Framing - Out of place framing and the Rule of Thirds

As someone who is accustomed to reading manga, I notice framing a lot as it is one of the key fundamentals in creating a good manga; if you can't frame right, you can't draw right. I feel the same way about films and the way shots are framed, it is a complicated art towards making a more impactful and effective moment. The way that manga is framed is very purposeful, there is never just a random placement of a panel in the middle of a page. This is so that more effect is translated through the page and artwork as the viewers eyes roll across the page in the authors desired way. Sometimes the framing choices are bizarre and definitely different to what is seen in films, for example, very impactful moments take up a greater portion of the page, or even a whole page, or sometimes even a spread across multiple pages. 

(One Piece, Eichiro Oda)

(Berserk, Kentaro Miura)

(Vagabond, Takehiko Inoue)

Since I am so frequently presented with all sorts of framing styles, I have come to adopt some strange habits with my own style of framing. I typically choose to make the focus of a shot in unconventional places, for example we might expect an important shot to have an object or person centered in the shot. In my latest projects I have commonly used to make the audience feel uncomfortable or unsure, which, especially for a thriller film, is likely to be a desired effect.

To summarize this, the technique I tend to use is the Rule of Thirds in which I frame the shots whilst following a grid-guide of nine squares. This creates a large gap of empty and hollow space within the shot that leads to the effect of discomfort. Again, this is further emphasized when a focus object is placed on the lines in which The Joker is positioned on in the shot below.

(Joker, 2019)

This same style of (Rule of Thirds) framing is seen in the popular television series, Mr Robot (2015-2019). The series has a lot of shots in which main characters and tense moments are framed using the rule of thirds, creating the sense of an empty space. 

(Mr Robot)

This shot look to be a moment of key realization and an important moment, traditionally, we would see a shot like this framed with the characters face in the middle and we would most likely be much closer up towards his face. However, in Mr Robot this is not the case, we are presented with a shot in which the character is placed on the left rule-of-thirds line at the bottom. This leaves a lot of empty space behind him where there are distant buildings, however since the focus of the frame is the character, we are looking in a direction that is unconventionally used for a shot like this, creating distortion and unease.

(Mr Robot)

This shot goes a step further and breaks the law of the Rule of Thirds, creating a much greater distortion in the shot as we see a moment of reflection and sorrow as the character in the bottom right corner sits sadly. This choice of framing makes him look far smaller, further enhancing the effect of a cold empty space besides him. Because this type of shot is not conventional, we get the feeling like something is wrong which makes us more anxious, which is a great emotion that a film-maker should try and instill in an audience. In addition to this, I saw a comment on the YouTube video above that says, "I think it makes the viewer feel more like a voyeur, that we are in the empty space secretly watching", and this is something I agree with and would like to try and replicate.