Here’s a quick guide to framing shots of people’s faces using two concepts from classic photography.
The first is the Rule of Thirds (or the Golden Rule) which divides the frame up into 9 equal rectangles using two vertical and two horizontal lines each 1/3 of the way in from the edges of the frame. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid overlaid on top of your camera’s image.
Classic photography tells us that something placed on one of these lines is more interesting than something placed in one of the boxes. Even better is something at a point where two lines intersect.
To apply this to faces we simply place the subjects eyes on the imaginary line 1/3 of the way down from the top of the screen. No matter the shot, wide, medium, or close we keep the eyes on that same 1/3rd line.
Next we use the simple idea that if we see someone looking directly into our camera we expect them to be centered on the screen. But in movies we almost never do see them look into the lens, so the farther away from the camera they look, the more space we give them to look into. We call this ‘lead space‘ since it leads the viewers eye away from the subject and allows some space for them to look into.
Lead Space increases the farther away from the lens our subject looks. In a profile shot we would have the greatest lead space. For a person looking just off of the lens to one side we would have the least.
Combining Lead Space with the Rule of Thirds we can quickly and easily compose a pleasing shot of any face.