Task 4 - A director's commentary on how i used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages.

During the making of our music video we used many new media technologies. We used them extensively at all the five stages of the production including, research and development, planning, pre production, production, post production distribution and evaluation.
We decided to use new media technologies such as, blogger.com, youtube, slideshare, google and Wikipedia because they are available, easy to use and practical. Using these new media technologies are an easy free alternative of using old and unreliable resources such as pen and paper, and looking for hours in large books full of lots of information.Youtube is such an important website because many music artists strongly rely on it for getting there music out and heard. Many artists post their latest music videos and do video blogs of themselves talking to their fans. This is an extremely sufficient way of using youtube to advertise yourself and your music in order to get heard and noticed.

When we where first notified that we would be getting into groups and making a music video for our media work I instantly went onto the internet and started watching music videos for other bands and artists! I went onto youtube to watch these music videos as it is the most used, well known and reliable video sharing website. I looked at a broad range of different artists from country and folk to hip-hop and rap. I feel that it was important to look at a broad range of different music videos because I needed to get a feel of how music videos look and how they are made. This is when I began looking at the more indie and folky music videos and they really began to interest me. I started watching music videos from such bands and artists like Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn. They all had a similar non-image quality, focusing very much on the music rather than a storyline of some sort. They where neither glamorous nor expensive looking and I really liked this factor. I decided to look up one of my favorite bands, Bon Iver on youtube to see what music videos they had. This is when I realised that they did not have any music videos made! I found this extremely interesting as most bands, no matter how small they are have music videos. This is when I decided that I would really like to do one of their songs, as we have nothing to steal ideas and inspiration from.

I also used Wikipedia to gain information about the band Bon Iver who we chose to use. Without Wikipedia I would not have been able to find out the bands record label which I needed to know in order to right a letter to them asking for permission to use their song. When I found out that their record label was ‘Jagwagwar’ I then went on google to find their website and get their headquarters email address. After obtaining this email address, I then used yet another new media technology of email to send ‘Jagwagwar’ our letter. Email is a great stress free and extremely fast way of sending information and letters as an alternative of post.

During the whole process of making this music video I have used Blogger.com to record and keep track of my process. This was a more efficient way to writing down notes because I used things such as posting links to Internet websites, posting photos and videos. If I had just simply written everything I could have easily lost it and also not been able to post links to websites that doing on blogger is so easy to view.

During our shoot we used more new media technology by using digital sony NX5 HD cameras. This is important because only recently has HD been introduced and people have started using it. HD stands for high definition and puts our videoin a much better quality allowing the audience to see everything well.

During the post production we again used new

media technology in order to edit it. We used an editing program for Mac called Final Cut Pro in order to cut and edit our video. We then used another program called After Effects in order to create the effect where our actress Lottie turns black and white and disappears in the end. Without these programs we would be shooting

our music video in film and using the extremely old fashioned process of literally ‘Cutting’ the frames and sticking them together in order to edit and cut our video into the right length.

In order to distribute and get out video out there and seen we used the website youtube that I talked about earlier. It is a very efficient way to distribute our music video because anyone can watch it and leave comments and feedback on our video. It is also very efficient because it we did not have this new media technology of youtube and the internet, we would literally have to have a little show of our music video getting random members of the audience to come in and watch our video on a small TV.

Task 3 - What I learnt from my audience feedback.

In order to obtain some contructive feedback we got ten media students from the year below to watch our music video and fill out the questionaire bellow. The answers bellow are the most common answers with a mix from all the questionaires we handed out and things that where said during a discussion about our music video that carried out after watching it. It was very interesting to see what other people thought about our video and to hear about what they think worked and what they think didn't.

Q: What genre would you pigeonhole this type of music to?
A: "Alternate Folk", "Acoustic Singer Songwriter" "Urban"

Q: Did the use of camera and editing compliment the song, and if so how?
A: The best bits of the video where when the camera tracked slowly around the singer like at the beginning, perhaps more of these shots could have been used. Less static shots, and more tracking/panning. The blurry after effects work very well to create an atmosphere of surreal reminiscence and nostalgia.

Q: What was the purpose of using two locations?
A: There was a constant oscillation between reality and fantasy, and they moved to smoothly between them that the reader felt melancholy and relaxed. Sometimes the song felt depressing. The two locations made a connection between the lead singer and the character in the wood. Was he reflecting on a memory/fantasy? A broken relationship? Teenage fantasies?

