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Rule of Thirds

The basic rules of photography apply when shooting video for documentaries.

Rule of Thirds:
As you can see in the graph below, the frame is divided into 9 sections. These imaginary lines are meant to be a guide when you are framing your shot. If you use these basic rules, the image in the frame will feel more "balanced" and pleasing to the eye.

Rule of Thirds Graph:

Rule of Thirds Graph

Rule of Thirds Examples

In this beautiful sunset scene in Hawaii, you can see the frame is divided 2/3 sky and 1/3 water.

Golf

For an action shot, such as this image of my husband playing golf, his body is lined up primarily in the left 1/3 section of the frame.

Rule of Thirds Face Image

When focusing on a face, notice how the eyes of this Indian lady line up evenly with the top 1/3 line.

As I have noted in other places in this website, making documentaries is an art. Rules are meant to be broken. So if you are going for a certain "style" in your documentary, such as a tilted frame, then these rules don't necessarily apply. The key is to know the rules and then know when to break them.

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