1. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
Recommended viewing: D4Darius – click or paste link below – Darius Britt says exactly what I will.
The Rule of Thirds
A compositional process to place objects in the frame.
Creates more energy, tension, and interest.
Better than centered subjects.

2. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds
States that a frame is divided with two horizontal and two vertical lines
Items of interest should be placed on or around the vertices.
Vertices are called Power Points or Crash Points

3. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
Dead Space
The Rule of Thirds
This is what will separate you
from everyone else.
Someone else will do this:
What is the most important
thing in this shot?
What should it be?

4. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
Dead Space
The Rule of Thirds
If the eyes are the most important part of a shot, how do we get them to BE the most important part of the shot?

5. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
First the math, then I’ll blow your mind.
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Mean
The Golden Mean defines a spiral pattern that shows up repeatedly in Nature, in everything from a nautilus sea shell to a sunflower, to the spiral form of the galaxy itself; it occurs in more natural subjects than you could imagine, making it no coincidence. 

6. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Mean
The Golden Mean is defined by a mathematical sequence of numbers known as the Fibonacci sequence. By definition, the first two Fibonacci numbers are 0 and 1, and each remaining number is the sum of the previous two. So the sequence is:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, ....
The ratio of each pair of consecutive numbers approximates phi, or the number (5 divided by 3 is 1.666, 8 divided by 5 is ) By the 40th number in the series, the ratio has stabilized at 1.618, accurate to 15 decimal places.
“Mathemagician” Arthur Benjamin explores the Fibonacci numbers.

7. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
What’s a this ratio look like graphically?
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Rectangle
We draw a rectangle whose ratio of the length of the side to the other is the golden ratio of 1.618:1.
The Golden Rectangle

8. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Rectangle
Know what has roughly the same ratio of sides?
Isn’t that weird?
But, this ratio appears everywhere in nature…(mind-blowing coming soon…)
The 35mm film plane. 1
1.61

9. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Ratio
We start with the Golden Mean: 1.618:1.
Gives us the Golden Rectangle.
We need the Golden Spiral (The Fibonacci Spiral or nautilus shape).
The Spiral is what appears all over the place in nature.

10. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
We draw a rectangle that is divided into squares.
The ratio of the length of the side of a larger square to the next smaller square is the golden ratio of 1.618:1.

11. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
A Fibonacci spiral is formed by connecting the arcs (quarter circles) joining opposite corners of the squares

12. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
A Fibonacci spiral is formed by connecting the arcs (quarter circles) joining opposite corners of the squares

13. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

14. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

15. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

16. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.
Microscopic view of the ovary of an Anglerfish. Nikon's It's a Small World Competition. 

17. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

18. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

19. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.
Spiral aloe.

20. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

21. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.
Sunflower.

22. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.
All pinecones display
a Fibonacci sequence.

23. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

24. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

25. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

26. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

27. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

28. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

29. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
This is the shape that appears all over the place.

30. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
And where it starts is way back here…ancient Greece…
The Greeks supposedly built and painted using the Golden Ratio all the time (not proven in DaVinci’s writings, though).

31. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
And where it starts is way back here…ancient Greece…
The Greeks supposedly built and painted using the Golden Ratio all the time (not proven in DaVinci’s writings, though).

32. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
And where it starts is way back here…ancient Greece…
The Greeks supposedly built and painted using the Golden Ratio all the time (not proven in DaVinci’s writings, though).

33. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds –
The Golden Spiral
(the Fibonacci Spiral)
And where it starts is way back here…ancient Greece…
The Greeks supposedly built and painted using the Golden Ratio all the time (not proven in DaVinci’s writings, though).

34. The Rule Of Thirds

35. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds
States that a frame is divided with two horizontal and two vertical lines.
Horizontal first…

36. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds
What’s the most important part of the actor?
Where do we put them now?
Automatically makes a better shot!

37. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds
But, remember the lines go both ways, and this is what dovetails into the Relational Power Theory.
Screen is also divided vertically.

38. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds
Put the two together and this is what you get.
Nicely composed shots.

39. Your Second Rule of Cinematography
The Rule of Thirds - WHY?
Studies say this is how we view any piece of media.
But why?
Again, it’s ingrained.

40. Purpose of Rule of Thirds
Remember this picture?
Dead space needs to become active space.
How do we do it?

41. Purpose of Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds does three things:
Creates active space, thus creating balance in the frame.
Creates space for other actors to enter.
Gives actors room to look, speak, and move.

42. Purpose of Rule of Thirds
Lead Room
If a character is looking frame left, then he should be placed frame right.
This makes the framing comfortable because the subject is looking at the open space in front of him.
This open space is called lead room or lead space.
If the actors were frame left, looking frame left, then the empty space would be behind them.
This doesn't feel right because they would be looking at the edge of the frame.
The proximity to the frame would generate a claustrophobic undertone that could upset some viewers.
Notice that when two shots of two actors in different sides of the screen are intercut together, the audience surmises that the actors are looking to one another, regardless of where they are. (this would be funny to shoot! and show!)

43. The Rule Of Thirds vs. The Golden Ratio
Watch “The King’s Speech” (or look at the stills)
Watch use of negative space.
Is the rule of thirds really thrown out the window?
The Rule of Thirds vs. The Golden Ratio