Welcome to
2D & 3D Animation & Asset Production
IGME.119.02
Instructor: Sten McKinzie
Email: semigm@rit.edu
Monday & Wednesday
6:30 – 7:45pm
Room 2750
Visual Story Telling
Why look back?
• All new media are built on old media
• Theories and techniques from previous media
are adopted and adapted for new media
• As the new media grows it creates it’s own
theories and techniques
• Even so, many of the established techniques
remain
The Frame
• Has always been a factor in media
• What represents the frame in these medias?
– Film / Television
– Theatre
– Print
– Comics
– Video games
• Until we are able to break through the
hardware wall it will always exist
Composing the Frame
• How we arrange our environment, props &
subjects within the frame can effect how the
audience perceives it.
• This has been studied for thousands of years
• Many of the techniques remain consistent
from painting to film to video games
Frame Composition
• Leading Lines
• Rule of Thirds
• Triangle Formation
Leading Lines
• Lines are everywhere around us.
• Natural lines can strengthen composition by
leading the viewer's eyes toward your subject.
• Diagonal lines can add energy
• Curved lines can add soft elegance
• Using a road or path as a leading line can add
depth
Leading Lines
Leading Lines
Leading Lines
Rule of Thirds
• A centered image is boring
• There are certain "hotspots" - areas of
intensity that exist within any given image
• Align the subject within these hotspots for a
more energetic and interesting composition
Rule of Thirds
• This image shows the 4 Rule of Thirds
"hotspots" where the red lines intersect
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Triangle Composition
• Occurs when the placement of the subjects
(or group of elements themselves) form the
shape of a triangle.
– To create depth
– Break up the image for variety in spacing
– Create a connection or relationship between the
different subjects
– Can help describe relationships between subjects
visually when used properly
Triangle Composition
Triangle Composition
Territorial Space
• Consider the camera as our eye
• The cameras proximity to the subject is our
proximity to the subject
• It is affected by the rules of territorial space
Territorial Space
Outside of
this all
becomes
public space
Territorial Space
• PUBLIC: 12 feet to 25 feet
– People generally ignore each other
– Alone in a crowd
– Keep their private space to themselves
– No intimacy
Territorial Space
• PUBLIC: 12 feet to 25 feet
Territorial Space
• SOCIAL: Four feet to 12 feet
•
•
•
•
Boss/employee
First date
Job interview
Cashier/customer
Territorial Space
• SOCIAL = formal
Territorial Space
• PERSONAL: 18 inches to 4 feet
• Two people who have gone on a few dates, and
feel comfortable with each other, but still respect
each other’s personal space
• Parent and child, but possibly in a more public
setting
• Good friends sharing a conversation
Territorial Space
• PERSONAL: More discreet personal range
Territorial Space
• INTIMATE: within 18 inches
• Two lovers
• Parent and child
• Two very good friends sharing a secret
Territorial Space
• INTIMATE: Very close
Territorial Space
• INTIMATE: Very close (not necessarily comfortable)
Territorial Space
• When public space becomes intimate
– People crunched against each other on a crowded
subway
– Try to keep their private space
– Forced intimacy
Territorial Space
• Consider the camera as our eye
• The cameras proximity to the subject is our
proximity to the subject
• It is affected by the rules of territorial space
Framing
Types of Shots
ELS = Extreme Long Shot
LS = Long Shot
FS = Full Shot
MS = Medium Shot
OTS = Over The Shoulder shot
CU = Close Up shot
ECU = Extreme Close Up
OS = Out of Shot
POV = Point Of View shot
ELS: Extreme Long Shot
• Used in all genres
• Epic films: enhance the experience of
watching narratives that are epic in scale
• Important: used in films where locale plays an
important role
• Westerns, historical films, war films, etc.
ELS: Extreme Long Shot
• Establishing Shot
– First shot in a film or sequence
– Establishes location
– Spatial frame of reference for closer shots
– Important: helps us to understand the greater
picture of where the film or sequence is taking
place and set the tone
ELS: Extreme Long Shot
Dreams, Akira Kurosawa, 1990. Establishing shot.
ELS: Extreme Long Shot
The Sting, George Roy Hill, 1974. Establishing shot.
LS: Long Shot
• Distance is Subjective
• Generally considered the distance between
audience and a theatrical stage
• Imagine sitting in the front to 10th row during
play
• Important: Places the subject in its
surroundings (vs ELS)
LS: Long Shot
Ran, Akira Kurosawa, 1985.
LS: Long Shot
Ran, Akira Kurosawa, 1985.
