Hey Reader,

Today, I show you how you can use center framing as a storytelling tool, why you should have a "Shooting Ratio", and introduce you to my new content on Instagram.

This Week's Frame

Key Takeaway: How you can use center framing as a storytelling tool.

While the rule of thirds is a great foundation for composition, breaking it with intention—for example through center framing—can lead to interesting emotions.

Directors like Wes Anderson use center framing to create a sense of order, symmetry, and surreal focus. It's not just a stylistic choice, it’s a tool for storytelling. Here are a few aspects:

• Emotional Isolation: Placing a character dead-center in the frame can enhance a feeling of loneliness or introspection, especially when surrounded by negative space.
• Attention and Control: Center framing eliminates distraction. It pulls the viewer’s eyes to exactly where you want them, creating a hyper-focused visual experience.
• Tone and Style: When used consistently, center framing establishes a stylized world that feels deliberate and controlled. That's perfect for comedy, quirkiness, or subtle drama.

Experiment with centering your subject and then layering in lighting and color to emphasize mood. When used with intent, it becomes more than just aesthetic.

Frame it Better

Key Takeaway: The "Shooting Ratio" Rule That Saves You Hours in Post

Editing can quickly turn into chaos if you over-shoot without a plan. But there's one simple principle that can keep your workflow clean. It's to define a shooting ratio.

A shooting ratio is the amount of footage you record versus what actually ends up in the final cut. If you usually shoot 50 minutes to create a 5-minute video, your ratio is 10:1.

To avoid wasting time, I try to keep my ratio intentional by following a few habits. After writing my script, I would start planning out every shot on a Notion table. I also categorize them with details such as framing, location, camera settings, etc. This keeps everything organized and makes it super fast to get all the shots I need.

It's also good practice to mark the best takes directly when recording them. That saves you later time when going through the shots.

And for naming files, I usually assign a number to every shot in my Notion table. Then after I got all my shots, I write the shot number as an index in the file name. That makes it later easy to find them.

Final Frame

Key Takeaway: New storytelling content on Instagram.

For everyone who hasn't seen my new Instagram Account yet, feel free to check it out here. I've uploaded a bunch of new storytelling content that helps you to tell better stories and improve your filmmaking skills.

Thank you for reading The Weekly Frame. See you in the next one! Markus Galli

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