I'm not big on rules in filmmaking. I'm not against them, but I'm against the idea of having them, because it implies that the creative process can be boiled down to something like putting together IKEA furniture. Just follow the rules, and everything will be ok - but of course then everything will be the same.

With that in mind, I'm not a fan of the rule of thirds when it comes to composition. If you're not familiar with it, the idea is that you divide your frame into thirds, and then you place your areas of interest on those thirds. BUT WHY?

Well, there's a good reason. If your key visual occupies one third of the frame, and the rest two thirds, there's an imbalance, which means there's tension. Your bad guy fills two thirds and your good guy one third? Bad guy is a threat. Flip it around, and now Mr Good is winning.

The why is the important thing. There will be times when you don't want an imbalance. Like if you're Wes Anderson.

So with that in mind, I want to talk about a concept (certainly not a rule) that can be useful in composition - compression and release.

What makes this concept so powerful is that when used correctly, it loads a shot with tension. If you compress a spring, you're loading it with potential energy. If you compress a shot, you're doing the same thing. It's the same idea as suspense. The tension creates discomfort, and you reward the audience for holding on with relief - catharsis.

Gandalf gets it. Do you?

As always, we've got a cheat sheet to explore and go further with the idea.