VI

		ter is generally occupied by the elders, their children behind them, the in-laws farther out, and the grandchildren sitting down at the feet of the grown-ups. One way to conceptualize the power of the central position is to think of it as a strong magnet surrounded by a series of concentric circles: the farther out, the less "attached" or dependent the individuals are.

		Likewise, what does it mean to have someone isolated at the margins of a frame? For Arnheim, "every component not located in the center needs a justification for that deviation from the base, i.e., there must be a clearly defined force that keeps the object away from that base." 19 Whoever stands at the margins is therefore either banished by the strong center or is creating some breathing room between that center and him/herself. If the former, it is a question of authority. If the latter, a stand is being taken, an affiliation rejected, and a challenge evoked. In both cases then, someone's position in the frame is indicative of power relations and visual dramatics are used to tell us what is going on between these people.

		Any visual organization, applied continuously without variations, may, however, become tedious for the artist as well as the viewers. It makes sense therefore that, almost from the start, Renaissance artists investigated alternatives to the centrality of the most important character and the hierarchical staging favored by the painters who preceded them. In clear opposition to Leonardo's conventionally staged, frontal Last Supper (ca. 1495 98), Tintoretto radically rearranged Christ and the apostles in unconventional diagonal formations. As a result, a tiny Jesus is relocated to the furthest region of the painting. Although a Christian contemporary of the painter would have no trouble locating him in the little group because of his halo, the actual center of the painting is nevertheless no longer occupied by the most important personage in the narrative. The gain for Tintoretto is that his somewhat irreverent treatment infused his paintings with a visual dynamism lacking in Leonardo's classic deployment of the apostles around a safe, stable leader. Clearly these rule-breaking views expanded our repertoire so that today it is possible to position the action in all areas of the frame without fear of losing clarity by doing so.

		V

		Composition involves more than the mere disposition of people and objects within a frame. Paradoxically this became evident through the use of video assist technology. Today indeed, more often than not, directors are watching