A few notes on composition... Written by xLike Clockwork composition [kom-puh-zish-uhn] - noun the organization or grouping of the different parts of a work of art so as to achieve a unified whole. Something that anyone who knows me knows is that I'm an aspiring cinematographer and avid photographer. I haven't quite gotten into the Halo 3 screenshot world, but I like what I've seen so far and I'd like to get into this as soon as possible. One thing I see that irks me about many screenshots posted here is the lack of composition they possess. I think it's high-time that the Halo 3 screenshot world was finished with the very common extreme close up of a Spartan with a cool effect. I'm going to start with a composition basic. It's called the 'tic-tac-toe rule' or the 'law of thirds'. This is going to instantly improve your pictures and how people look at them. Let's take a simple picture of a Spartan on Ghost Town. Now, I'm going to split the picture up into a sort of tic-tac-toe board. You can do this visually, but for the purpose of this guide, I've made another image. Notice that by having the Spartan in the center square, attention is focused to him subconsiously. The emptiness in the other squares is telling your mind to look at the one square that actually has something of interest in it. It's a natural reaction. This can be done with any square on the board. Place something there and nothing in the others, attention is focused there. It's a no-brainer. The second rule to use with the board is to avoid placing an object on interest on an intersecting line. It's an awkward place to look, naturally. Put, you also want attention to flow through the picture; and thus placing objects of interest ideally near those lines and prevent them from bisecting the picture. The best idea is to always have objects of interest off-center, and can then be balanced by less prominant objects. Next, I'll show a few examples of simple composition techniques. For the first example, I'm going to take an average, nothing special about it, mid-range shot. I'm going to take this very same shot and use angles to my advantage to make a generally more interesting picture and help me achieve the feeling I may want the picture to create. Giving an upward view of the character from the ground makes him have a menacing feel to him. This is known as a 'dramatic angle'. And, using the same shot, giving a more bird's eye view gives him a diminished feel, especially with the backdrop of frozen sea that Blackout provides. This is known as an 'extreme angle'. It's all about the feel you want the picture to have. Want the character to look like a badass, or a pawn? So next time you take a screenshot, keep composition in mind; it could result in a much more interesting picture and thus generating more interest in your work. Thanks for reading.
Wow thanks for taking the time to put this on here. I'll keep your advise in mind when making screenshots from now on!
This Rule of thirds guide is very helpful to the newer members of this subforum. Although i dont agree with the part about not having anything on the intersecting lines. That's like the opposite thing to do IMO. If you have a closeup or something similar, use the Rule of Thirds with the intersecting lines. if you are taking pics from farther back, where you can at least fit in 3 spartans in the frame, then you should use the method you explained. It's just that i think of the Rule of thirds in that the lines intersecting is where i want the attention, especially on the really closeup shots.
Well, if you have lots of action or multiple points of focus you really don't have a choice but to place them on the lines. I was referring to a single object from a mid distance.
I can agree with that. I really do like the fact that you posted this. I've been planning an extremely long post about actual photography, and how it can be incorporated into the Halo universe, but you just provided the first major step.
Yeah, I didn't want to overload anyone with a bunch of information, so I provided the basics. I look forward to your post.
intiresting thanks for posting this I will definetly "subconsiously" think about this when I take pics
Im, sorry, but you pointed out how to take boring shots. The rule of thirds mentions the intersecting lines. Not the boxes. Your angles are boring unless tooken into consideration on the kind of shot at hand. If your saying to add an effect, that wont work. It is displeasing to the eyes if you follow your rules and angles. The intercecting lines makes the picture more noticable and all around better. Well written guide, but bad outcome.