FS: Full Shot
•
•
•
•
Specific category of Long Shot
Think Full Shot = Full Body
A human figure is framed head to feet
Can frame a single character or a group
FS: Full Shot
Smoke Signals, directed by Chris Eyre, 1998.
MS: Medium Shot
• Also called “Mid-Shot” or “Middle Shot”
• Equivalent distance of framing a character
from head to midriff (can be as low as the
knees)
• Often but not always waist to head
MS: Medium Shot
• TWO-SHOT: MS framing two characters
– Intimate distance
– Listening in on a conversation
• THREE-SHOT: MS framing three characters
– Any more than three characters would have to
become a full shot
MS: Medium Shot
Crooklyn, directed by Spike Lee, 1994.
MS: Medium Shot
Juno, directed by Jason Reitman, 2007. THREE-SHOT.
MS: Medium Shot
Juno, directed by Jason Reitman, 2007. THREE-SHOT.
OTS: Over The Shoulder Shot
• Literally shooting over the shoulder of a
character
• Back of character’s head and shoulder are
visible at one side of the frame
• Rest of the frame is filled by what has the
character’s attention
• We join the character in the experience,
empathy
OTS: Over The Shoulder Shot
E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Steven Spielberg, 1982. Empathy
OTS: Over The Shoulder Shot
• Used for conversation when director wants to
highlight characters separately
• Shows the speaker when what is being said is
important
• Shows the listener when the reaction to what
is said is important
OTS: Over The Shoulder Shot
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, 1958. Converstation
CU: Close Up
• Distance necessary to frame the human head
• Does not mean CU is always showing a head
• Forces the audience to notice an important
detail, such as an object or emotion
• Audience is inside subjects intimate space
CU: Close Up
Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz, 1942.
CU: Close Up
Welcome to the Dollhouse, Todd Solondz, 1996.
ECU: Extreme Close Up
• Most dramatic of all shots
• When used properly, the extreme close-up can
be very powerful
• Forces the audience to notice an important
minute detail, such as an object or emotion
• Exaggerates the slightest movement
• Audience is way inside subjects intimate space
ECU: Extreme Close Up
Meshes of the Afternoon, Maya Deren, 1943.
POV: Point of View shot
• Shot that portrays the point of view of the
character/actor
• It tells us what they are looking at
• Overused in B-Horror Movies
POV: Point of View shot
Halloween, John Carpenter, 1978.
OS: Out of Shot
• Things can be made more dramatic by NOT
showing them
• Show the reaction of the actor who IS in frame
• Exaggerates drama, keeps mystery
OS: Out of Shot (Closure)
• Humans have an innate ability to fill in the
blanks
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud, 1993.
OS: Out of Shot (Closure)
• When something is shown to us we
immediately rationalize it
• If we see nothing there is nothing to
rationalize so imagination kicks in
• Our imaginations are far more powerful than
any imagery
OS: Out of Shot (Closure)
• Directors can use this to heighten a sense of
drama
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud, 1993.
OS: Out of Shot (Closure)
“I may have drawn the
axe being raised…, but I
am not the one who let
it drop or decided how
hard the blow or who
screamed or why. That,
dear reader, was your
special crime. Each of
you committed it in your
own style.”
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
Camera Angles
6 Basic Angles
Birds Eye View
High Angle
Eye Level
Low Angle
Worms Eye View
Oblique Angle
Birds Eye View
North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock, 1959.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npMQ7FD2m1g&feature=related
Birds Eye View
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•
•
•
•
This shows a scene from high overhead
Disorienting
Abstracts familiar objects
Audience in a godlike position
Subject made to look insignificant, ant-like,
part of a wider scheme of things.
High Angle
Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock, 1959.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsgDP31v2LE
High Angle
• The camera is elevated above the action
• Can be used to give a sense of general
overview. (ex: an office scene)
• Important of the setting or environment,
surrounding the subject(s), increases
• Movement is slowed down (look closer at this
compared to low angle)
• Good for conveying tedium
High Angle
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•
•
•
Subject is reduced in height
Viewer is put in a power position
Reduces importance of the subject
A person will seem harmless, insignificant and
even threatened
• Effective for conveying self-contempt
Eye Level
Drunken Angel, Akira Kurosawa, 1948.
Eye Level
• Neutral shot
• The camera will be placed eye level with the
subject
• Subject becomes ordinary
• Audience is left to make its own judgment on
the characters presented
• Character has human proportions (vs subhuman or super human)
Low Angle
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb ,
Stanley Kubrick, 1964.
