Research - Colours and Lighting - General Observations

Since I began this dissertation, I've started noticing visual subtleties in films and tv programs that I watch.

For example, in the 2000 film, The Patriot, there is a sequence in which the scene layout and content stays the same, but the colour of the backdrop changes. The colour of the sky changes, from blue and clear to red and stormy, to match the aesthetic of the looming battle. Changing just one part of the scene has changed the mood of the entire scene, from happy and idyllic, to a feeling of danger and foreboding.

The Patriot (Captured using the Snipping Tool)

The Patriot (Captured using the Snipping Tool)

In the American crime drama, Castle, colour and lighting techniques are often used to enhance the mood of a scene. It is not something I noticed when I first watched the show, but looking back now, it seems so obvious!

Castle (Captured using the Snipping Tool)

Castle (Captured using the Snipping Tool)

In many episodes of Castle, the scenes have a soft, golden hue. This is to emphasise the cheerfulness of the corresponding scene. If you compare the above images to the ones below, you can really see the difference. The above images are happy and warm, whereas the images below are cold and harsh, reflecting the danger present, and the imminent death of a character in that scene.

Castle (Captured using the Snipping Tool)

Castle (Captured using the Snipping Tool)

Another example of how colour and lighting can drastically effect the look and feel of a picture can be seen in the picture below:

Picture from Kamui Cosplay

The above images are of a Skyrim cosplay, by Svetlana Quindt. The original picture, on the left, looks great, but doesn't quite have that feel of a Skyrim game. With some tweaking in Photoshop, the picture has been altered massively  by just changing the colours: a bright and sunny day has been transformed into a colder and more threatening atmosphere.


In later posts, I will look into Colour Theory, and how specific colours can evoke specific emotions.

Research: What Affects the Mood and Aesthetic of a Scene?

Now that I have a basic idea for the storyline behind the scenes in the art style guide, I need to look into what actually affects a scene - what makes it a happy scene, or a sad scene. In a previous post (http://giselleczajka.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-tumbleweeds-on-my-blog-got-bit-out.html), I talked about a lesson in which the teacher pointed out the flaws in a scene that was supposed to feel eerie and atmospheric. This showed me some of the many things that can affect the aesthetic of a scene.


I will list some of the main things that can change the mood of a scene, and put them into sections, so that they are easier to research. There are general ones; ones that are affected by style choices (the genre you pick, etc); and ones that are affected by the characters and actors in the scene.

General:

• Colours/Brightness -the right colour or lighting choices can have a dramatic effect on the mood of a scene.
• Perspective/Focal Points
• Materials - If you want a scene to look eerie, you want the textures on objects to look run down, and old, to mimic the mood of the scene. If an abandoned room has a broken bed, but the bed is topped with a pristine white mattress, it breaks the immersion of the scene: the mattress should be discoloured, or have rips and loose springs.
• Weather - Choosing whether a sky is sunny or stormy can drastically affect the mood of the scene.
• Realism - If a door has a door knob, but no latch, it breaks the realism and immersion of the scene.
• Object Placement -Objects should never be placed arbitrarily: they should always have a purpose. If an object is included in a scene it needs to belong there, and be of matching quality to the rest of the scene: placing low poly or rushed objects in a detailed scene will again break the immersion.
• Seamlessness - Everything in the scene needs to look like it belongs there. If an eerie scene has bright objects placed in it for the sake of adding more objects, they will look out of place.

Drawing books on some basic square shelves in a scene doesn't automatically make it a library scene: every part of the scene must be created with a library in mind - the layout, the colours, the lighting, etc.


Style Choices:

• Genre of the World
• Style of Clothing
• Look/Build of the Characters

Characters/Acting:

• Expressions of the Characters
• Body Language of the Characters

The things listed in the General section will be the main focus, but the other sections are also important, and will be kept in mind when creating the art style guide.

