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Dynamics of the frame in visual composition

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Abstract

The position of an object within a visual composition produces an effect on the observer. Does an observer see the object as strong and active if it is in the center of the picture, in one corner, “floating” off-center? Does the framing of the object or the field surrounding it give an object more meaning? Forty-four college students rated six framed, black-andwhite, single-object pictures. The 264 observations were subjected to principal axis factoring, resulting in four dimensions: activity, potency, evaluative, and verticality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kentucky, 40506, Lexington, KY

    Gerald F. Herbener (assistant professor of communication, director of the Communication Research Center), G. Norman Van Tubergen (associate professor of communication) & S. Scott Whitlow (assistant professor of journalism)

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  1. Gerald F. Herbener
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  2. G. Norman Van Tubergen
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  3. S. Scott Whitlow
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Herbener, G.F., Van Tubergen, G.N. & Whitlow, S.S. Dynamics of the frame in visual composition. ECTJ 27, 83–88 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02765329

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02765329

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