Q: Who do you think the target audience are?
A: Young people our age, especially girls who would like to emotionally invest in the narrative. Girls love love stories. Bon Iver appeals to university students, festival-goers.

Q: Any other comments about synergy, film language, representation?
A: We think that the video both conforms and challenges the conventions of pop videos. It conforms because it uses romance as a narrative and the beautiful red haired girl to make a statement about beauty and idealism. However it challenges stereotypical conventions because it has an unhappy ending where we want the boy and girl to fall in love but instead she disappears and this leaves us with a negative take on love.

We also looked at some comments that where posted on our youtube video of what people thought about our video. Some of the comments that where posted where,

I really like the way in which you have set up a dream like world as this is how i feel when i listen to the song.

hurtwoodhousemedia

What i most liked about this video was how the cuts where made. I think that they went well

with the beats and happened in the right places.

musiclover77

LOVE IT!!!!

indiegirlforever

maybe u cud hav created more of a story in the woods

macmacap

Task 2 - A Powerpoint presentation to explore how effective the pop video and ancillary products were in selling the song and the singer

View more presentations from hurtwoodhousemedia5

Task 1 - In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Final Ideas For Ancillary Products

After finishing both our digi pack and our poster we saw many synergistic link qualities between the two and where very happy with the outcome. When making our digi pack on adobe Photoshop, we used a six sided template, however in the process of making it we decided that a six sided digi pack was not necessary for our genre as it is rather simple and more to do with the music than the commercialism. We then changed it, and used a four sided digi pack template and decided that this worked a lot better. We printed it out to see what it looked like, but realised that we needed to flip two of the sides upside down, as when we print it and fold it, it will then all be in the right position etc. I then went back onto Photoshop and flipped the two top sides upside down and re printed it. I then cut it and folded it and it was all in perfect position and looked great! We included a track list on the back, a picture of Leo on the inside so he is not selling his face but letting his fans see him. And also a page with the two character from the music video in, featuring the lyrics to the song 'Flume' that we used, for our music video. We included all these things because we thought this is the kind of thing that our target audience would like to see and expect when buying our CD. We didnt want it to be too, 'in your face', or too dull and boring so we found a mid way point that worked very well. We also made our poster on Adobe Photoshop, using a portrait A4 size layout. We decided to use a picture that I took during the location shoot. It is of a leaf hanging off a spiders web on a branch. We thought that this picture was rather beautiful and very suitable for our poster. We placed this photo into Photoshop and then played around with where we would place the text and Leo’s name. We already knew what font we where using because we needed to sue the same font as on the digi pack. It is the font, Edwardian Script and is very pretty looking and rather old fashioned. We chose this font because I think that our target audience are the kind of people to be into old fashioned and vintage style things. We also used old fashioned and vintage style things in out music video, so by using an old fashioned, vintage style writing helps create even more synergy in our entire production of both music video and campaign. I think that both our digi pack and our poster where a great success and work very well for our style of music. It appeals very well to our target audience and they would be very inclined to either buy our CD or go to one of their concerts. As a campaign I think that it works very well because there is a lot of synergy included in all of the areas. It also goes against the normal conventions of pop music and this is something, as a group, we felt very strongly about doing.

Ancillary Product Development 2

We talked over ideas and plans for the poster as group, just as we did for the digi pack. Again we talked about not featuring Leo our singers face on the poster. If we chose not to put his face on the front of the digi pack, we should also not place his face on the poster, if we wish to conform to the style of this genre of music. By not placing his face on the poster, hopefully it will also draw people in who have an interest in similar music to our band, just as we hope the digi pack will do. However we did also talk about what would happen if we did place Leo’s face on the poster. Would this bring people to want to buy the CD and buy concert tickets or would it make some people slightly less inclined to buy it because of him trying to portray some sort of star image? After an experiment to the right, of trying to make a poster with Leo on it we decided that this was definitely not write for the style and genre of the music. We decided to stick with the idea of using nature to bring in a certain target audience rather than trying to bring in anyone to listen to our band. We decided that whatever font we decide to use for the digi pack, we should also use on the poster as a synergistic use of the font. This will connect the two and help people who are interested be able to relate the two. We thought that the font of the writing worked out very well as we will use this font on our digi pack in order to convey synergy. What we also thought worked was the small gig venues and pubs that where listed in his tour, over London, Nottingham and Oxford as we though these where places where people who might listen to our music might travel or live. However, after this experient we decided to stay with the idea of not using Leo's face on the poster, but using a naturesque picture that will connect very well with our music video and digi pack. Creating more synergy between them.

