Note that, in
this frame, Peppy is in the center of interest (its reason
will be discussed in section 5.7).
Frame 4- Although the principle of horizon line isocephaly
applies here, the frontality puts George in the center of interest.
Frame 5- Although the principle of horizon line isocephaly
applies here, the frontality rule, sets George in the center of
interest.
Frame 6- Violating the principle of horizon line isocephaly, the
lady in left dominates the man standing in the right.
5.3. Another conspicuous influence of painting
on classical cinema, comes from landscape painting
tradition, where “Extreme long shots tend to weight
the lower half of the image” (Bordwell, Staiger &
Thompson, 1985: 51). See frames 7, 8, and 9.
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Frame 7- Weighting the lower section in extreme long shots.
Frame 8- Weighting the lower section in extreme long shots.
Frame 9- Weighting the lower section in extreme long shots.
5.4. Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985: 51) note
that in the classical cinema, most shots work with a
favored portion of screen space analogous to a T: The
upper one-third and the central vertical third of the
screen constitute the center of the shot. See frame 10,
11, and 14.
5.5. Since the classical cinema has made his vows
to be an anthropocentric medium, it often strives to
put the human body in the center of narration and
in the center of interest . In order to keep this vow
in every moment, it uses the custom of reframing.
“A reframing is a slight pan or tilt to accommodate
figures movement. [...] After 1929, one out of every
six shots used at least one reframing” (Bordwell,
Staiger & Thompson, 1985: 51). This technique
is utilized in frames 12, 13, and 14 to maintain the
most appropriate headroom for the character. The
main alternative to this technique is called frame cut.
“In this technique, within a defined locale, a figure
leaves the shot, and as the body crosses the frame
line, the cut reveals the figure entering a new shot,
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with the body still crossing the (opposite) frame line”
(Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson, 1985: 51). As seen in
frames 15, 16 and 17, this technique is very influential
in maintaining the continuity. Note that, frame cut has
another application in this scene. First shot is cut just
before George leaves the frame, and the next shot
is frame 16, in which there is an empty place that
is planned for George’s accession (this technique
will be discussed in section 5.6). In other words, not
only is frame cut used in this scene to supply a fluid
continuity, but also it provides the vacancy to be filled
for the next shot.
Frame 10- Favored T-shaped space.
Frame 11- Favored T-shaped space.
Frame 12- George is going to sit down, and to reframe, camera
starts to tilt down...
5.6. As mentioned in section 5.5 “in the classical
cinema, A vacancy in the frame space will be reserved
for the entry of a character; That figure will complete
the balanced composition” (Bordwell, Staiger &
Thompson, 1985: 51). This compositional technique
can be gained by fix camera and moving character
(as seen in frame 17 and frame 12, or in frames 18
and 19), or can be obtained by the movement of both

character and the camera (frames 20 and 2). Note
that, camera movement here, can be considered
as reframing, because it is performed to keep the
character in the center of interest and to maintain the
best visual composition.
Frame 13- as George sits down, camera tilts down ...
Frame 14- When George’s position is stable the reframing ends.
Frame 15- Frame cut. George is leaving the frame from left part ...
Frame 16- Frame cut. A vacancy to be filled by George’s figure ...
Capítulo I – Cinema – Arte
Frame 17- Frame cut. George enters from right section of
frame to fill the vacancy shown in the last frame.
Frame 18- The vacancy in the left part of the frame is planned
to be filled by peppy’s figure in the next frame ...
Frame 19- The empty section fills with peppy’s figure.
Frame 20- By panning the camera to left, a vacant spot is
being prepared for George to fill.
5.7. Since facial expression could convey emotions,
visage is so important in classical cinema. Absence of
sound in the silent era, put the onus mostly on face
to transfer character’s mood to the audiences. Hence,
frontality occupies a substantial role in composition.
