The Formal Elements

We had a lecture on the formal elements of composition this morning which I found really useful as I don't really know anything about the formal elements and how to add that into my work.

Some of the formal elements are:

* line

* form

* shape

* tone

* texture

* colour

*pattern

* symmetry

* camera angle

One of the formal elements that I was quite interested in was the element of line. As an example we got shown a picture of windy roads which is an example of leading lines. This gave me an idea of something that I could do for part of my project. I am also going to try and shoot something this afternoon using the element of line as I am shooting at Royal William Yard this afternoon.

The idea that I have had for my project based on leading lines is to shoot one or two images from a birds eye view of the lanes going through the moors.

Another formal element that I am interested in is the camera angle. I already shoot from different angles but I am more interested in the effect that it gives on the picture. We got shown two different camera angles: Bird's Eye and Worm's Eye. I like the look of both camera angles as they both give two different perceptions of area. I am thinking of maybe trying both of the camera angles out for my project to see what difference is. I am thinking though that by doing a bird's eye view it will be from another tor on Dartmoor instead of from a helicopter etc. The image of the beach and the swan are examples of a bird's eye view and a worm's eye view.

These two images above are what I imagine a bird's eye view and a worm's eye view to look like on the moors.

I found the lecture quite helpful as I didn't really know anything about the formal elements before or how to add them into my work but now I feel like I can add some into my work on purpose now instead of doing by accident and without realising. There are some that I am still a bit unsure on but I will get there in the end.