World Builders: Shot Deconstruction
- Sara Eriksson
- Oct 26, 2018
- 8 min read
INTRODUCTION
Being a person heavily inspired by history and fantasy, what better content to draw a shot deconstruction from than 'Game of Thrones'. The popular show premiered on the 17th April 2011, however the first book from the 'Song of Ice and Fire' series, 'A Game of Thrones' written by George R. R. Martin, was published on 1st August 1996. The dark atmosphere and complex story line captured by David Benioff and Daniel B Weiss, the creators of the 'GOT' television series, reflects the books very well (subject to disagreement) this most likely being the fact that Martin has a relatively large impact on the direction of the show as well as 'D&D' (IMDB, 2011). The general story revolves around a number of families that are all fighting to take the throne as well as including mythical creatures, religion and death. Overall 'GOT' is a perfect reference for my World Builders Project, having been about Vikings, mythology, religion and death.
To better understand the story of 'GOT' one must look to the inspiration behind the original book, this being Norse Mythology. Martin was heavily influenced by Tolkien, the writer of 'Lord of the Rings', and Tolkien was incredibly influenced by the sagas the infamous Vikings left behind. Stories of their mighty gods, fearless leaders and vast lands were greatly apparent in the 'LOTR' books, 'Tolkien was heavily influenced by Nordic/Norse mythology' (La Rue, K. 2018). Viking sagas and the feelings that is felt when hearing them is very reflective on Martins style of writing and the 'feel' one gets from his books 'Martin knew Tolkien’s book was “the greatest book that I have ever read.”'. (Henderson, C. 2018).
COMPOSITION Deconstruction
'Winter is Coming', the very first episode in 'GOT' was a show stopper in the entertainment series due to its immaculate costume design, its dark and gloomy mood and its bluntness to character life expectancy (aspects that I will definitely be leaning on when creating my Cinematic Trailer). When the Stark family is first introduced, they are gathering for an execution. This brutal atmosphere and composition are elements which I would like to incorporate in my own Project.
This particular Scene is the the epitome of 'GOT', from the initial concept of White walkers, the beginning of Winter, to the inevitable brutal fate of human lives. I have chosen this particular shot from the scene due to its apparent landscape, silhouettes, and its gloomy tone.
Rule of ThirdsBreaking this composition into the rule of thirds one can see immediately that most aspects in the shot fall on the lines of the grid. The rule of thirds is a very effective composition as the human eye prefers compositions to be off centre rather than symmetrical as this allows for a more natural and pleasing look (Photographymad. NA). By having this shot work with the rule of thirds the eye can easily see the main aspects, being the 2 main figures, the horses and the man on the hill. Our eye is drawn to these three elements due to this rule, as well as many others in which I will explain.
Golden Ratio
Another ratio that helps the aesthetics and strength within this shot is the Golden ratio. This ratio is found all over the world in many natural and man made creations, 'The appearance of this ratio in music, in patterns of human behavior, even in the proportion of the human body, all point to its universality as a principle of good structure and design.' (Mize, D. 2018). The Golden ratio is very similar to the rule of thirds, however there is a distinct leading line spiraling between all the rectangles. This particular line allows the eye to follow a direction in which scale, significance and depth are achieved. Within this shot, the golden ratio clearly divides 4 sections, being the empty space with the first most prominent figure, then the man on the hill, followed by the horses, then finally the second figure. This spiral then allows the eye to circle back around again, tying each thing to the next. This ration puts emphasis on the main characters, as well as bringing clear significance to the mid ground and background figures.
Leading Lines
Leading lines are an incredibly important thing to consider when creating any type of shot, for it is these lines that help tell the viewer where to look, 'Leading lines help draw the eye into the image and focus the viewer’s attention on the main subject.' (Johansson, C. J. 2015). In this shot there are 3 clear leading lines all pointing to the figure on the hill. This I believe, is due to the fact that the figure is so small, and so to really notice it the positions of all the other elements are drawing the eye to that smallest element. This character on the hill is exactly what my personal project's composition is hoping to achieve. By my own characters being in the distance, all the other elements in my own scene must 'lead' the eye to it.
Significance of three
Although some may say '3's a crowd', the alignment and beauty of 3 is undeniable, 'There’s just something about three that works across all mediums, all formats, all sizes. Three is beauty, three is symmetry, three is design.' (Johnson, J. 2012). In this shot there are 3 clusters of figures arranged in a way where they all connect in a triangular pattern (see below).
This significance of three helps tire the figures together and help them relate to one another. It also falls under the idea of leading lines, as the lines of the triangle are leading to each other, making these three elements an appeasing composition.
Negative Space
This shot heavily relies of negative space, as over half of the image is absent from the 3 figures. Yet not only is it simply absent from figures, but also the background is washed out and almost uniform in colour giving the look of nothingness, 'When used creatively and intelligently, positive and negative space together can tell a story using visual composition alone.' (Roberts, I. 2018). This shot would not look the same without the use of negative space, yet that is not necessarily a bad thing, just that the shot would become more intimate in comparison to feeling vast and empty.