In the classical cinema “the face is positioned in full,
three-quarter, or profile view; The body typically
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in a full or three-quarter view. The result is an odd
rubbernecking characteristic of Hollywood character
position; People head may face one another in profile
but their body do not” (Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson,
1985: 51). Frontality, for the sake of its importance in
transferring characters’ mood, is often used in “The
Artist”, but rubbernecking, is rarely seen in this movie.
Frontality is one of the key points in directing viewer’s
eye, because “when characters have their backs to us,
it is usually an index of their relative unimportance at
the moment” (Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson, 1985:
51). See frames 4, 5, 21, and 22. It was cited in section
5.2 that, in frame 6, Peppy is in the center of interest.
One of the chief reasons of this visual perception is her
frontality. For more examples of frontality, see frames
23 and 24.
Frame 21- Decentering peppy in over-the-shoulder/reverse
shot in favor of showing George’s facial expressions.
Frame 22- Decentering George in over-the-shoulder/reverse
shot in favor of showing Peppy’s facial expressions.
Frame 23- Although George stands behind this dancing couple,
he is in the center of interest due to frontality.
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Frame 24- The trinary group is shaping a half circle so that all
characters can gain at least a profile view.
5.8. Another cost, achieving frontality has imposed
upon classical cinema easily is seen in group shots.
Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985: 52) note that in
the classical cinema people rarely organize as they
would in real life and standing groups are organized
along horizontal or diagonal lines or in half-circles. In
frame 25, the reporter facing George has almost turned
his back to the camera, therefore he is not important
at the moment. However, the handsome young man
standing between them and his face is positioned
in a three-quarter view, thus he is more important.
frame 26 which comes two shots later, is a medium
shot focusing on George and the juvenile lad with the
unimportant reporter’s hand in the frame. This shot
sets out the reason for style of grouping characters
in frame 25. Now suppose this trinary group were not
arranged in half-circle; instead, it were organized in a
full circle (that is, the unimportant reporter would move
to right facing the young reporter and turning his back
to the camera). Although this new arrangement makes
the scene look more real, the unimportant reporter
would block George and the young reporter. For more
examples, see frames 27, 28, and 24.
5.9. Although frontality is one of the most important
factors in composition in the classical cinema, it “Can
be lost if it is then regained” (Bordwell, Staiger &
Thompson, 1985: 52). The most conspicuous instance
for this precept is Over-the-shoulder/reverse shot.
See frames 21 and 22. In the first shot, Peppy turns
her back to the camera and decenters herself which,
indicates her unimportance at the moment. While, in
the next reversed shot, she gains it once more.
5.10. Making the two dimensional screen to look
like a three dimensional space, by creating depth, has
always been one of the main factors in the classical
cinema. One of the ways to create various planes
is that, the “set designers painted sets in different
colors to create planes in depth” (Leisen, 1928: 76).
“Classical Hollywood space is created in planes
through various depth cues. To the usual cues of visual
overlap (the object that overlaps must be closer) and
familiar size, the classical image adds pattern, color,
texture, lighting, and focus to specify depth” (Bordwell,
Staiger & Thompson, 1985: 52). The couple dancing
in front of George, dancing coupled behind him, chairs
and tables, and the music group in frame 23, have
significant influence on increasing depth. See frame
14, 19, and 29.

Frame 25- George is in the center of interest due to frontality,
but in the next frame ...
Frame 26- The young reporter is in the center of interest due
to frontality.
Frame 27- The group is shaping almost a horizontal line.
Frame 28- A curved line is shaped by these men so that they
can maintain frontality.
Capítulo I – Cinema – Arte
Frame 29- Increasing depth by perspective made by the table
and chair and also by light.
5.11. Lighting is one of the key factors to create depth
in the classical cinema. Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson
(1985: 52) believe that cinematographers by diffusing
the light on background, make them more granular
and add more depth to the picture. “Cinematographers
were careful to alternate planes in contrasting keys
and half-tones (A silhouetted foreground, a bright
middleground, a darker background) (Milner, 1930,
93). See frame 30. another example for this technique
is seen in frame 29. In this shot, lighting has made the
secretary room -which is see through the doorway-
brighter. This brightened portion of the room contrasts
with dark walls surrounding it and creates more depth.
Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985: 52) note that one
of the most common ways of the Hollywood filmmaker
to separate figures from background is back lighting.
“A pencil line of light around the body’s contour pulls
the figure forward” (Livingston, 1953: 70). See frames
31, 32, and 33.
Frame 30- Using light to create depth.
Frame 31- Back light helps to separate the sitting man from
background.
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Frame 32- Back light helps to separate the dancing couple
from background.
Frame 33- Selective focus helps to separate the sitting man
from background.
5.12. Selective focus is one of the most common
technique used for creating depth in classical cinema.
Selective focus is “an equivalent of aerial perspective
in painting. In framing closer that medium shot, the
characters are in focus while other planes are not”
(Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson, 1985: 53). The main
character in frames 33, 34, 35, and 36, is detached
from others by selective focus. Let’s consider frame 6,
once more. Selective focus in this shot, blurs Peppy
and other characters are sharply focused. Note that
selective focus here is assisting the narration. This
shot is a part of sequence in which Peppy’s career is
flourishing step by step, and Peppy is not famous yet.
In other words, bluring Peppy in this shot, is intended
to present her obscurity and to make her visible to
audiences, viewers’ eyes are directed toward her by
means of some other methods as vacancy to be filled,
prior familiarity, frontality, and so forth.
Frame 34- Selective focus and being closer to the camera
separate George from background.
36
Frame 35- Selective focus and frontality place George in the
center of interest.
Frame 36- Selective focus and back lighting and being closer
to the camera place peppy in the center of interest.
5.13. Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985: 54)
assert that Knee shots (also known as American
shot) and medium shots, are the most common shots
in the classical cinema; “because They retain facial
expressions and physical gestures -partially lost in
the long shot- and relate these, dramatically, to the
action involved” (Herman, 1952: 101). Let’s consider
the sequence in which George and Peppy meet for the
first time in “The Artist”. In this sequence, nineteen out
of twenty-eight shots are Knee shots or medium shots.
That is, in a randomly selected sequence of this movie,
almost sixty-eight percent of shots are knee shots or
medium shots.
5. 14. Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson (1985: 54)
also claim that Extreme facial close-ups -framing
closer than full facial shot- are almost lacking in the
classical cinema, since cutting the face entirely free of
the background made the close-up too fragmentary.
However, in “The Artist”, There are more than eight
insert shots of mouths. Since the movie refers to the
transitional period of silence to talkies, the sound
parameter and it’s visual representation through mouth
is highlighted. See frames 37, 38, and 39.
5.15. Cinema has always striven to keep it as a three
dimensional medium. One of the most common ways in
silent era was a technique in which, “cinematographers
often darkened the edges of the image to avoid a glaring
contrast between the picture and the theater masking”
(Schlanger, 1938: 504). As Hochberg (1962) states,
since human being’s eyes look for consistency, when
a three dimensional picture has a ostensible frame,
the represented space conflicts with the boundary of
the picture. This technique was commonplace in the
classical cinema, but since it disturbs the impatient

audiences of the third millennium, it is rarely used in
“The Artist”. Some scenes that include the projected
movies within “The Artist” (such as frame 40), bear this
dark frame.
Frame 37- Starting the movie (which is a silent one) with
the extreme close up of characters mouth to accentuate the
importance of sound in the narrative.
Frame 38- Using extreme close ups of mouth to emphasize
the crisis imposed upon the main character by advent of sound
in cinema.
Frame 39- Using extreme close ups of mouth to emphasize
the crisis imposed upon the main character by advent of sound
in cinema.
Frame 40- The darkened edges of the frame.
Capítulo I – Cinema – Arte
5.16. Appropriate camera height is one of the
effective factors in a achieving good composition.
