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June 22, 2006

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» Presentation Zen on the rule of thirds from spurgeonblog
I'm a big fan(*) of Presentation Zen, a great blog by Garr Reynolds devoted to teaching people how to improve their talks and presentations (how many poorly executed PowerPoint talks have I dozed through? It feels like thousands). The... [Read More]

» Presentation Zen on the rule of thirds from spurgeonblog
I'm a big fan(*) of Presentation Zen, a great blog by Garr Reynolds devoted to teaching people how to improve their talks and presentations (how many poorly executed PowerPoint talks have I dozed through? It feels like thousands). The... [Read More]

Comments

Roy Blumenthal

Hiya Garr...

Very useful composition lesson!

My comment is about the two different ads... I have to say that the Australia one is the standout one for me.

The main reason is that the New Zealand one is not unique.

Sure... the shots are beautiful. Stirring. Etcetera. But I've seen every single one of those shots (except for the snow) in South Africa. And I'm sure people from around the world will be able to point out their own equivalent local beauty.

The New Zealand ad basically says, 'This is a beautiful country.'

For me, the power of the Australian ad is that it contextualises that beauty. The Australian ad says, 'You've seen beauty all round the world. But the Australian spirit lets you EXPERIENCE it in a whole new way.'

For me, the Aussie ad makes me pose questions to myself. The New Zealand one just has me gaping at natural beauty. For me, an ad has to demand engagement, and the New Zealand one makes me a spectator only. The Aussie one has me participating.

Blue skies
love
Roy

Mauro Mello Jr.

Garr - howdy!

1. As a pro photographer you know that some SLR cameras allow you to change the focusing screen and use one with gridlines etched on them (I have one in my trusty Canon T90), which is great for aiding composition and balance.

In the case of digital cameras and camcorders, an easy or el cheapo way to be 'forcefully' reminded of the Rule of Thirds, or the grid representing it, is to stick a clear screen protector (for PDAs) onto the camera's LCD screen and then draw the grid on it (so you don't ruin the LCD protective coating; you can also remove the protector if it stands too much in the way, or design more creative grids).

This won't work out well if it is placed on an optical viewfinder, due to the short distance between the eye and the glass piece.

2. The 'dead center, dead safe' option resolves the picture too easily and leaves nothing much to the imagination: the picture is what it is supposed to be, "I'm right here", nothing different. Even voice-overs often resolve things way too easily.

If you place things off-center or without sound at all (that is, off the beaten track...) you are breaking this expectation by making things sort of unbalanced: Is there anything else in the picture that I am not aware of and should be? Why this much space left/right? What is he up to? You can then supply this information to build the viewer's knowledge and 'complete the picture'.

I know people who get upset with off-center compositions (and vice-versa); sometime even more when it is slightly skewed (say, not in an 'easily' detected spot, like 1/3 of the way between two walls or 45 or 90 degrees, etc). I used to place subjects on the third (or even further out) and make them look *out* the picture (away from the center) and people complained that they could not see what was out there - why wasn't I showing it?

Of course, depending on the situation, you can also use a dead center composition (when the audience expects it another way) to create this imbalance and break the flow (purposefully).

3. Great site, a wealth of very, very good ideas!

Kim Dawley

As both a marketer and photographer I couldn't agree with you more. Just thought I'd include a completely different type of ad that has caught my attention recently. It's for Sony Bravia www.bravia-advert.com. The brilliant visuals not only make the ads point -- colour like no other -- but also envoke a really happy, playful feeling. And when I learned that it wasn't done with CGI but with 250,000 superballs bounced down San Francisco streets, well... that's worth talking about.

Vicki

This is an excellent post and one that I am going to use for my students as I teach them powerpoint. My sister is a graphic designer and she often says the easier something looks to do, the more thought has gone into it. This is true with the rule of thirds. You just explain it so well and so visually. That is one thing that you do that is so very helpful, you use visuals to explain, so many people leave them out which is not helpful to those of us who do not live in the industry. I've been reading you for a while, but you've moved up to my A list.

Robin Capper

Nice post & great advice. The comments on “100% Pure” are interesting to read. I’ve seen it screening on Discovery and wondered what sort of impact it has when you don’t live in New Zealand!

Sholom Sandalow

The question I have about photography and the "Golden Mean" is this...Do photographers conciously look for these patterns, or are they just taking pretty shots?

Simon Raybould

Good stuff as usual.

Just a quick point to state the obvious - digital cameras have made this kind of thing much easier. Even a "boring" subject-centre-centre shot can be 'salvaged' with a quick trip into Photoshop (or my favourite, GIMP): just a quick crop and stuff does wonders.

Essentially the offset issue works because it implies movemement, I think. We're culturally expecting things to be centre-centre so when they're not, our minds assume that they're moving towards *being* centre-centre... and that assumption implies dynamism in the picture. I wonder if it'll still work so well when we're all exposed to the more sophisticated offset shots like this?

One last point - I'm going to be referring people to this post in my own (www.Curved-Vision.co.uk) presentation skills training in the UK.

fear public speaking

Nice post & great advice. The comments on “100% Pure” are interesting to read. I’ve seen it screening on Discovery and wondered what sort of impact it has when you don’t live in New Zealand!

http://public-speaking-tips1.blogspot.com/2008/10/fear-public-speaking_19.html

Dll

This is true with the rule of thirds. You just explain it so well and so visually.

That is one thing that you do that is so very helpful, you use visuals to explain, so many people leave them out which is not helpful to those of us who do not live in the industry.

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The question I have about photography and the "Golden Mean" is this...Do photographers conciously look for these patterns, or are they just taking pretty shots?

Tadilat Dekorasyon

For me, the power of the Australian ad is that it contextualises that beauty. The Australian ad says, 'You've seen beauty all round the world. But the Australian spirit lets you EXPERIENCE it in a whole new way.'

Perde Dekorasyon

You just explain it so well and so visually.

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"the outer third" is the reason why many of my pictures look great. I don't like to center the center of attention, but instead put it in the side - that way you'll get nice images.

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Robert

I agree visual is very powerful. Someone said: "thousand words can't express one image".

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I agree with all the above visual is important in terms of picturing things.

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I think we are surrounded by so many messages wrapped in so many different forms of media that the work and talent required to make these is pretty intense. A lot more creative juice than I have in my body.

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Someone said: "thousand words can't express one image".

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You just explain it so well and so visually.

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Essentially the offset issue works because it implies movemement, I think. We're culturally expecting things to be centre-centre so when they're not, our minds assume that they're moving towards *being* centre-centre... and that assumption implies dynamism in the picture. I wonder if it'll still work so well when we're all exposed to the more sophisticated offset shots like this

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I didn't think the ads on the best job in the world was great but it really took of and the response online was outstanding. I couldn't believed that so many people would have taken up the challenge.

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The question I have about photography and the "Golden Mean" is this...Do photographers conciously look for these patterns, or are they just taking pretty shots?

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