Framing and Composition of Film Analysis

 

The Framing and Composition of film

- Iconic shots

2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

This example is a wide shot showing the full body of the astronaut to emphasise their interaction with the environment. The composition is on an equal grid that could be divided into 4 x 3 squares, with a geometric octagon shape repeated down what appears to be the inside of a space shuttle corridor. This shape decreases in size the closer it is to the middle to show claustrophobia and a sense of direction towards the door, of which the astronaut is walking towards and hence the audience is focused on what's behind it. we cannot see their face, yet their body language indicates they are walking with interest towards the door by touching the ceiling to interact with their surroundings. This subject is the emphasis of the shot as they are framed directly in the middle and is the largest point of interest; this is aided by the contrast of the red and orange colours against the stark white corridor. The octagon shape creates diagonal lines, along with the black rectangles within each shape frame, acting as arrows towards the door, furthering the interest within the audience. The astronaut is placed in a vertical line which complements the frame by filling it and juxtaposes with the overwhelming diagonal forms. This represents that the astronaut is separate from their environment, yet their hand touching the ceiling acts as a bridge between them to visually connect the whole composition and tell the narrative that the figure has a curiosity about the environment. This is also shown from the tilted head suggesting they are viewing as well as feeling, indicating that the audience should be attentive too. Overall, there is a satisfying balance within the shot, demonstrated by the middle placement of the point of focus (astronaut), and repeated pattern of the octagon, with the left and right side mirroring each other to finalise this balance. The director chose to do this to aesthetically please the audience and hence create interest within them to be engaged with the subject and understand the mystery of what the composition of the diagonal lines alludes to; What's behind the door? Where is the astronaut going?

   

 The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)

The obvious point of focus is the ring, and perhaps the hand trying to grab the ring. This is because it is the closest thing to the camera and is emphasised by the person's eye-line at a subtle diagonal. The whole shot is a close-up, with little geometric shapes - only diagonal lines behind the person arranged as what we can assume to be a floor tile. The shot is at a high angle, and the audience can feel a sense of intimacy within the shot as we can imagine the sensation of looking down upon the person and the emphasised ring. This suggests a power dynamic of the audience, and the perspective of the ring being the one in control of the scene as it determines the outcome of the action; will he catch it, or will it fall? These questions will be pondered by the audience which is intentional from the director to create suspense and tension and therefore interest. This angle is quite unfamiliar and could provoke disorientation within the audience as we are placed in the direct action of the hand motion, almost as if we could be touched which emphasises the intimacy of the shot. We can assume the person is led on the floor as their shoulders are placed upwards and the background shows diagonal lines which support the unfamiliarity and closeness as they are on a solid background. This plain background also serves to not distract the audience, as well as the ring being placed to the left of the person's face in order for us to see their expression and understand a narrative. They also fill most of the frame, with little negative space above the head so the composition feels disclosed. However, there is balance, as they are in the middle of the frame so the audience can clearly see the facial expression and their eye-line is at a comfortable level. This was intentional from the director so we can see the desperation on the person's face and therefore focus on the emphasised prop (the ring) which tells us that it is valuable to the scene. This sense of urgency is felt as the director chose to suspend the ring in front of the camera, almost acting to attractively dangle in front of the audience close enough that we want to grab it too. The person's posture is in a triangle shape, with the point being the head and the diagonal sides being the knuckles of the hand and shoulder. Other triangle shapes shown are from the diagonal knuckles to the edge of the frame and vice versa on the right-hand side. The lack of obvious vertical and horizontal lines makes the composition feel small, unfamiliar, and tight, reflecting the person's anxious mood. 

The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)

This shot shows incredible geometry, balance, perspective, proportion, and interest. It is a wide-angled long shot, demonstrating the person interacting with their environment by touching the wall to the left of them, suggesting wonder or curiosity. However, although wide, the angle is slightly behind the person which suggests the perspective is with the audience watching behind him as he walks up the stairs - this also allows for the steps to be shown in their 3D form and add tone and contrast to the otherwise flat shapes present. The colour palette consists of blue and white on the background, painted as clouds in the sky which gives a sense of surrealism to the audience, and likely the person within the shot due to their body language. It is interesting to compare the figure within their environment, as we can see he is dressed in all black which contrasts to the delicate blue; demonstrating that he doesn't belong there and is foreign to his surroundings. This juxtaposition visually makes him the point of focus to the audience and the positioning of him shows a pleasant balance as he walks up the stairs- although he is much smaller in comparison, which supports the notion that he is alien to the environment, the vertical lines of the steps make him parallel to it, emphasising the stability of the shot. There are also smaller shadows of triangles at each inner vertical line of the step which tie all the diagonal lines together. The geometric shapes are shown on the stairs that take up the majority of the frame, with the steps being cuboids leading the person somewhere out of the frame. This element of mystery is interesting to the audience, and it suggests a symbolic meaning. This could be that the man is walking to heaven from the clouds or ascending to some sort of afterlife. This metaphor alludes to curiosity and allows the audience to interpret however they relate to it. Similar to the first shot I analysed, although the man is visually separate from the environment, he is touching the wall and his arm is acting as a bridge to connect himself to it. There is a lot of negative space which helps the composition as there is a strong focus on the figure, showing he is the protagonist in this narrative. The stairs show a strong diagonal line as it is a right-angled triangle covering the entire right-hand side of the frame. This acts as the more 'powerful' subject as it dominates the frame and determines where the person is going, relating to that afterlife theory. Due to this triangle, there is an opposite facing triangle of the same form mirroring the stairs which balance the frame (flipped upside-down). However, the person isn't placed at the midpoint which visually imbalances his proportion to the frame, furthering the idea that he is smaller and perhaps 'weaker' to his surroundings as he is below the point of height. I believe all of these denotations were intentional to create an aesthetic interest within the audience and primarily serve as a geometric balance of simple shapes represented in an abstract form so there is little distraction away from the point of focus.