“Normal camera height, standardized at between 5
or 6 feet, corresponds to a gaze from an erect human
body, a position canonized not only in art but also in
culture generally” (Bordwell, Staiger & Thompson,
1985: 54). Let us, once more, consider the sequence
in which George and Peppy meet for the first time. In
this sequence twenty-three out of twenty-eight shots
are taken in eye level, and the rest include two inserts
(taken in high angle, but the camera almost stands
at the human eye level), and two long shot and one
extreme long shot (taken in high angle). In other words
almost eighty-two percent of this sequence shots are
taken at eye level.
Although Bordwell & Staiger & Thompson,
1985, presented almost a comprehensive list of the
compositional principles of the classical cinema, this
article believes that some important points are missing:
I. In classical cinema, when it is intended to show
a dream, anxiety, depression, or etc; these principles
come handy (not by keeping them, but by breaking
them). Technique like unbalancing the camera and
camera height (see frames 41, 42, and 43), using
wide angle lenses in the close-up shots (see frame
44), unusual camera movements (see frames 45, 46,
and 47), and etc, can be useful in the aforementioned
situations to create an unbalanced composition.
Frame 41- Unbalancing the camera.
Frame 42- Abnormal camera height and angle.
37
AVANCA | CINEMA 2016
Frame 43- Abnormal camera angle and unbalanced camera.
Frame 44- Using wide angle lenses in a close up shot.
Frame 45- Unusual camera movement begins ...
Frame 46- Unusual camera movement continues ...
II. Aspect ratio may not seem so related to
composition in the first sight; but as far as I am
concerned, it is the most important factor in the
visual composition, since the aspect ratio controls the
composition. most of this compositional rules will be
different when it comes to the widescreen aspect ratio.
38
Frame 47- Unusual camera movement ends.
Conclusion
To recapitulate, we shall consider the main
principles of composition in the classical cinema as
four major categories of centering, balancing, frontality,
and depth. These major categories were extended to
sixteen minor precepts of composition in the classical
cinema. Examples of these sixteen minor precepts were
presented by snapshots from the case study movie,
“The Artist”. Unbalanced, but classic composition was
investigated in the case study, and it was declared that
in the classification of Bordwell & Staiger & Thompson,
1985, a main point as “aspect ratio”, which controls the
visual composition, is missing.
Filming “The Artist” in the academic aspect
ratio 1:1.33, has made it easier, to apply the
classical compositional rules to the movie. Applying
compositional precepts of the silent era to a movie
of second decade of the third millennium, brings it
closer to the well known movies of this era, therefore,
the result is a well composed classical silent movie,
which achieves numerous international successes in
the field of cinematography. Some academician may
find it exaggerating to impute the cinematographic
successes of this movie to good classical composition;
but this article strongly believes, since the composition
includes almost all elements of cinematography
(camera movement, camera height, camera angle,
lighting, camera lenses, color, and so on), it causes the
only difference between a good cinematography and
a bad one.
Since “the Artist” deliberately has gathered classical
compositional principles which were developed
during almost a span of three decades, It shall not
be exaggerating to claim that a familiar audience to
classical cinema would find almost all of unwritten rules
of classical cinema in “The artist”. Regarding all these,
“The Artist” has retrieved almost all of compositional
conventions in the classical era. The important point is
that these compositional conventions were not imitated
from a single movie, but each one was inspired by a
classical cinematic masterpiece, and all were gathered
in a single movie produced in the third millennium.
These principles include the tendency in classical
Hollywood cinema to locate the human head at the
upper section of the frame, the principle of horizon line
isocephaly, to weigh the lower part of image, favored
T-shaped space, reframing and frame cutting due to
anthropocentric vows of classical Hollywood cinema,

vacancy to be filled by a character, preferred full or
three quarter or profile view of face, organized groups
of characters along a horizontal or diagonal lines or
in half circles, creating depth through various planes,
using back lighting, selective focus, abundance of
knee shots and medium shots, darkening edges of
image to emphasize the three dimensional feature of
cinema, the redundancy of normal camera height, and
academy aspect ratio.
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