COMPOSITION in
CINEMA
❖ Rule of Thirds ❖ Leading Line
❖ Symmetry ❖ Golden Triangle
❖ Asymmetry ❖ Golden Ratio
❖ Eye Level Framing ❖ Frame within a Frame
❖ Perpendicular Angle ❖ Positive Space
❖ Diagonal Angle ❖ Negative Space
Rule of Thirds
❖ Divides up the scene with two vertical
lines and two horizontal lines.
❖ Places the subject on the intersecting
points on the grid.
❖ The most common camera framing
technique in cinema.
❖ Showcases to the viewer what the mood
of the scene conveys.
Zac Retz
Symmetry
❖ Balancing the frame with almost perfect
replicas on either side.
❖ Breaking the rule of thirds by focusing
on the subject. It can create tension,
harmony, and also isolation.
❖ Runs the risk of creating “boring”
compositions.
Asymmetry
❖ Big vs. Small
❖ The balance of positive shape and the
negative shape.
❖ Creates tension between the subject and
the surrounding elements.
David Hoskins
Zac Retz
Kanagawa
Eye Level Framing
❖ Positions the viewer at the eye level of
the characters.
❖ Equal with the character.
❖ Viewer has a neutral approach which
can have their own interpretation of how
the character is feeling and thinking.
Eye Level Framing
Perpendicular Angle
❖ A 90 degree angle pointed towards the
sky or the ground.
❖ A sense of power or helplessness.
Diagonal Angle
❖ The camera pointed up at the subject or
looking down at the subject.
❖ Pointing Up: Sense of power, guidance, and
hopelessness
❖ Pointing Down: Sense of isolation,
powerless, and innocence/naive.
Leading Line
❖ Using the environment around the subject
to create an invisible (or literal) line
towards key elements.
❖ Directs the viewer’s eye around the
composition.
❖ Contextualizes the connection between the
subject and the essential object(s).
Joey
Lawrence
Golden Triangle
❖ A diagonal line that connects one corner to the opposite
corner. Then two lines from the opposite corners that
meet the line at a 90 degree angle.
❖ Similar to the rule of thirds that places key elements in
the intersecting points.
❖ Leads the viewer’s eye from one element to the next.
❖ Baroque composition.
Joel
Goodman
Golden Ratio
❖ MATH! Also known as the divine proportions.
❖ The Golden Ratio is a principle in mathematics
used to express the ratio of a line segment
divided into two segments of different lengths
whereby the ratio of the complete segment to
the longer segment is equal to that of the ratio
of the longer segment to the shorter segment.
Frame within a Frame
❖ Framing the subject within the frame of
the composition.
❖ Typically depicts the subject as the key
element of emotion for the audience to
decipher.
❖ A sense of intimacy with the space.
Nicholas Kole
Moebius
Positive Space
❖ Using the subjects in the composition to
lead the eye around the frame.
❖ Doesn’t necessarily have a “main”
protagonist.
❖ Sense of movement.
Nicholas Kole
Aaron Limonick
Negative Space
❖ Using the negative space around the
subjects to exaggerate the space.
❖ Feeling of isolation, loneliness, and
quietness.
❖ Emphasizes the epic size of the
environment around the subject.
Moebius
