I think the complaint about a cluttered background is actually a complaint about dead space in the shot.
Back when I first started in photography (back in the day when we mixed our own chemicals and did our own developing and every shot had a price tag so the more you sucked the more expensive it got), I had a professor that gave a very good lesson on knowing where the viewer's attention should be. She railed against dead space that served no useful purpose. Open vista shots had a purpose if you were conveying openness and vastness, such as a landscape or a lonely cowboy riding the range, but I don't think that's what you're trying to do here. It's ok to have open space in a video like this, if eventually you have action in it. I see this a lot in horror films; the scared hero has an off-center close-up of her crying in fear, with dead space over her shoulder, and then over her shoulder the face of the monster appears out of the darkness. That sort of thing.
Take this shot for example (Photo Lesson 1). I've marked the problems I have with it. It's ok to have dead space to Lola's front, because you eventually have action in it. But there's absolutely no action by the table behind her. Why is it in the shot? I would've shifted the camera to the right so that the trestle/sawhorse is more centered in the frame, since eventually she ends up there (cue sense of foreshadowing) and because you pass through that space to get your Tools of Torment (cue another sense of foreshadowing) and included your tools on the right-hand border.
In Photo Lesson 2, you also have a dead space issue. That table serves no useful function. Lola never ends up there and you never go there for anything. So, the camera should've been shifted to the right, with Lola on the left border and you operating on the right border. Unless, of course, this was an artistic decision to keep the audience focused on Lola. But its not really necessary. Let me explain.
I will give you kudos for keeping Lola on the left-hand side of the pictures. People generally view a photo left to right, top to bottom, in that order. Having Lola on the left immediately tells us that she's where we need to pay attention. She doesn't need to be in the middle. Then we scan to the right and pick you up as the action element. It's almost like a sport - we see the goal, then we see the ball, then we see the ball going into the goal.
Hope this helps. Just passing along some hard-learned and expensive lessons.
skullchaser wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:10 am
Hope this helps. Just passing along some hard-learned and expensive lessons.
Holy imagine composition rules. IMO the video should increase view impact just to brooming out tables with glass plan, bottles with a yellow liquid inside, shoes, "very original" painting, wires, chair, "ancient" heater.....
Then just victims , torture tools and executioner.....placed in correct focus points, as Skullchaser two-lessons explained.
Anyway very appreciate Miss Belle work to inflict as much as pain her victims can endure.
skullchaser wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:10 am
Can I take a moment to discuss framing?
I think the complaint about a cluttered background is actually a complaint about dead space in the shot.
Back when I first started in photography (back in the day when we mixed our own chemicals and did our own developing and every shot had a price tag so the more you sucked the more expensive it got), I had a professor that gave a very good lesson on knowing where the viewer's attention should be. She railed against dead space that served no useful purpose. Open vista shots had a purpose if you were conveying openness and vastness, such as a landscape or a lonely cowboy riding the range, but I don't think that's what you're trying to do here. It's ok to have open space in a video like this, if eventually you have action in it. I see this a lot in horror films; the scared hero has an off-center close-up of her crying in fear, with dead space over her shoulder, and then over her shoulder the face of the monster appears out of the darkness. That sort of thing.
Take this shot for example (Photo Lesson 1). I've marked the problems I have with it. It's ok to have dead space to Lola's front, because you eventually have action in it. But there's absolutely no action by the table behind her. Why is it in the shot? I would've shifted the camera to the right so that the trestle/sawhorse is more centered in the frame, since eventually she ends up there (cue sense of foreshadowing) and because you pass through that space to get your Tools of Torment (cue another sense of foreshadowing) and included your tools on the right-hand border.
In Photo Lesson 2, you also have a dead space issue. That table serves no useful function. Lola never ends up there and you never go there for anything. So, the camera should've been shifted to the right, with Lola on the left border and you operating on the right border. Unless, of course, this was an artistic decision to keep the audience focused on Lola. But its not really necessary. Let me explain.
I will give you kudos for keeping Lola on the left-hand side of the pictures. People generally view a photo left to right, top to bottom, in that order. Having Lola on the left immediately tells us that she's where we need to pay attention. She doesn't need to be in the middle. Then we scan to the right and pick you up as the action element. It's almost like a sport - we see the goal, then we see the ball, then we see the ball going into the goal.
Hope this helps. Just passing along some hard-learned and expensive lessons.
Thanks for the info.
