ILLUSTRATION AND VISUAL NARRATIVE: Lecture and Exercises

ILLUSTRATION AND VISUAL NARRATIVE: Lecture and Exercises

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Irdhina binti Mazli Sham (0366894)

Illustration and Visual Narrative - Bachelor of Design in Creative Media - Taylors University

Lecture and Exercises

WEEK 1

LECTURE: CHARACTER DESIGN BASICS

STYLISED DESIGNS

• ICONIC [SILHOUETTES] - immediately recognised in black silhouette
• SIMPLICITY [PURPOSE] - able to easily digest and understand character purpose
• UNIQUE [MEMORABLE] - memorable and give impact to viewer

PRINCIPLES OF CHARACTER DESIGN

• SHAPES
• Silhouettes - used to identify
• Iconic - combine different interesting shapes
• Weight to Personality - persona as basis of shape
• COLOUR
• Establish Basic Role
• Colour Psychology - different colour different emotions
• EMPHASIS/CONTRAST
• Exaggerate to Memorate - make the design stand out
• use colours and/or shapes
• HARMONY
• Complementing Each Element - put together in a tasteful manner
• Visual hierarchy - can reflect with narrative
• EXPRESSION/POSES
• Clear Visualisation - behaviours, quirks, personalities

TUTORIAL + PRACTICAL: no physical class

WEEK 2

LECTURE: CHIAROSCURO

The use of light and dark to create the illusion of three dimensional volume on a flat surface.

• WHAT IS CHIAROSCURO? 
• Italian term meaning light-dark.
• clear tonal contrast
• suggest three-dimensional volume and modeling
• PURPOSE OF CHIAROSCURO:
• increase dramatic tension
• exaggerate subject's importance through colour or light contrast
• TENEBRISM
• painting method
• illuminates significant details 
• illuminated by highlights contrasting with a predominantly dark setting
• OTHER APPLICATION OF CHIAROSCURO
• visual artworks - comic, film, digital works
• artistic lighting choice - focus point brightly coloured or contrasted with dark background
• LOW-KEY LIGHTING - accentuates contour
• light used to create emotional and impactful scenes

CHIAROSCURO IS USED IN VISUAL NARRATIVE BECAUSE:

• Chiaroscuro is excellent lighting choice to differentiate POSITIVE vs NEGATIVE SPACES

• POSITIVE SPACE
• subject matter or object of interest
• NEGATIVE SPACE
• filled space/background that surround subject matter or object of interest
• Increase dramatic tension - thrilling emotive depth 
• Create sensational effect - elevate fantastical viewpoints for emphasis
• Attract attention - visual hierarchy (main point)
• Make tasteful composition - play on negative vs positive space (attractive scenes)

EXERCISE [TUTORIAL/PRACTICAL]

Mr. Hafiz introduced the class to Adobe Illustrator and the Pen Tool through the Bézier game. After everyone got familiar with the functions, he proceeded to teach us how to use the tools in creating the Vormator shapes. I struggled at first, especially with the Tentacle and Cobra as they require more anchor points but it would have been much harder were it not for this class.

Fig. 1.1. Screenshot of the Bézier game

Fig. 1.2. Screenshot of the final score from the Bézier game

Fig. 1.3. The Vormator shapes

WEEK 3

LECTURE: COMPOSITION THEORY 1

BASIC COMPOSITION VISUAL RULES

• Visual Narrative
• composition complement subject and reflect narrative
• look and feel of the scene
• Visual Flow
• determine path of a viewer's eye
• Visual Balance
• path a viewer's eye is going to take (not exact)
• Visual Hierarchy
• visualise and focus affect composition

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SHOTS

• Establishing
• wide shots
• establish setting, portray spectacle, take in location
• give enough information to process
• Bird's Eyeview
• also known as overhead shots
• POV directly above subject
• shot 
• around 90º above scene
• Frame Within A Frame
• fracture screen space
• add depth
• create visual interest in cinematic compositions
• emphasise and highlight underlying meanings
• break up information in frame for maximum impact
• Medium Shot
• also known as three-quarters shot
• frames three-quarters of a character
• in-between a close-up and a long shot
• Close-Up
• intimate moment
• a look into a character's mind
• makes people invested in the character's well-being.
• emphasise emotions and thoughts within a grander context

