Peter Pan - Composition Analysis

Jinny Hinkle does a nice little essay on the staging and composition of Disney's 1953 film 'Peter Pan'.

Re-blogged from this Original Post.

1. Nice use of framing here with the door and values. The subtle rhythm of the wallpaper pattern drags us down to the baseboard, which then takes us straight to Wendy's shadow. The focus is definitely on Wendy, who's talking to her mother.

2. A direct spotlight here on Mr. Darling. He's also got the greatest area of contrast from. You really don't stray away from him for very long.




3. Lots of lines of movement to lead you straight to Mr. Darling's face. Once again, he's the greatest area of contrast, so it's not hard to go to the focus.

4. The ol' Rule of Thirds comes into play, with a sweet spot on Wendy's face. Also, thanks to the rhythmic lines in the layout, our eyes flow right into position.

5. Rule of Thirds strikes again! Wendy is in the greatest area of contrast, but there's a sweet spot right on the face of Mrs. Darling's shadow, so our eyes visit both places.

6. Peter is perfectly framed here, with the moon behind his silhouette, and the house coming in around him. Once again, the greatest area of contrast.

7. Same situation here, the moon frames the characters, creating a focal point.

8. Great use of balance in this frame. Peter is completely involved with the toy chest while he's looking for his shadow, so there's no use for extra information in the other half of the frame.

9. Wendy's hand and Peter's hand are both situated right on two of the sweet spots, and with Peter framed by the window, and Wendy framed by the value contrast, it's easy to focus on them. You start at Wendy, since she has the contrast here, and then your eyes follow her lines up through her arm to Peter's, and then on his face.

10. Here we have Big Ben, framed against the night sky and also by the clouds. The spires and statue in the bottom of the frame lead our eyes up to the clock face, where Peter, Wendy, and her brothers are heading.

11. Another one with pure balance. Hook is also framed by the sky and back of the ship. Thanks to his dark hair, there's a lot of contrast to lead us into his face.

12. Smee is the framed character here, with the ropes and trees in the BG surrounding him. All of the lines on hook lead us into Smee's face. If you notice, Smee is the brightest thing in the frame.