Original subtitles

One of the beautiful aspects of film and video is that it

can completely draws in and transport us from our everyday world.

To accomplish this successfully, a piece must force us

to forget that we are watching a two dimensional projection

on a clearly defined rectangular shape.

As a director, you definitely want to keep the viewer's

attention away from the edges of the frame.

We can accomplish this by providing an ample amount of little room

between our subjects and the edges of the image.

Little room refers to the empty space

between the subject and the border of the frame.

In other words, it is about framing what is not in the frame,

something especially important when filming people,

whether it is on the street or on a big screen.

It is in our nature to follow the gaze of a person to see what they are looking at.

So when a character is positioned at the edge of a frame

and stirring of the edges of the screen, it is rather unsettling for the viewer.

This can create a claustrophobic undertone

and inevitably draws attention to the limits of the frame.

It would be the equivalent of placing the most important elements

of a magazine right in the scene.

One helpful trick to avoid this is to refer back

to the rule of thirds we discussed earlier in this chapter.

Let's take a look at those guidelines over the image we just saw.

We can use the intersections as a guideline

for positioning our subject's eyes.

By doing so, we can ensure that there is ample room to follow their gaze.

The same principle is also

significant when you are filming subjects that are in motion.

Let's take a look at a few examples.

When our subjects are in motion, it is very important

to give them ample space to move across the frame.

Without these additional space,

their motion can seem impeded, forced or natural.

Conventionally, we want to see where a person or subject is going,

not where they have been.