How are film and television screens composed?

The composition of film and television images mainly includes composition, light, color, sound and text. Through realism, expressiveness, metaphorical symbolism and special symbolic meaning, the aesthetic principles of the picture are displayed and a certain theme of the picture is expressed. The main elements of the picture are: main body, accompanying body, foreground, background, background and empty shot.

Let’s first talk about the subject of the picture composition. It is the main object to be expressed in the film and television picture. It is also the structural center of gravity and visual center of the picture composition, playing a leading role. We need to make the subject of the picture occupy a prominent position in the picture, use light and color to create sharp contrast, and then use methods such as the relationship between virtual and real to highlight the subject.

The accompaniment forms a specific relationship with the subject to assist the subject in expressing the main idea. It is the foil of the subject, and is generally expressed as the relationship between people, people and things, and things and things. In the movie "Infernal Affairs", the escort police officer Huang and the subject "Ren" secretly meet to witness the origin of "Ren" as an undercover gang and the true identity of "Ren".

The foreground refers to the person or scenery in front of the subject and close to the camera. It is often used to explain the plot, create an environmental atmosphere, enhance the depth of the picture, enhance visual expression, and form a certain pattern beauty and decorative effect.

The background is located behind the main body and is an integral part of the environment. It is the main component of the life atmosphere in the picture.

The background is often larger than or includes the background, used to render and set off the subject, create the atmosphere of the scene, and show the depth of space. For example, in the film "The Pianist", the background of the Jews being driven by the German army to produce military products and suffering from hunger and killing is coupled with the spatial background of the pianist taking refuge in a small attic. It plays the role of foil, rendering and setting off the main body, allowing the main body of the picture to be clearly presented visually.

Empty shots, also known as "scenery shots", refer to those shots in the film that only show natural scenery or scenes without characters. This kind of lens is often used to introduce environmental background, explain time and space, render artistic conception, heighten atmosphere, arouse associations, and advance the storyline. It has the functions of explanation, suggestion, symbol, metaphor, etc. It also has the unique function of transforming time and space and adjusting the rhythm of the film.

Then let’s talk about the second part of the film and television screen - light. It is the basis of the visual information and visual modeling of the lens. It is an extremely important element in film language. It is an effective means to reveal the theme and depict characters, emphasize different scenery or images, render emotions and artistic conception, trigger associations, etc.

Light has a wide range of functions. For example, thick and thick light means heavy and strong; light and thin often represent light and weak; straight lines represent strength, and arcs show dynamics; diagonal lines show speed, and curves show speed. There is rhythm; bright represents light, joy, and happiness; dark represents dullness, difficulty, and sadness; reflection represents grace, tranquility, dreaminess, etc.; this will be of great help in understanding the images in movies and TV shows or understanding the plot.

Next is the third part of the film and television screen - color. It can most directly reflect the emotional content, subjective ideas and artistic atmosphere of the picture. Colors also have symbolic meanings. For example, white symbolizes happiness, innocence and cleanliness; black symbolizes sadness, despair, heaviness, etc.

Colors convey people’s emotions and psychological states, and are the external expression of people’s inner world. Even the same color has different meanings in different works. In films, a variety of colors are often used to convey different character emotions. For example, the Soviet film "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" uses simple black and white to show the cruelty of war, and uses soft colors to show the female soldiers' yearning for a better life.

Finally, let’s talk about text, which is the subtitles in film and television screens, which play an auxiliary role in explaining the auditory and visual images in the screen. Such as subtitles indicating time, place, character identity, etc. Text, visual and auditory elements together allow the audience to enjoy the true artistic beauty.