Hey, my Stage32 Cinematographers!
Revisiting this awesome video on composition and framing by Darious Britt, and I love how he starts by unpacking the geometry of beauty. That's beautiful, man...
But, as tangible a skill as camera work can be, what have you studied that has informed your "eye for beauty"? For example, I LOVE landscape architecture. SHARE BELOW!
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nature, architecture, paintings, screenshots from movies, space photos...
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This is a fun topic, and I'm sure there are so many sources people draw upon for they "eye for beauty" as you put it. I personally used to work as a hairdresser so my eye was definitely trained to see compositional balance in form from how different haircuts live and fall around the faces of people. I think this helps me adapt to locations well because different faces and bodies have ballance with different types of hair styles.
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Florin Şumălan Dude, all great resources - nature in particular is so abundant. DaVinci - need I say more? LOL! Winston Moon Oh, absolutely! Hair is your first accessory to highlight the shape of one's face.
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Thank you Karen, this is a surprisingly good primer on some aspects of framing. Pay attention to the stated content even if the images do not exacty illustrate the concepts being presented. There are a couple of very questionable things in there but a few “fillum-skool” professors seem to think they apply. If they don’t jump out at you don’t lose any sleep over them. The “performance art” presentation can be forgiven because of the content.
Very worth watching.
There are many things about beauty, composition is only one. We are surrounded by scads of reference material for beauty, so the best approach is to learn from your own reaction. Ask yourself “why” you like something, which details and components work together to make an images attractive, be analytical. Do the opposite of “I don’t know what is good but I know what I like”. That is a statement that you cannot make should you wish to create images, This same level of image analysis must be strictly applied to your own work for you to maintain quality and grow.
Hey, Andrew Sobkovich ! So glad you enjoyed it!
In response to, "Do the opposite of “I don’t know what is good but I know what I like”. That is a statement that you cannot make should you wish to create images, This same level of image analysis must be strictly applied to your own work for you to maintain quality and grow." TOTALLY! I'm a hyperanalytic person, which became apparent both in my film theory classes taking them, and finally in teaching IB Film, but it's another thing entirely to employ it as the creator yourself. One must keep it in check when creating and then unleash it when reflecting. A fine balance! Thanks for the response!
I'd love for you to start a conversation about your own creative journey - will you start a post in the Cinematography Lounge? https://www.stage32.com/lounge/cinematography
Karen, in the midst of a discussion there is hardly a need for the “@“ symbol. In this case I saw and understood the posting. Responded appropriately.
When teaching cinematography, the most important thing I try to get across is trying to get people to see. First to see what is there then to see what could be there. Once accomplished in both, good images become quite obvious.