From the course: Creating a Short Film: 07 Cinematography

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Centering the subject

Centering the subject

- Typically we don't put subjects in the center of the frame, this feels too stark and symmetrical, in most cases anyway. But sometimes to punctuate a shot, filmmakers will intentionally center a subject in the frame, it's kind of like the visual equivalent of saying, alright guys, this is really important. This is a favorite device of Stanley Kubrick, he used it for that super creepy pat in The Shining where Jack Torrance looks directly into the camera lens, and also later when Mrs. Torrance discovers that her husband is no longer doin' so hot. He also used it in 2001: A Space Odyssey, leading up to the discovery of weapons, and later in the film with the interactions between Dave and HAL the computer. Wes Anderson is also a huge fan, apparently, of symmetrical framing, as we see here, and here, here, here, and so forth. Now we also do this in The Assurance, when Korda'a was abandoned by Ta'ani, when Korda'a was discovered, and in the final shot of the film, but note that center…

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