From the course: Cinematic Composition for Video Productions
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Depth of a shot
From the course: Cinematic Composition for Video Productions
Depth of a shot
- When discussing composition we will often refer to the three different axis of a frame. The horizontal direction in our frame is called the X-axis. And our vertical direction is called the Y-axis. You probably are familiar with these terms from coordinate geometry. The rule of thirds we introduced in the previous chapter deals with the X and Y, but what about the third? Well, the third axis is called the Z-axis and denotes the depth of a frame. It is possible to create an image without a Z-axis, which we refer to as a flat frame. So, how do we create a sense of depth in an image? Most often a director will chose to emphasis the Z-axis of an image to overcome the inherent two dimensional nature of the frame and create a more dynamic composition. Here we see a girl running for her life through the woods. By shooting down the forest path we are able to create the illusion of depth and we are able to accomplish this through the use of depth cues. A depth cue is established by the…
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