best cinematography shots from the aviator

The Golden Ratio is found in nature, in the spiral leaves of some plants for example, and even in certain crystals at the atomic level. It’s difficult to get your head around, I know! Two quantities are in the Golden Ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. It’s a special ratio because if you add the two numbers together, 1.6+1, you get 2.6, and 2.6:1.6 turns out to be, when boiled down, the same ratio you started with, 1.6:1. Another factor in the Rule’s ubiquity is undoubtedly its similarity to a much older and more reasoned rule: the Golden Ratio.Ī mathematical concept that’s been around since the time of the ancient Greeks, the Golden Ratio is approximately 1.6:1. I suspect that the Rule has gained strength over the last two centuries from the fact that it encourages novice painters, designers and photographers to overcome their natural tendency to frame everything centrally. Hardly a robust and auspicious start for a rule that dominates the teaching and discussion of composition today. It seems he read too much into a simple statement by fellow artist Sir Joshua Reynolds to the effect that, if a picture has two clear areas of differing brightness, one should be bigger than the other. The first known appearance of the term “Rule of Thirds” is in a 1797 treatise Remarks on Rural Scenery by the English painter John Thomas Smith. In this post I’m going to look at an alternative compositional technique, but first let’s step back and find out where the Rule of Thirds actually comes from and why it’s so popular.

2.39:1), the Rule often doesn’t work for me at all.

In particular, when composing for a widescreen aspect ratio like Scope (CinemaScope, i.e. The Rule of Thirds in action on “The Aviator” (2004, DP: Robert Richardson, ASC), winner of the 2005 Best Cinematography OscarĪs I’ve previously written, I find the Rule of Thirds grossly overrated.

Some filmmakers believe in the Rule so much that they refuse to even consider any other type of composition. Simply imagine the frame divided into equal horizontal and vertical thirds – or don’t even bother imagining, just turn on your camera’s built-in overlay – and place your subject on one of those lines to get a pleasantly composed picture every time. The Rule of Thirds is the most well-known guide for framing an image.

Best cinematography shots from the aviator