The Mathematics of Composition

Moderns Film could be considered one of the most advanced forms of media we have today. When done well, films effectively combine the elements of sound, composition, story, talent and more to create one fluid cinematic piece. It takes years of hard work and sheer talent to master all of these elements. Until then, it’s a good idea to focus in on one area of film that interests you more then the others.

Chris Knight, writer of fstoppers.com, has created an ultimate guide that makes learning one such element much easier. Specifically, composition – a defining element of film, and pretty much the defining element of photography.

Wait, You mean that rule of thirds thingy?

Ah yes, but as Knight proves in his article, it goes far beyond that nine-box rule.

With pictures and examples guiding his definitions all the way though, Knight provides a clear guide to the mathematics behind beautiful composition.

After reading his article, and in an effort to beat Arturo to the punch, I’ve decided to review some of my own work to see if it stands up to the test.

Center Composition

The first and most basic type of composition Knight mentions is center composition. For this I used a picture I took while in the middle of nowhere. The road stretched on for miles and the lighting was fantastic. With flat land on both sides of the road, this was a perfect time to use symmetry to my advantage.

It's not mathematically perfect, but still an effective example.

Rule of Thirds

The classic. The 101 of photography. When unsure how to compose a photo it's best to stick with the good 'ol threes. I found this photo of a prairie dog which falls right on the sweet spot. 

Golden Triangles 

When playing with angles, golden triangles are a great way to check composition. Knight uses a picture of the eiffel tower as a great example. 

I found one picture from Santa Monica that again, is not mathematically perfect, but shows how this type of composition can have a compelling effect. 

Frame Within a Frame

Another type of composition he mentions is the frame within a frame effect. 

It's a great way to give an extra layer of depth to the photo while at the same time putting extra focus on the subject. I managed to achieve this once this summer as Erin walked through the main gate at Mount Rushmore. I was lucky enough to capture the moment by chance, but usually you need to plan out shots like this. 

In this picture her figure does not fall right on the rule of thirds line. In fact, she's quite a bit under it. But it slightly dwarfs her and makes Mount Rushmore seem even larger. The point is that in the end, art is art, and mathematics can't always determine its effectiveness. But it's a great starting point for discovering what might look cool. 

Nifty Fifty

In the world of filming prime lenses are where its at. A lot of cinematographers say use a prime lens and use your feet to zoom. I am trying to expand my arsenal as I have said before however I am just a college student and usually am scraping the barrel every week. An awesome prime lens for someone on a budget is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II standard AutoFocus Lens or otherwise known as the nifty fifty. This little guy goes for about 100 dollars on amazon including shipping. The last time I checked a good tripod isn't even that cheap.

Canon makes two more of these 50 primes as well, the f/1.4 and the f/1.2. The f/1.4 is about 300-400 dollars and the f/1.2 is a whopping 1000 dollars. The price changes with these three lenses are based on two main factors, the f-stop and the durability. The awesome thing about these f-stops is that with such a low f-stop low light shooting will be easier as well as getting that desirable BOKEH effect that makes your photos and video look awesome. The f/1.8 has been said to be almost like a toy in the way it feels, the whole lens is made out of plastic for the most part, while the other two have metal mounts and the f/1.2 is even weather proof. While these minor differences in stop and build are somewhat noticeable whats the picture quality difference.

This video is an awesome example of what each lens is really capable and surprisingly the f/1.8 really holds its ground. The host of this video is pretty damn annoying and tries to be funny so don't pay attention to him you may have to skim through the video to get the quality material.

An article on F Stoppers is what sparked my recent interest in these prime lenses and they have an awesome article that talks about the three lenses and again the best bang for your buck if your pinching pennies is the f/1.8. These two sources talk about the photography portion of these lenses a lot so I plan to do more research and learn a little more about the video aspect of these lenses before I go spending my hard earned cash. Its looking like relatively soon I will invest in a prime because these deals are something I just can't resist.

Can you tell the difference?

Here is the link to the article definitely check this out quickly if you don't have the time for the video. But if you do I definitely recommend you look at both.

How to create an "empty" time lapse

First, watch this video.

The Day Wonderland Stood Still... from Bruce W. Berry Jr on Vimeo.

Now I don't know about you, but when I first saw that video my mind was blown. How could someone create a time lapse video in such a busy city without having any signs of life in it. I racked my brain for the little knowledge of time lapses it has, but came up empty. After heavy thinking I decided it was time to turn to the google. I stumbled upon a blog post that helped me understand the time lapse video a lot better, and also gave me inspiration to go out and shoot my own. I'll summarize it below, but if you want to find out more you can do so here.

First, go out and shoot a normal time lapse. Most of the effect is done in post. When shooting the lapse just try to shoot it during a low traffic time.

Then, when editing, you should have enough shots that every part of the traffic area (sidewalks, roads, walkways ect.) should be empty in at least one shot. Layer the photos over each other so that there is never any signs of human life.

Finally just put those layers over the time lapse video and it should work.

For more information follow this link, they do a much better job explaining than I do.

http://rossching.com/running-on-empty

And here is one last time lapse video.

Running on Empty from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Time Lapse

Dynamic Perception - Introduction to Shoot Move Shoot Mode from Dynamic Perception on Vimeo.

Time lapse are very cool to watch but no one knows that there is preparation that has to go into them, especially when you want to incorporate movement. I follow this one website on my Twitter called fstoppers and there was a tutorial on how to shoot time lapse's, especially with movement.

I found this very interesting and want to do some cool time lapse of LA or Ithaca when I have my own camera and gear. For those of you who have DSLRs and looking to make a lot of money, start looking to to time lapse because any network or sporting event is always looking for time lapses to air during a "Coming Up" or "Thank Our Sponsors."

Cannon's Red

So a company that deals with photography, photoshop, and videos follows me on Twitter. Now that we are in the digital age where D-SLRs are the big hype but RED is a big leading brand in Digital HD Cinema. Yesterday, Cannon made it's announcement for the C300. It will be released in January and fstoppers says it should compete well with RED's Scarlet. The camera will sell at $20,000 and shoot in 4K . . . those files are going to be huge!

Cannon has truly taken a lot of strides with their cameras since working for a small production company that shot their pieces on a 5D Mark ii. Technology keeps evolving in this industry and you need to stay on top of it to keep a job.