"World Cinema" by the Coen Brothers is very interesting in the sense that the entire film is essentially comprised of three main shots.
The first one is a symmetrical long shot of an small movie theater. This is also essentially the establishing shot of the film for it tells the audience where the film is taking place. Because this is such an important shot in the film, the composition must contain a significant amount of value. It is important to note that the titles of both of the movies are placed in between the upper third and middle third of the shot. Because this is usually where cinematographers places a subject's eyes, which is also referred to as the eye-line level, it feels more natural for the audience to focus on the text that is on display. The lighting in this shot has not been manipulated because they are taking advantage of the natural lighting. The angle of the shadows can also indicate the time of day, although at the end of the film, the shadows have not moved (although the temperature of the shot, perhaps through a lens filter, is slightly warmer indicating a passing of time) which is an error in continuity.
The second and third main shots make up a conversation between two men that are facing each other in the two shots: one is a movie-goer, and the other is an usher (or ushers, as there is a second usher in the second half of the film, but applies the same exact composition techniques). Both of these shots use the rule of third to help compose the shot. In the shot with Josh Brolin, the movie-goer, his head is placed on the upper right hand intersection. By doing this, the composition looks more natural to the audience. His face is also lighted properly, insuring that the audience's eyes are immediately drawn to his face without lingering around in other areas of the shot. The edges of the walls are vectors that creates lines that also helps to draw the audiences' eyes directly to the subject. It can be said that the brightly lit spot on the purple wall helps to balance the image by providing a visual counter-weight to the main subject.
The third main shot is of the usher (who is wearing a shirt with a purple star, that suggests a color motif). This shot is also composed with reference to the rule of thirds because the subject's head is in the upper left intersection of the frame. Like the previous shot, he is also properly lit, ensuring the audience is directed to the subject. However, this shot differs from the second one because it utilizes a frame within a frame. The frame in this case is the movie-goer's body. And not only does Brolin's body serve as a frame within a frame, it also acts as a visual counter-weight to balance the image. Again there are vectors created by the counters and desks that draws the viewer's eyes to the subject. Deep staging is used in the shot with Brolin's body used as the foreground, the subject as mid-ground, and the room as background.
