‘Joker’ DP Lawrence Sher Explains Why Everything You Know About Framing Might Be Wrong

Headroom is one of the earliest things you learn about framing as a cinematographer. Where do you place a person in the frame, and how much space is above or around their head, and why?

As cinematographer Neil Oseman notes on his blog, beginners are taught "correct" headroom. Don't put people's heads in the middle of the frame, we're told, but at the top. It's simple, it's straightforward, there's nothing "off" about it. Then you get on a real set and watch DPs ignore it constantly.

For example, you might watch a show like Mr. Robot, which, for a drama series on cable TV, felt revolutionary at the time for its off-balance framing and weird amounts of headroom. TV just wasn't shot like that, like ever. Characters would be placed low in the frame, in corners, with tons of headroom. Why?

In a new conversation on Hugo Will's CinePro channel, cinematographer Lawrence Sher digs into the topic. His Joker cinematography was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA, and won the Golden Frog at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland. He's also the founder of ShotDeck, the reference library many of you probably have bookmarked.

He talks about framing trends, relying on instinct, and the influence of larger screens. Let's dig in.

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Some Framing Calls Are Pure Instinct

Every DP has notes they can't fully justify, and Sher admits he gives a lot of them.

"I give notes after every take sometimes," he says. "And sometimes it's like, it's just something that makes no sense. It's just the balance of the frame feels different or better to me with headroom that doesn't make sense to them, and I understand why they don't do it, but I'm asking them to do it because it's just something I see."

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