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Basic Visual Syntax IIAnexerciseinbasicframingandcomposi2onal

rulesfornewfilmmakers

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SchoolofCrea2veArtsTownsville|Cairns

NM330:VisualSyntaxII

Perspec2ve

DeepSpace

Composi2onalRules

PunchDrunkLove

TheSopranos

001:SpaceOdyssey|Kubrick|1968

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"Some2mestheappropriateresponsetorealityistogoinsane."

PhilipKDick

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FramePlane

Depth

Plane

Geographic

Plane

X

ZY

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One Point Perspective

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Inessencetheframeplane(or frontalplane)hasnodepthbecauseitlacks

perspec2ve.

OnePointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Depthcanbecreatedbymerelyshiingcameraposi2onandcrea2ngapoint

ofperspec2ve.

Thisisacommonformofonepointperspec2ve.

OnePointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Ifwenowfollowtheguidelinesoftheshape,theydisappeartoapointonthehorizon.

Thisisknownasavanishingpoint.

Whatisimportanthereisthecrea2onofalongitudinalplaneononesideoftheshape

itappearsquitecloseontheoppositesideitappearstobefurtheraway,wheninfactitis

justaDshapeonacompletelyflatsurface.

OnePointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Anotherdrama2cexampleofonepointperspec2veistherailwaytrack.

Thisisagoodexampleofconvergencewhichagain-createsacuetoillusory

depthonaDsurface.Themoretherailsconvergethefurtherawaytheyappear.

OnePointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Two Point Perspective

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Thenextlevelofperspec2veistwopointperspec2ve,inwhichtherearetwovanishing

points.(Toillustratethis,extralineshavebeenaddedtothediagramtomakethe

convergencemoreobvious).

NBThelongitudinalplanes2llhasonlyonevanishingpoint.

TwoPointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Thelongitudinalplanecanbegivenasecondvanishingpointifthecameraangleisthen

raisedorlowered.

Thesidesofthelongitudinalplanearenolongerparallel.

TwoPointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Therearenowtwo

vanishingpoints:

Thelongitudinallinesconvergetowardsapointabovetheframe.

Whilethetopandbo_omoftheplane

convergetowardsa

vanishingpointbeyond

framele.

TwoPointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Twopointperspec2vecan

alsobeachievedbyu2lizing

twoplanes.

Inthisexampleweare

usingthecornerofa

building.

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Thetopandbo_omofeachlongitudinalplaneconvergetoseparatevanishing

points.

TwoPointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Twopointperspec2vecan

alsobeachievedby

inver2ngthetwoplanes.

Inthisexampleweare

usingthecornerofan

interior.

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Althoughthevanishingpointsarehiddenbehindthelongitudinalplanes,theyare

s2llconverginglines.

TwoPointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Three Point Perspective

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Inthisexample,allthevisiblelinesontheexteriorofthisbuildingareallconverging

tooneofthreevanishingpoints.

Threepointperspec2veisslightlymorecomplextoachieve.

ThreePointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Onevanishingpointwillappearabovethebuilding.Thendand3rdvanishingpoints

willappearonthehorizontotheleandtherightofthebuilding.

ThreePointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Inthisexampleweares2llseeingthreepointperspec2ve;this2mefromanangle

abovethebuilding.

ThreePointPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Utilizing the Rules ofPerspective

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Horizonlines,vanishingpointsandlongitudinalplanescanbeappliedtoanyobject,characterorframe.

Ifthecameraisateyelevel,thehumanformcanappearflatanddimensional.

U2lisingtheRulesofPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Whenthecamerais

loweredand2lted

up,theactor

becomesa

longitudinalplane.

U2lisingtheRulesofPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Theconverseisalso

trueahighangleis

usedandthecamera

is2lteddownonan

actor.

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Aviewersa_en2onwillusuallybedrawntoon-screenvanishingpoints.Thisisevident

bytheplacementandourperspec2veofthetwowallsbelow.

U2lisingtheRulesofPerspec2veNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Inthisexamplea_en2onissplitbetweentheactorandalsothevanishingpoints

betweenthetwowalls.

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Here,a_en2onisdrawntotheactorandisre-enforcedbythevanishingpointsofthe

twowalls.Perspec2veinthissitua2onhelpstokeepanaudiencesa_en2onfocusedon

theactor.

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Deep Space

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Thisshothasdepthbecausethethreeactorshavebeenplacedonthreedifferent

planes.

Asafamiliarobjectgetssmalleritappearsfurtheraway.Asafamiliarobjectgetslargeritappearscloser

SizeDifferenceNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Separa2ngobjects(oractors)onFG,MG&BGplanescreatessizedifference.

OneactorisplacedonFG(foreground)plane,oneontheMG(mid-ground)planeandthethirdontheBG(background)plane.

SizeDifferenceNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Thisisanexampleoftextualdiffusion.ThecrowdmembersintheFGhavetextureand

detail.ThecrowdinBGarereducedto2nydotsandhavelosttheirtextureanddetail.

Objectswithmoredetailappearcloserandobjectswithlessdetailappearfurtheraway.

Thisimagealsofeaturesotherdepthcues,suchassizechangeandperspec2ve.

DiffusionNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Tonereferstoblackandwhiteandgreyscale.Thegreyscalecontainsno

colour,itrepresentsthetonalstepsfromblacktowhite.

Tonalsepara2ondealswithaviewerspercep2onofdepthduetothe

brightnessofobjects.Usuallylighterobjectsappearcloseranddarker

objectsappearfurtheraway.

TonalSepara2onNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Eventhoughtwo

objectsareof

iden2calsize,the

viewerwillseethe

brighterobjectascloserandthedarker

objectasfurther

away

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Inthisexample,even

thoughtheredand

bluerectanglesare

exactlythesamesize,

theredrectangleappearscloser.

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Eventhoughthesetwoactorsarethesamesize,theviewerwillperceivetheactoronthelowerleveltobeintheFG

Up/DownPosi2onNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Ifthereisahorizonlineinvolved,theup/downposi2onbecomesmorecomplex.

Objectsneartothehorizonlineappearmoredistant,whileobjectsfurtherfromthe

horizonlineappeartobecloser.

Up/DownPosi2onNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Whenoneobjectoverlapsanotherillusorydepthiscreated.

OverlapNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Focusanddepthoffieldcanalsoinfluenceaviewerspercep2onofdepth.

Inthisexample,theFGisinsharpfocus,whiletheBGiss2llinrela2vefocustotheFG.

Itlosesitsdeepspaceandbecomesflat.

FocusNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Focusanddepthoffieldcanalsoinfluenceaviewerspercep2onofdepth.

Inthisexample,theFGisinsharpfocus,whiletheBGisblurred.TheBGmayappear

tocreatedepth,butthisisnotnecessarilydeepspace.Someobjectss2llneedtobein

focustocreatecuesofdepth.

FocusNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Inthesefollowingexamplestherearenumerousdepthcues,includingsizedifference,

texturedifferenceandcoloursepara2on.

Howeverthestrongestindicatorsofdepth,perspec2veandconvergentplanesare

missing.Thisisanexampleoffrontalplanesepara2on.

FrontalPlaneNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Inthesefollowingexamplestherearenumerousdepthcues,includingsizedifference,

texturedifferenceandcoloursepara2on.

Howeverthestrongestindicatorsofdepth,perspec2veandconvergentplanesare

missing.Thisisanexampleoffrontalplanesepara2on.

FrontalPlaneNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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Herewecanseethe

frontalplanesseparated

intoFG,MG&BG.

Usuallytherearetwoor

threefrontalplanes,

anymorethanthisandit

canbedifficultforthe

viewertodiscern

betweentheplanesanddeterminedepth.

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Herewecanseethe

frontalplanesseparated

intoMG&BG.

Usuallytherearetwoor

threefrontalplanes,

anymorethanthisandit

canbedifficultforthe

viewertodiscern

betweentheplanesanddeterminedepth.

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REFRESHCompositional Rules

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Goodcomposi2oncanbeobtainedbyplacingthecentreofinterestinthegeometricalcentreofthepicture.Thistechniqueistheexcep2ontotheruleand

isoenusedasvisualmetaphororfordrama2ceffect.

Generallyhowever,thisisnotagoodidea,becauseitdividesthepictureintoequalhalves,whichmakestheimageuninteres2ngandisdifficulttobalancewiththeplaneofdepth.

Bydividingthepictureareainto

thirds,bothver2callyand

horizontally,andloca2ngthecenterofinterestatoneofthe

intersec2onsoftheimaginarylines,

youcanusuallycreateafeelingof

balancetothecomposi2on

TheRuleofThirdsNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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DynamicSymmetry

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Thecentreofinterestwhenappliedbytheruleof3rdsis

denotedbythecircles.

Abalanceofsymmetrycanbeachievedbydrawingalinefromonecorneroftheframe

toanopposingcorner;and

thendrawingasecondline

perpendiculartothefirsttoan

oppositecorner

Wherethesetwolinesintersectisgenerallythecentre

ofinterest.

BalanceofSymetryNM330|TimeBasedMedia(Video)

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PunchDrunkLove(PTAnderson),Revolu2onStudios,003.

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PunchDrunkLove(PTAnderson),Revolu2onStudios,003.

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PunchDrunkLove(PTAnderson),Revolu2onStudios,003.

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FurtherReading:

Block,B,(007)TheVisualStory:Crea9ngtheVisualStructureof

Film,TVandDigitalMedia.NewYork:FocalPress