EXERCISES [Tutorial/Practical]

Pathfinder and shapebuilder were introduced to the class through two tutorial videos, the first being a timelapse on creating the Twitter logo and the other being a video explaining tips on how to effectively use pathfinder. These tools made it easier for a lot of us including me to proceed with the shading part of our character. Mr Hafiz helped further familiarise ourselves with the two tools by guiding us on how to recreate the Adidas logo.

Fig. 3.1. Screenshot of the Adidas logo partially traced

WEEK 4

LECTURE: COMPOSITION THEORY 2 [PERSPECTIVE]

CONSTRUCT PERSPECTIVES:

• One-point
• simplest method to produce 3D images
• emerge from a single point on the horizon
• all objects recede towards one point
• size decrease as the image gets closer to vanishing point
• Two-point
• vanishing points on either side of horizon
• creates greater sense of space, dimension and place
• objects recede towards two separate points
• more dynamic than one-point
• Three-point
• two vanishing points on either side of a horizon + one vanishing point above/below the horizon
• achieve a sense of drama and scale
• shows more objects in a single scene
• intensity of angle will decrease when vanishing point is at a greater distance (up/down) from horizon
• close to the horizon = extreme viewing angle
• broader range of angles – allows viewer to look into the scene
• Isometric grid
• for detailed concepts of individual buildings
• clearly presents three sides without distorting perspective or obscuring details

DYNAMIC APPLICATION

• no need to be rigid/boring/strict
• ex: mixing different perspectives to visualise a scene

EXERCISES [Tutorial/Practical]

The second task was given by Mr. Hafiz followed by an introduction as to how to start the assignment. He introduced Adobe Color which is a helpful website when it comes to creating colour palettes either from scratch or from an already present photo/drawing.

WEEK 5

LECTURE: COMPOSITION THEORY 3 [FORE, MID AND BACKGROUND]

PLANES IN COMPOSITION

• Foreground (close to the viewer)
• Middle-ground 
• Background (far away)

HOW TO ARRANGE SUBJECT

• size difference
• colour contrast
• light/shadow contrast
• shape

DESIGN FLOW

• good arrangement of visual focus
• indicate sense of movement and rhythm
• leads viewer's eye through the layout
• influence the way viewers digest content

TUTORIAL + PRACTICAL: no physical class

WEEK 6

LECTURE: 3-ACTS STRUCTURE

STORYTELLING BASICS

• Central Theme
• main idea or underlying meaning
• often personal opinion of writer
• MAJOR THEME: intertwined and repeated
• MINOR THEME: subtle
• Conflict
• drives the story
• creates tension and builds suspense – interesting
• engages audience
• Characters
• Central: vital to story development, plot revolves around them
• Protagonist: main character – clear goal or conflict to overcome, command an emotional involvement from audience
• Antagonist: oppose protagonists, presented in any form (obstacle)
• Three-Acts Structure
• Setup: world where protagonist exist before journey – ends when conflict is revealed
• Rising Tension: obstacles to overcome, increases in difficulty with higher stakes
• Conflict: point of highest tension, major decisive turning point
• Resolution: conflict's conclusion, where the journey ends

TUTORIAL + PRACTICAL: no physical class

WEEK 7

LECTURE: TRANSITIONS 

HIERONYMUS BOSCH

CONTINUITY

• Gestalt Law of Closure
• objects grouped together are seen as a whole
• we ignore gaps and complete contour lines

TRANSITIONS

• Moment to moment
• Action to action
• Subject to subject
• Scene to scene
• Aspect to aspect
• Non sequitur

EXERCISES [Tutorial/Practical]

The third task was briefed, which would also involve type expression as learned in Typography. Mr. Hafiz taught us various methods to execute the assignment besides what was previously taught. This included Intertwine as well as using clipping masks for texture.