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.