Ancillary Product Development 1

As a group we discussed how we would like our digi pack to look. We thought that it was important to portray our artist in the correct manor by not putting his face on the front on the cover. It may be very similar to the Laura Marling poster or the Sufjan Stevens digi pack cover. Both of these do not feature the artists face but a picture that relates back to the theme of the music. During the location shoot of our music video, I took many photos of the woods and other things around us. I got many pictures of the nature that surrounded us and we thought that something like this would be a great front cover for our digi pack.

We also discussed font style and which would look the best and suit the digi pack most. We agreed on a script style font as this connects the best to the music and the target audience members would probably most prefer a script font. We decided that it is extremely important to keep the digi pack looking natural and as inartificial as possible because of our target audience. Our target audience is men and woman between the ages on about 17-30. Probably mostly women because of the dream like quality of the music and the theme. Our target audience also enjoy not seeing the artists face on the front of the digi pack because they like to listen to music with a passion, being made because they love the music. Not because they just want to make money and sell their face. The fact that the front cover may not be his face, I think may draw in people who like similar music, to buy our CD.

We also had the idea of placing a drawn picture of our singer Leo on the front of the digi pack. We thought that by placing a drawn picture of him it would be seen as selling his music on his image as it is only a drawn picture of him. However we decided against this as we wanted to keep the digi pack as true to the genre of music as much as possible. This was important to me as I enjoy this type of music and respect artists who make music for the sake of music and not for the sake of selling and making money.

Ancillary Task Planning 2

This poster I have uploaded is for Justin Bieber. He is a very mainstream artist who makes pop music. His songs normally feature famous mainstream rap artists. As you can see by his poster he is clearly shown and covers almost the whole poster. He is shown in a way that by will excite his female fans because he looks quite attractive. The writing that is featured on the poster is quite pop looking as it is sans serif and smooth. Part of the writing is in purple and I think this is because his target audience is mainly girls between the ages of 10-18. By making the text a bright colour like purple it draws the girls into looking at it, and getting rather excited by seeing Justin Bieber’s face featured on a large poster.

You can tell by just looking at this poster that he definitely relies on his star image to sell his music. I think that many young girls buy his music and will go to his concerts because he is a teenage heartthrob and they all fancy him. The fact that he has an average voice doesn’t seem to matter to his fans, because it is all about his image. Also the fact that he normally features other famous artists in his songs, tells us that he is not good enough to just sell a song with his voice. He needs other artists to sell it by their names as well as his.

The next poster I have uploaded is for the singer/songwriter Laura Marling. She is an acoustic folk musician who is extremely into her music career. As you can see by her poster I have uploaded she is not featured on it. However, instead is a drawing of a man with lots of plants and leaves around him. It almost looks like a very old fashioned poster that they used to use when they didn’t have cameras and such.

The poster does include her name in a script font, with details on her new CD. It also explains that a 7inch vinyl is available to buy. By featuring that vinyls of her music are available it tells us that her target audience is a very different one to that of Justin Bieber’s. The sort of people who would buy and listen to vinyls are people who are really into their music and listen to it for the sound of their music. It Not the singer’s image or how good-looking they are. It would probably be aimed at an older audience too, maybe from the ages of about 17-30. Laura Marling obviously does not rely on her image in order to sell her music. She relies totally on people listening to her music and deciding from that.

These two artists are very different from each other and have extremely different posters. That is why I chose them because I thought that it would be interesting to compare and contrast the two.

Ancillary Task Planning 1

A digi pack is a special edition CD case/cover that usual contains anything from 4-8 sides that is primarily used for promotion purposes.

I did some research and looked at other bands digi packs in order to get an idea of how to make my own. First I looked the rock band, Paramore’s digi pack. You can see it in the picture shown here. It features a picture of the band on the front, their names, and their songs written all over the front. I think that this band focus’ on their star image in order to sell their music. They have a very specific look in the clothes they are wearing and the rocky image they have portrayed on the front.