Dissertation Recap! (Style guide content, story notes, marking the style guide, current plan of action, etc)

I have quite a few blog posts, and there have been gaps where I have been working on other modules, so this post is to recap the main things I have posted about (the content of the style guide, etc).

Style Guide Details:

•   About 15-30mins of gameplay for each visit to the village. Village is there to act as a break from the current quests and combat.
•  Mostly digital images, but may include some pencil sketches, especially for initial drafts.
•  Final artefact will be digital, either a PDF or Word document, although I may get a physical copy made, time and funds allowing.

Style Guide Content List:

• Village at point A in storyline: approx. 20 images.
• Village at point B in storyline: approx. 20 images.
• Characters (player and non-player): 5-10 images, plus a small description for the main character and each tribe or group featured in the game. So for example, the villagers that live in the village mentioned above will have a small paragraph describing the village's backstory as a whole, rather than a paragraph for each person. The main character of the game will get their own paragraph, as they feature much more heavily in the game.
• General World Overview: 5-10 images. Just a few images of the area around the village, so game artists know what kind of world the village exists in.

The village at point A and B are the main focus, but I will want some artwork for the world and the people in it, to give game artists more scope when creating the villages.

Story Notes:

• RPG.
• Focuses on one main character.
• Python storyline (the player has freedom of movement, but the main storyline is linear).

Marking the Artefact:

I want to be marked on the contrast between the village at point A in storyline, and the village at point B in storyline. I want to be able to use the knowledge and skills I have gained to make the same location have an entirely different look and feel. I want the emphasis to be on what I choose to put IN the scene, not the quality of the pictures. The pictures will be sketched out similar to a storyboard, like this: Margrave: The Blacksmith's Daughter Early Storyboard. If I have time I will make the storyboard into finished images, but I don't want to rush the artefact, when the main focus is more on the thought behind the images.

 

What emotions/atmosphere do I want the player to experience in the first scene that will be in the style guide:

• comfort
• safety
• happiness
• peaceful/calm
• picturesque/unspoiled

What emotions/atmosphere do I want the player to experience in the second scene that will be in the style guide:

• distress
• danger
• sadness/anger
• chaos/turmoil/disarray
• hideous/harsh (buildings burning, corpses, etc)

The Main Character:

 I want the main character to be imperfect - I don't want him/her to be really strong from the get-go. This way the player can relate to the character more, as they seem more "human". The player can also bond with the character as he/she develops throughout the story. The main character will have trust issues that make it difficult for them to bond with people. This way, when he/she finally does bond with people in the village in the first scene, it will be that much more heart-wrenching when the village is destroyed in the second scene. I intend to build up the feelings of familiarity and safety, and then take a wrecking ball to them!

• Gender and Age: Female, late teens or early twenties.
•  Premise: When an impetuous young goddess is exiled for her reckless behaviour, she must find a way to regain her powers so that she can leave the mortal plane and return home.
•  Possibilities: She feels like her family have abandoned her by exiling her. What if it turns out that an attack on the higher plan was imminent and this was the only way her family could keep her safe? What if they knew she could be the one to end the inevitable war and lead them all to victory?
• Story Challenges and Problems: Keeping a fantasy world exciting, while still enabling the audience to identify with the characters.
• Designing Principle: When a woman from a higher plane of existence is reduced to living as mortals do, she learns that even the most seemingly insignificant beings can be invaluable, and that power is not the be-all and end-all.
•  Best Character: The goddess who is exiled. Lots of space for character growth.
• Conflict: Inner conflict over being exiled and having to learn to live as a mortal. Conflict between her and the person that leads the attack on her home.
•  Basic Action: Fallen goddess searches for a way to regain her powers.
• Character Change: W - Impetuous, impulsive, hot-tempered, selfish. C - By having to rely on help from mortals, she learns to think about people other than herself, is able to grow as a person an earn a space in the higher plane once again. She learns that being born into a higher plane does not make you entitled to be there, and that you cannot take life for granted.
• Moral Choice: Has to choose whether to save her home, or the new home/family she has come to know - which world does she actually fit into now? // Has to choose between going home, and staying with the new family/world/home she has grown to love.