Low Angle
• Gives the subject importance, power,
dominance
• Background tends to be sky or ceiling,
separating the subject from it’s environment
• Can be used to inspire fear and insecurity in
the viewer
• Speeds up action (vs High Angle) - Do you
agree, why?
Discussion: 12 Angry Men
• Filmed primarily in
one room
• Over the course of the
film, angles were
changed to convey
specific emotions
Discussion: 12 Angry Men
High Angle / Long Shot
12 Angry Men, Sidney Lumet, 1957.
Discussion: 12 Angry Men
Eye Level / Medium Shot
12 Angry Men, Sidney Lumet, 1957.
Discussion: 12 Angry Men
Low Angle / Close Up
12 Angry Men, Sidney Lumet, 1957.
Oblique Angle (Dutch Angle)
Terminator 2: Judgement Day , James Cameron, 1991.
Oblique Angle (Dutch Angle)
• Suggests imbalance, transition, violence and
instability
• This technique is often used to suggest Pointof-View shots.
• Frequently used in Film Noir
Oblique Angle: Origins and Death
of a Technique
• German Expressionists first to make use
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920 silent film directed
by Robert Wiene
Oblique Angle: Origins and Death
of a Technique
• Became very popular in Noir Films Like The Third
Man, 1949, directed by Carol Reed
Oblique Angle: Origins and Death
of a Technique
• Batman TV Show of the 1960s over used it and made
it cheesy
Oblique Angle: Origins and Death
of a Technique
• Has been brought back by filmmakers like Quentin
Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
Kill Bill V1, Quentin Tarantino, 2003.
Oblique & Low Angle
Kill Bill V1, Quentin Tarantino, 2003.
Placement Within Frame
• Certain areas within the frame can suggest
symbolic ideas.
• The filmmaker can radically alter the comment
on that object or character.
• Here form IS content.
Center Frame
• Instinctively regarded as the natural center of
interest.
The Big Lebowski, The Coen Brothers, 1998.
Center Frame
• A portrait photographer, centers the individual
or group in the viewfinder.
• A child draws objects in the center of the page
• we expect to see objects in the center,
therefore:
OBJECTS IN CENTER = LACK OF DRAMA
Center Frame
• When the filmmaker wants to focus on what
the actor is saying, or feeling
• Minimizes distraction by other things
• all attention is focused on the subject
The Big Lebowski, The Coen Brothers, 1998.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be7Og9Gc_KY
Center Frame
• Examples of objects that would appear in the
center of the screen
• The Mundane
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•
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A person talking in a matter-of-fact tone of voice
A bouquet of flowers on a table
A letter being read by an actor
A close-up of a key turning in a lock
• Often used when the director wants the
audience to focus on OS (out of shot) sound
Top of Frame
• Suggests power, authority, and aspiration.
• This works for both people and objects.
Bend it Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha, 2002.
Top of Frame
Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa, 1954.
Top of Frame
• Examples of objects that would appear in the
top of the frame
• Perceived Power
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•
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•
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President
Overbearing parent
A Killer
Religious iconography
Rock star
A spooky castle
Top of Frame
• Not all objects placed near the top of the
screen are there for symbolic purposes
Bend it Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha, 2002.
Top of Frame
• Examples of objects that appear at the top of
the screen because that is where they
arbitrarily must fall:
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•
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•
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People’s heads
Tops of trees
Tall buildings
The sky
Mountains
Bottom of Frame
Bend it Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha, 2002.
Bottom of Frame
• Gives the sensation that objects (people) are
ready to fall out of the bottom of the frame.
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Insignificant
Unimportant
Shy
Defeated
Sad
Lonely
Sides of Frame
• Objects tend to feel insignificant, due to
distance from the center of the screen.
• Characters feel as though they are close to the
darkness, due to proximity to the black edges
of the screen.
• Figures who are trying to hide may also
appear at the sides of the screen.
Sides of Frame
Psycho, Hitchcock, 1960.
Sides of Frame
• How does Janet Leigh’s position on-screen
make you feel?
• She seems as though she is powerless
• It feels as though she is grabbing on and trying to
keep herself in the frame
• Cast off, barely there
http://www.floobynooby.com/IPUB/comp1.html
Project 2: Animated Cut scene or
Open
• Project 2 will be to create a 20 second (min)
animated sequence for your platform level
• It can be used as the intro to the level or the
cut scene after the level or can be split
between the 2
• You can also use it for the win or lose
sequence
Project 2a: Storyboards
• Break out the shots for your cut scene into
storyboard sketches
• Minimum of 10 shots
• Use the camera angles, proximity and
composition to convey enhance the drama for
the audience
Storyboard Terminology Sheet