Microsoft Windows Movie Maker 2: Visual Quickstart Guide

Applying Basic Shot Composition

Once you get the camera settings down and deal with audio and lighting, it's time to start thinking about shot composition, which is the art of placing your subjects in the frame to create the most aesthetically pleasing image.

Here are four basic techniques to keep in mind while shooting. After you read this section, watch for them on TV and in the movies. Once you see how consistently the pros use these techniques, you'll be surprised that you never noticed them before.

The rule of thirds

According to the rule of thirds, you should divide each image into a tic-tac-toe grid, like that shown in Figure 2.5, and place the primary subject of the frame at one of the four saddle points, or intersections of the four ...