Composition and Camera Movement

Composition and Camera Movement

Framing and Focusing:

For this subtopic, we had to watch two videos that were linked on ISLE that explained different forms of framing and focusing techniques. For example, the long shot is a shot that shows a human from head to toe and gives a clear view of the nearby surroundings; a cutaway is when you interrupt a continuously filmed action to give a view of something else related; a pull focus is when you change focus from one subject to another; an extreme close-up is when you tightly frame a person or an object in order to show their emotions and precise actions. These are just a few of the framing and focusing techniques I have learnt while watching the videos, a complete list can be found in the picture below.

Summary of camera shots, angles and movement

Example of a wide shot

Example of a high angle shot to show vulnerability

Other than framing and focusing, there was another video that focused mainly on the rule of thirds. This video taught us how to recognise shots containing the rule of thirds and the different types of thirds there are. For example, there are horizontal thirds, 2/3:1/3 ratio which is suitable for moving objects etc.

Example of vertical rule of thirds

Camera Movement:
For this subtopic, we had to watch this video in order to understand the basics of camera movements and give me some ideas on why I would need to move the camera during filming. For example, I learnt about the pan movement, which is when you look left and right, the tilt movement, which is when you move up and down and the track movement, which is when you track a moving subject.

Summary of the camera movements technique

I think these three things are extremely important to my role because this can help me take better shots when filming and fulfil the responsibility of learning how to take shots. Without these two basic skills and knowledge, I will be unable to produce high-quality content.

After learning the basics, we had to complete a test on camera shots and composition to see how much we understood. I passed the test on my first attempt, getting over 80% (although the screenshot does not display my grade)