However, the next digi pack I have featured here is Sufjan Stevens CD cover. This is a band that makes similar music to Bon Iver and we can relate to very much in our music. As you can see, it is extremely different to the Paramore CD cover. This cover does not include Sufjans Stevens face but only his name in very small at the top of the pack. It’s very interesting. Also everything featured on the front of the pack is natural and man-made. The tree, the flowers, the deer and the fish. Whereas the Paramore digi pack looked very artificial and man-made. It is very clear that he is not trying to sell his image here. He focuses on his music rather than selling himself.

Post Production Evaluation

After the shoot day when we had got all the shots we needed we uploaded our rushes onto Final Cut Pro and created two bins to separate the Studio shots and the Location shots. We then watched through all the shots we go got and decided to name them and cut them down. Taking away all the irrelevant parts and deleting the shots that went wrong. We then made an extremely rough version of just shots in the order we wanted them to be placed. After we had made this rough cut, we went through cutting down the shots to the right time. Post to this we put the song onto final cut pro underneath the video, so we could watch it through with the track playing. It was important and useful to have the track whilst editing, because you need to get the timing of the cuts right to the song and the lip sync correct. Or else the video will just come across as amateur and unprofessional.

Whilst editing the music video, we had a few different versions of what we might want it to look like in the end. One of the versions was full of fast cuts and a few jump cuts. Then at the end everything that happened in the location world was reversed very fast and it ended on a tracking shot of Leo's face. We decided that this version did not work well with the song we had chosen because the song is slow moving and to have the jump cuts and the reverse would just mess it up and confuse the viewers. It also just wouldn't look right for the image we want to portray.

The other version, the version we used in the end consisted of slower cuts, longer shots and slow motion shots. All these things are what really pulled our music video together. We decided that it really suited the song and flowed really well.

We had to make sure that whilst going from the location shots to the studio shots that we kept it right in a continuity sense. The shots needed to be in a certain order, for example, the shot where Lottie is lying in a tree, she then sits up and drops some bright orange coloured leaves. This needed to be near the end of the video in order to be able to use the transition into the studio where the leaves start to fall into the room Leo is sitting in.

We used after effects in order to make our video more exciting. There is a moment when Ed looks back at Lottie in a tree and there is a glowing blur around him. This helped create a rather romantic and soft feel that goes very well with our video. It also made it look very dreamlike and this was important because Lottie is not real and is just a figment of Ed’s imagination.

Account of Shoot Day

Day 1

My shoot day consisted of two half days over two different days of shooting that took place both on location and in the studio at school. The shooting of our music video began on a Tuesday in the morning in the studio. We came into the studio in the morning and began building our set by using the picture I drew as a guide. It ended up being a little bit different because of convenience reasons such as certain placements of furniture. As we began building the set, as a group we really started to get a feel of how the video would look and feel. The set began to come to life and as soon as we finished it, it looked even better! I think that our set design matched our idea and the look we where going for very well. It had the intimate indie enclosed idea that we where going for and we where all very pleased with what it looked like.We got Leo our singer into the studio and talked him through the plan of the day and guided and directed him on how the video would go and how we wanted it to look.

Once Leo was ready and understood how it was going to go we began the shoot. We began with taking a full still shot of the full set with Leo sitting in the arm chair just sitting, playing and singing the whole song, so if in editing we where stuck for shots we would have a back-up of shot of Leo singing the whole song so we could slide it in.

However we found that we had enough shots and this was not needed but it is always good to be extra prepared. We took many close ups of Leo singing, Leo’s hands playing guitar, and his feet ect… By choosing to take shots like this we made the room to look very cluttered, small and intimate, which is how we wanted to portray the room so overall this was a success. We took a close-up tracking shot around Leo’s head of him singing, we placed the camera on a dolly, which was then placed on the tracks and used to film around Leo smoothly. This shot was definitely the most difficult to take because as the camera was moving along the tracks we also had to try and smoothly move the camera so it was still pointing at Leo’s face. We had many tries at this shot and finally got one that would be good enough to put into our video.

