Tension is Story.
Whether in the written word, in a frame of cinema, or a simple static frame of a photo or a painting, Tension is what I have taught myself to keep an eye for, to be brought in at every given opportunity, to tell a good story.
I play with this extensively in my writing as a Filmmaker. It comes naturally to me because I have invested decades in studying and experimenting with various kinds of Tension in my writing for the screen.
I am new when it comes to the static frame. There are vast theories on Dynamic Symmetry used by various painters in their paintings. Phi root is the most common, leading to the famous concept of the golden ratio. However, more complex Dynamic Symmetry possibilities are created from root 3, root 4, root 5 (and so on) rectangles and their corresponding geometric grids.
Regarding the photographed or cinematographed frame, when the question of aspect ratio arises, one has to match the chosen aspect ratio with the aspect ratios of the root rectangles and find the closest ones so that the corresponding grids can be overlayed on the frame.
Everyone knows about symmetry
The centre, the third, the upper half, the lower half, the diagonal, etc. Visual frames created with balanced symmetry often lead to a reduction of Tension. Meanwhile, placing of elements on dynamic symmetrical grids increases dynamism in the picture and, hence, adds an inherent tension in the image. Because this unease is subliminal, we are often unaware of this occurring.
This is a subject that fascinates me.
Recently, when I was curating the 3000 odd pictures for my coffee table picture book on Varanasi, I could again study the phenomenon in my randomly clicked pictures.
I discovered that the pictures that evoked an immediate response in me were the ones that had an underlying Tension created by elements being aligned to Dynamic Symmetry grids. I don't know how much of it was accidental and how much has been driven by my subconscious.
Even between two pictures of the same subject, the one that spoke more had underlying and hidden alignments with the grids of root rectangles.
This can also be applied to the cinematic frame.
Not that people haven't done it before. A study of Blade Runner 2049 shows almost every frame conforming to the grids of the Root 6 rectangle.
This gets exciting from here. One of the challenges of a director is to be economical. This includes expression. How can you make the audience feel the most by saying the least? It's a game I enjoy playing while writing and directing.
Now add the concept of Dynamic Symmetry into this.For example, an object lying along the sinister diagonal is, in itself, a tension builder. Whether the audience is aware of it or not!
I went to Varanasi to escape the concrete jungle and be in a visually exciting place. I was trying to catch an elusive film plot, and I thought being in Varanasi may help. I decided to go solo, picked up my bag and camera with a single lens and boarded a flight, all set to return in 3 days with an idea.
I returned with 3000 odd pictures.
It is incredible how I launched my book at Goa Book Fest on the same day, exactly three months after the trip! It turned out that the owners of Hawakal Publishing were as mad and passionate about publishing as I am about my art. The book is a limited edition and is still available on Amazon India.
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