I'm really pushed for space in that tiny studio flat, the other half of that room is filled with 4 soft boxes (Lights) 4 cameras on tripods and my cameraman squeezing in to whatever space is left. My goal is to have a large room or studio just for my shoots. Behind my couch is a Malaysian frame and a Singapore frame, folded down for space. In my cupboard there is my trestle and my newest box style punishment bench which I recently used in my latest (unedited) film with Eat.
skullchaser wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:10 am
Hope this helps. Just passing along some hard-learned and expensive lessons.
Holy imagine composition rules. IMO the video should increase view impact just to brooming out tables with glass plan, bottles with a yellow liquid inside, shoes, "very original" painting, wires, chair, "ancient" heater.....
Then just victims , torture tools and executioner.....placed in correct focus points, as Skullchaser two-lessons explained.
Anyway very appreciate Miss Belle work to inflict as much as pain her victims can endure.
The wires are for my internet. The comment about the fire made me giggle, it's not old just cheap.
Thanks for the compliment, though this film is different from my other films, I usually focus on maximum pain.
skullchaser wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:10 am
Can I take a moment to discuss framing?
I think the complaint about a cluttered background is actually a complaint about dead space in the shot.
Back when I first started in photography (back in the day when we mixed our own chemicals and did our own developing and every shot had a price tag so the more you sucked the more expensive it got), I had a professor that gave a very good lesson on knowing where the viewer's attention should be. She railed against dead space that served no useful purpose. Open vista shots had a purpose if you were conveying openness and vastness, such as a landscape or a lonely cowboy riding the range, but I don't think that's what you're trying to do here. It's ok to have open space in a video like this, if eventually you have action in it. I see this a lot in horror films; the scared hero has an off-center close-up of her crying in fear, with dead space over her shoulder, and then over her shoulder the face of the monster appears out of the darkness. That sort of thing.
Take this shot for example (Photo Lesson 1). I've marked the problems I have with it. It's ok to have dead space to Lola's front, because you eventually have action in it. But there's absolutely no action by the table behind her. Why is it in the shot? I would've shifted the camera to the right so that the trestle/sawhorse is more centered in the frame, since eventually she ends up there (cue sense of foreshadowing) and because you pass through that space to get your Tools of Torment (cue another sense of foreshadowing) and included your tools on the right-hand border.
In Photo Lesson 2, you also have a dead space issue. That table serves no useful function. Lola never ends up there and you never go there for anything. So, the camera should've been shifted to the right, with Lola on the left border and you operating on the right border. Unless, of course, this was an artistic decision to keep the audience focused on Lola. But its not really necessary. Let me explain.
I will give you kudos for keeping Lola on the left-hand side of the pictures. People generally view a photo left to right, top to bottom, in that order. Having Lola on the left immediately tells us that she's where we need to pay attention. She doesn't need to be in the middle. Then we scan to the right and pick you up as the action element. It's almost like a sport - we see the goal, then we see the ball, then we see the ball going into the goal.
Hope this helps. Just passing along some hard-learned and expensive lessons.
Thanks for the info.
I'm really pushed for space in that tiny studio flat, the other half of that room is filled with 4 soft boxes (Lights) 4 cameras on tripods and my cameraman squeezing in to whatever space is left. My goal is to have a large room or studio just for my shoots. Behind my couch is a Malaysian frame and a Singapore frame, folded down for space. In my cupboard there is my trestle and my newest box style punishment bench which I recently used in my latest (unedited) film with Eat.
skullchaser wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:10 am
Hope this helps. Just passing along some hard-learned and expensive lessons.
Holy imagine composition rules. IMO the video should increase view impact just to brooming out tables with glass plan, bottles with a yellow liquid inside, shoes, "very original" painting, wires, chair, "ancient" heater.....
Then just victims , torture tools and executioner.....placed in correct focus points, as Skullchaser two-lessons explained.
Anyway very appreciate Miss Belle work to inflict as much as pain her victims can endure.
The wires are for my internet. The comment about the fire made me giggle, it's not old just cheap.
Thanks for the compliment, though this film is different from my other films, I usually focus on maximum pain.
These are rules for still pictures. Miss Belle's art is motion videos with sound, and the sound is critical to the hotness of the scene. Thanks MB
hepi2 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 5:24 pm
a very nice film miss belle. holly enjoyed the whole thing very much i think. I think it works a lot more and you should take it a lot harder next time. When Holly was bent over the box, the camera should have been farther to the left, so that Miss Belle would have been seen more often in a short black skirt taking the blows. I'm looking forward to the next session with Holly.
Thanks for the comment, I missed this until now. I always appreciate feedback and it's especially nice to hear positive feedback.
Miss Belle, I have to give you credit for the sanitary wipes idea. I liked it so much in your Cabin Crew film that I put it in one of my customs with Cruel World. In an electrocution scene, it really adds a nice dramatic touch.