The Seven Key Steps of Story Structure:

1. Weakness and Need. 

Psychological Weakness: Hero is impetuous, impulsive, hot-tempered and selfish.

Moral Weakness: Has no regard for others, and thinks of mortals as insignificant ants.

Psychological Need: Needs to learn that being selfish gets you nowhere, when you are in a crisis support from others can help you survive.

Moral Need: Hero needs to learn to treat others as equals, and stop thinking of people as just a way to get what she wants.

2. Desire.

Hero wants to get her powers back, and leave the mortal plane.

3. Opponent.

The being that attacks her home world. He/she wants to take the powers of her home world, and use them to rule over all planes. The opponent tries to get the hero to join him/her, and rule over everyone. Both the hero and the opponent are selfish at the start of the story, but when the opponent later attacks the mortal village, it makes the hero realise that she cares for the mortals, and that they are important to her.

4. Plan.

The mortal world has shrines that link them to the higher plane. These shrines draw on the higher beings powers, to allow the world to thrive. The hero wants to try and use these shrines as a way of accessing her old powers, or communicating with people from her home world.

5. Battle.

Physical battle. Opponent still tries to convince the hero that they aren't so different, and to join him/her. Hero must choose - give in to her weakness, or fight it.

6. Self-revelation.

Psychological self-revelation: Hero realises that she has been arrogant and childish, and didn't deserve her place on the higher plane.

Moral self-revelation: Hero realises that mortals are just as important as "higher" beings, and that no matter your birthright, how you choose to live the life you are given defines who you are.

7. New equilibrium.

Hero defeats opponent, and is rewarded by regaining her powers and is welcomed back home (she has defeated her selfishness, and arrogance, and has also saved her home world).

How big is the village?

The village will be small, with only a handful of buildings, and no more than a few dozen inhabitants. The village is small because it is supposed to be a cosy and safe environment. A small population also allows the player to become attached to the inhabitants more easily - if it was a massive city, then the people just become nameless faces.

Current plan of action:

I am currently creating some basic sketches for the artefact, which I will then send to the teachers for feedback. I will then make changes based on the feedback, and when I am happy with them I will create the final images.

The Seven Key Steps of Story Structure

1. Weakness and Need. 

Psychological Weakness: Hero is impetuous, impulsive, hot-tempered and selfish.
Moral Weakness: Has no regard for others, and thinks of mortals as insignificant ants.

Psychological Need: Needs to learn that being selfish gets you nowhere, when you are in a crisis support from others can help you survive.
Moral Need: Hero needs to learn to treat others as equals, and stop thinking of people as just a way to get what she wants.

2. Desire.

Hero wants to get her powers back, and leave the mortal plane.

3. Opponent.

The being that attacks her home world. He/she wants to take the powers of her home world, and use them to rule over all planes. The opponent tries to get the hero to join him/her, and rule over everyone. Both the hero and the opponent are selfish at the start of the story, but when the opponent later attacks the mortal village, it makes the hero realise that she cares for the mortals, and that they are important to her.

4. Plan.

The mortal world has shrines that link them to the higher plane. These shrines draw on the higher beings powers, to allow the world to thrive. The hero wants to try and use these shrines as a way of accessing her old powers, or communicating with people from her home world.

5. Battle.

Physical battle. Opponent still tries to convince the hero that they aren't so different, and to join him/her. Hero must choose - give in to her weakness, or fight it.

6. Self-revelation.

Psychological self-revelation: Hero realises that she has been arrogant and childish, and didn't deserve her place on the higher plane.
Moral self-revelation: Hero realises that mortals are just as important as "higher" beings, and that no matter your birthright, how you choose to live the life you are given defines who you are.

7. New equilibrium.

Hero defeats opponent, and is rewarded by regaining her powers and is welcomed back home (she has defeated her selfishness, and arrogance, and has also saved her home world).