Color and composition

         Now that I am fully ready to move on to live-action recording, I can start thinking of how the rest of my scenes will look. There are many theories about color, movement, and composition; and they all play major parts in any composition. I will be talking about a few, but focus primarily on the ones I plan to incorporate.

        The rule of thirds is a majorly used composition technique. The idea of it is simple, and many people recognize it even without being film excerpts. All it really does is split up your screen into a 3x3 grid so as to help you align your subjects or horizons, like so. 

This picture was taken from Christian Hoiberg's article on the rule of thirds, which can be found here.

        While not the most complex, this composition technique is often seen in films because of how easy it is for audiences to follow and for filmmakers to set up. 

Ratatouille by Pixar

The Joker by DC Films

BBC's take on Sherlock

    

        Incorporating this technique to my film opening will also be rather easy, considering how most things will be recorded on a tripod. Once the shot is set up, it is up to me to align everything to the correct third, and if I do end up making a mistake, cropping the video will allow for a quick fix.

        Going back to the film scenes; even with their wildly different genres, settings, and colors, we still know exactly what to focus on. However, composition isn't everything. While each scene does utilize the rule of thirds, costume design, color theory, blurring, and other techniques help the subject stand out in the scene. This all takes me to my next point: costume design.

        In each of the above scenes, one thing that helps the character stand out is color. From the Joker's vibrant suit to Sherlock's darker jacket, every character has clothing that at least kind of sets them apart from the background. I decided to incorporate something similar in my film, where the clothing does not directly line up with the background.

        Seeing as how most of my house has white walls, almost any clothing would work to set myself apart. So I took to my closet and chose the least white pajama I had. The sharp contrast between a red/black pajama and pure white walls immediately gives the audience a subject to follow. Most of my scenes will have white walls, with the exception of the kitchen, which will not directly have me as a subject.