The props and costume we used and placed in the set all had an important part of making the scene look right and portray the certain image we wanted. For example, we dressed Leo in very basic clothes, however they where quite country and folk like. He was wearing a pair of jeans with a knitted, zip up jumper. I think that this helped push the folkness of the song. Our props where also important, for example, the vinyl player and the old telephone. We decided to place these in the set because our target audience are the kind of people who like vintage and retro things and may also enjoy listening to vinyl records. By doing this it helped us pull in more of an audience and create a clearer world for the scene.

Our singer Leo was just perfect for the image we wanted to portray and was highly effective in making our music video look right. The song we chose was a very mellow, acoustic, relaxed song that reaches out to people who enjoy the music and not the image of the music. We chose Leo first of all because he actually listens to the band ‘Bon Iver’ and knew the song ‘Flume’ and enjoys it. We thought that it was very important to actually choose someone like this because otherwise it wouldn’t feel right, and a bit too fake and acted, which is what we wanted to avoid. We wanted to create and keep as much freshness and real in the video as possible. Secondly Leo’s image is just perfect because he has that natural, not trying very hard look that we wanted because the band is all about the music and NOT the looks. So I think that in this area we handled it very well and made many right choices for our music video that had a positive effect in making it look right.

Our lighting for the studio shoot we decided to keep very basic and natural, however making it warm so the room again can seem smaller and cluttered. We used a backlight of a warm orange and fill light either side to prevent shadows. We also had a lampshade in the set that was switched on. This helped light the set naturally without looking fake and artificial. And rooms do normally have lights in them so it helped create the world of the video and make it more realistic.

Throughout the day I made sure I did a bit of everything I could, like filming, lighting, set, directing and in charge of sound. However I paid special attention to the set and costume because this is what interested me most on the shoot. I helped mainly with getting the set together and putting everything in the right place and making sure that it looked right and how it should. I also made sure that Leo looked right, not just with what we was wearing but how we he acting, so I helped direct him too.

We all had a fair amount of camera use during that shoot day, making sure we all had a go as some of the more complicated shots so we could a range of shots and built our camera skill.

I think that as a team we worked great together creating a solid structure to the day without any mistakes or problems. Because we are three girls and also good friends I think that this helped us in the creation of our video by all getting on very well without any fights!

Day 2

On the second day we started after lunch for our location shoot. We got our two actors, Lottie and Ed, who we used on the location shoot and look a mini bus to Box hill, Dorking stepping-stones, the location that Lottie from our group found. During the short bus journey to the location we talked the actors through what the day would be like, the story line and what shots we wanted to get. When we got to the location we sorted out costume for Lottie and Ed and got straight into filming. We where very lucky because it was a beautiful sunny autumn day which fits in so well with the ‘Naturesque’ theme of our video.

The first shot we took was of Lottie walking on the stepping-stones over the river and toward the camera. We also had a shot of Ed doing this from the other side of the bank.

We took many shots of them both walking across the stepping stones, one shot we took from further down the river to get a shot of them walking towards each other. We needed this shot for when Ed touches Lottie’s face and she disappears. The most important thing we had to make sure that we shot, where all the transition shots that help match up the location and the studio. For example when Ed throws a stone into the water and the circular ripple of the water turns into the vinyl player. Another transition shot we took was of Lottie, sitting in a tree holding some rather beautifully coloured leaves. She then drops these leaves and the leaves start to fall onto Leo in the studio shot. We took many shots of Lottie dropping these leaves. Some normal shots and some slow motion shots. The slow motion shots seemed to work really well and this was a clear success.

Other than costume and the leaves that Lottie drops we did not change or choose anything on location. The leaves we collected before the shoot in order to make sure we had some nice orange coloured autumn leaves. The costume we chose to put Lottie in was a white dress. We chose this because we wanted to represent her as quite virginal, innocent and beautiful. Her red hair was good juxtaposition to the pure white dress. We dressed Ed in rather smart but old fashioned looked clothes. We wanted to keep the vintage dated look and also let viewers be able to connect to him by liking what he was wearing. Ed and Lottie are also rather attractive so this has a major bonus in reeling people into watching our video. If there are attractive people in our video, more people will want to watch it, rather than not very attractive people.

We did not change or add any lighting whilst on the location shoot. It was a nice sunny day and full of plenty of natural light. We where very lucky to have such great weather as England is so unpredictable!

All three of us where very happy at the end of our entire shoot. We felt that we got all the shots we needed and where very well prepared to go into post-production editing.