As an example, one can see how different the shot looks being halved. Yet all the same ratios work, it just has less negative space. In my personal project I will have a more intimate scene where objects and figures will occupy the edges of the scene, giving a different feeling to it being spaced out. (see how the golden ratio works below)
Seeing where objects and characters lie in regards to these composition attributes, allows me to understand why this shot stood out to me in the first place. It also further helps me gain greater understanding in regards to composition in general which will be helpful when it comes time for me to proceed with my Project.
SCALE and Depth
Continuing on from composition, another important aspect to consider when composing a shot is scale and depth:
In the foreground there are 2 figures of different heights, however this does not mean that the smaller figure is further away, for they both have the same amount of detail, same clarity on colour and that with context to the clip this shot came from one knows that the two figures are side by side only one is younger in age than the other. Yet we know that the horses are in the distance, as a horse could never be that small in comparison to a human as well as their detail lacking in comparison to the larger figures. So we can assume that they are in the mid ground. The same being for the figure in the background, as he must be in the distance in comparison to the foreground figures. Without the figures the environment could be any size, and it would be hard to know how far back it goes, but by placing figures of different sizes in the scene it is easy to tell how deep the environment goes. (see more below)
Taking the environment out of the picture and working with silhouettes, is is pretty obvious to see that these figures are going into the distance due to the use of scale, in which creating depth.
To create an accurate shot, lack of detail is another great way of showing depth, as the human eye can only take in so much information when viewing something.
This also carries over to colour, as the further away something is, the lighter, blurrier and smaller it become, in comparison to the closer something is the richer in colour, the sharper and larger it becomes.
As my own composition has a large environment, these are aspect that I must think about as it is harder to create a sense of depth on a 2D surface. When creating my scene I must use the laws of vision to achieve a composition-ally accurate shot.
COLOUR
This particular shot is very muted in colour, meaning that the environment is overcast and dreary. Although this colour palette works for this shot and the mood in which is being expressed from the clip, my own composition is to have a brighter more innocent mood.
I turned up the saturation and brightness of the screen capture and came up with these colours. Although it looks a little too saturated being a real life image, when converted into a 2D painting the colours work quite well. (see image below)
I added in my characters and figures and arranged then in a way that was similar to the original shot and has the same leading lines and such. I replaces the main figures with the house, the horses with the rocks and the small figure with my characters.
STORYBOARD
Thinking hard on the compositional aspects that I had researched and learnt through the shot deconstruction, I experimented with 3 different environments and arranges my assets and figures according to that environment taking into all considerations I had learnt. From there I arranges 4 different versions to each composition.
Below are the best compositions to each environment with colour:
I ended up choosing the more mountainous landscape as I felt it helped give a sense of depth in the scene as well as giving the characters a backdrop where they would stand out more.
From there I created a story board where the time of day slowly changes from day to night.
Colour Key
The colour key is to help identify the mood of the shot whether it be gloomy or sunny etc. As my clip will be a time lapse I will use a multitude of the colours keys to help expess the changing of time.
References
IMDB. (2018). Game of Thrones. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt
La Rue, K. (2018, May 28). If The Lord of the Rings is based on WW1, which is each army/kingdom based on? Which armies specifically are orcs, dwarves, elves, and men based on? Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/If-The-Lord-of-the-Rings-is-based-on-WW1-which-is-each-army-kingdom-based-on-Which-armies-specifically-are-orcs-dwarves-elves-and-men-based-on
testchan555. (2013, May 29). Game of Thrones S01E01 - "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword". Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTzbOA6cTYM
Henderson, C. (2018, August 13). George R.R. Martin reveals inspiration behind killing of 'Game of Thrones' characters. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2018/08/13/george-r-r-martin-reveals-inspiration-killing-game-thrones-characters/982696002/
Mize, D. (2018). A Guide to the Golden Ratio (AKA Golden Section or Golden Mean) for Artists. Retrieved from http://emptyeasel.com/2009/01/20/a-guide-to-the-golden-ratio-aka-golden-section-or-golden-mean-for-artists/
Photographymad. (NA). Rule of Thirds. Retrieved from https://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/rule-of-thirds
Johnson, J. (2012, May 10). Design to the Power of Three: The Magically Ubiquitous Number. Retrieved from https://designshack.net/articles/layouts/design-to-the-power-of-three-the-magically-ubiquitous-number/
Johansson, C. J. (2015, March 15). How To Use Leading Lines To Create More Powerful iPhone Photos. Retrieved from https://iphonephotographyschool.com/leading-lines/
Roberts, I. (2018). Rules of Visual Composition. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/positive-negative-space-in-art-definition-examples.html
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