Real Worlds + 2D Toolkit: Composing Scenes

Compositing Scenes
When creating illustrations, potential inspiration for the compositions can be found in analysing stills of scenes in films and tv. This can be used as a template to understand how personal illustrations can be improved.

This scene, in Dune 2, shows the lead-up to a fight between two characters: Feyd-Rautha (left) and Paul Atreides (right). This is a highly climactic moment in the film and is of great importance to the plot, more or less the highest point of tension and anticipation in the film; it is the final trial that will determine the fates of both characters involved, and is a spectacle as such. The scene has been established in a manner that enhances this, with sharp contrast pushing forward the silhouettes of the two characters and placing them into total shadow. This highlights the shapes and stances of both characters, illuminating the differences between them. There is tension and balance between the two: with both being placed roughly the same distance apart, compositional focus is placed on neither and focus is instead given to the sharpness of shadows and contrast. 

There is also a balance in posturing that increases the tension in the scene: both characters are positioned in an aggressive and battle-ready manner that lends itself to their personality. Feyd is shown in the film as being ruthless, aggressive but in a manner that almost calm in nature: not ostentatious in his evil, but more deliberate and sociopathic.
Paul, on the other hand, is shown as being a more honourable and compassionate character. In the scene, these character differences translate into a difference of pose: Feyd is somewhat more imposing, being physically taller than Paul and looking down to him. Paul, on the other hand, is positioned in a more graceful fighting stance, with the blade of his knife pointing towards Feyd's view. Though Feyd is the more imposing physically, Paul appears more immediately armed and battle-ready, continuing the balance between the two. 

Additionally, framing is used to place further emphasis on both characters.  The  silhouettes of spectators can be seen on the edges of the scene, and the wall frames the above of both characters. This places both in the centre of the scene, with the sun between them, which creates something of a sense of intimacy between the two characters. Prior to this scene, it was revealed that Feyd and Paul are related, and the tight positioning between them helps in creating a sense of intimacy, heightened by the tension and dramatic lighting of the scene.

The key art I have produced for the Real Worlds project is different to the composition from Dune 2, but nonetheless demonstrates a character being placed in the foreground as a primary focus. Though this is full colour, with only one character being seen in either piece, I nevertheless believe that I could see how to improve my own compositions based on this analysis.

Looking to my Forge Father key art, I wanted to show the importance and standing of the primary character. In my composition, I did this by placing her into the primary focus of the scene, with her being the main foreground element and framed by the doorway behind her and the exterior wall beneath her. I also heightened the contrast between this surrounding environment and her, and used darker and less saturated colours when creating the environment scene. Though I may try to push this contrast further to place her further in the foreground of the scene, I do not want to entirely swamp out the detail and colour of the environment, and may experiment to see how I can help put more emphasis on her further. I may do this by potentially cropping or altering the canvas size, as I am happy with the values of the piece on the whole. However, looking to the values, I can see that there are few areas of sharp highlight and may add more in to see how that influences the composition.