Storyboarding

Here is the video to our storyboard. We drew out as many frames as we could to get a rough idea of how we wanted our music video to look.

CALL SHEET

A call sheet is a sheet which contains information that will be needed before and on the day of the actual shoot. It contains information about the video, i.e. song and artist, the date(s) of the shoot and where, contct information of both cast and crew and a props and costume list.

CALL SHEET


Bon Iver - Flume

Date of shoot : Morning of 2nd November [studio] , Afternoon of 4th November [location]

Leaya Hatzakis, Elly Sams, Lottie Avery

Team contact... Leaya: xxxxxxxxxxx
Elly: xxxxxxxxxxx
Lottie: xxxxxxxxxxx

Cast List

I. Lead Singer - Leo Faulks: xxxxxxxxxxx (Beatrice Webb House)
II. Lead Girl - Lottie Tolhurst: xxxxxxxxxxx (Cornhill Manor)
III. Lead Boy- Edward Nightingale: (Peaslake House)



Props, wardrobe:

I. Large leather, aged arm chair
II. Pen knife
III. Wooden Flooring
IV. Dirty white wall
V. Shelf on wall
VI. Lots of Leaves
VII. Side Table
VIII. Old books
IX. News papers
X. Old fashioned lamp
XI. Vinyls and Vinyl Player
XII. Manuscript sheets/Hand written Lyrics
XIII. Fake tree
XIV. Polarioids
XV. Over head earphones
XVI. Acoustic Guitar
XVII. Old band posters
XVIII. Retro style telephone
XIX. Vintage 1950’s Radio
XX. Old Wooden Coat Stand
XXI. Window on set
XXII. Venetian Blind
XXIII. Checkered Blanket (picnic style)


We have liaised with Al from the Theatre department for most of the furniture that isn’t highlighted.

Pre-Prouction Planning, Set Design

SET

This is a picture I drew of what we wanted the set to look like. Here you can see an old fashioned armchair with a side table with unanimous objects on, an old fashioned telephone, a vinyl player and Polaroid photos all over the wall. By putting these things in the room we gave a slightly cool vintage feel to it. There are also pieces of newspaper scrunched up and scattered all over the floor. We want that because, it makes the room look a lot more cluttered and untidy, making the singer, who will be sitting and singing in this room, a lot more unorganised. Maybe like there is something wrong. The walls will be painted red and the floor will be wooden floor boards. Again, we will use red on the walls to make the room look cosier and more filled. The last thing we want is the room looking bare and empty.
The point of the Polaroids on the wall is because, one of the Polaroids is going to be a picture of the stepping stones. (where our other filming location is) And we will look at that photo as a transition to the other world. Another object that will be used for a transition is the vinyl player. We will go from the other world when a pebble or rock is thrown into river and it creates a ripple. That ripple will then fade dissolve into a spinning vinyl.

LIGHTING

The Lighting we have chosen is very basic for the room. We would like it to be lit quite warm, so again it has an intimate and cluttered feel, however we do not want it to be too dark. So we will have quite an ordinary mix of white and orange three point lighting.

Copyright Letter

Elly.sams@hurtwood.net
Elly Sams
Hurtwood House
Holmbury St. Mary
Dorking
Surrey
RH5 6NU

Jagwagwar Productions
234 Warren Street
Camden Town
London
E1 9QW

Dear Sir/Madam

I currently attend Hurtwood House, which is a sixth form college where I take the subject Media Studies. In our media course we are looking at the music industry and have been asked to create a music video with a song we know. I am in a group of three with two other girls and we have decided that we would like to make a video Bon Iver’s ‘Flume’, which is the reason I am writing to you. I am asking for permission to use the song because it will be posted on youtube as this is how the examiners watch it and mark us. It would be great if you could get back to me as soon as you can.

Your Sincerely,
Eleanor Sams

Composition Rules

In film there are composition rules, the rule of thirds is one of them. Imagine that what you are shooting is a frame and inside that frame imaginary lines are drawn dividing the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. You place important parts of what your shooting where these lines meet, also called 'hot spots'

By using the Rule of Thirds it can help make what your shooting nicely balanced and easy on the eye. However the rule of thirds is not strictly compulsory and does not always have to be followed. If you can make what is in the frame look better by not using the rule of thirds then don't.