5 Framing Tips

1. Use Close Ups to show important facial expressions 

This will help the audience to capture the emotions of the scene and in turn will make the scene more effective.

2. Zoom Or Not To Zoom

Although zoom may be needed to get a closer view to the target, it would be better to just move forward to the target with the camera rather than using manual zoom on the camera. This is because it will look smoother and more professional.

3. Nothing Was The Same

Film the same scene at different angles so in editing you can change camera angles during a scene, this helps to change the audience’s perspective and so makes it more interesting.

4. The Rule of Thirds

To place your subject within the frame this guideline will give you ideas on where. Most people feel the need to put the subject dead center on the screen, the rule of thirds will give you a more interesting and balanced picture.The rule of thirds is basically the idea that two vertical and two horizontal lines divide the shot into thirds. The main subject in your shot should fall on one of the points where these lines intersect. 

 Good Example

Bad Example

The person's eyes should be your main focal point. Make the shot so that the person's eyes fall on one of the upper intersections. The intersection you choose depends on which direction the person is looking.

5. Use No/Little Headroom

Headroom is the amount of space between the top of someone's head and the top of the frame. If you leave too much space, the person will appear as if sinking in quicksand. If you don't leave enough room, the person will seem in danger of bumping his head. 

When trying to determine the amount of headroom to use, you can see part of the subject's neck or the top of the shoulders. However, there's not a big concern with cutting off the top of someone's head. The audience won't see this as strange as long as the actor's eyes are framed where they should be.