Task 15: Visual Composition.

Composition is big. People spend ages trying to get their heads around it, don't they? Its that kind of masters thing, where you dedicate yourself to it for years in order to understand every intricate mathematical equation and then apply it to your work successfully. Its one of those areas where art merges with science (one of many areas) but in such a way that the layman sees only majesty. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.", don't they say? "They" being Arthur Clarke. In the task brief it states that "Our industry partners tell us repeatedly that they are looking for artists, not technicians". That's something I'd be very interested in discussing, actually. I mean, this post is about composition, right? Composition, at its finest, is invisible. The people will look at the beautiful painting and it will make sense to them. Everything will relate to everything else on the canvas and it will seem like a snapshot into something otherworldly, something perfect. Composition, along with colour theory and a plethora of other sciences, will allow this illusion of the ethereal. For something to feel fundamentally "correct" as a piece of art, it must feel effortless. We, the viewers, will see art in its truest and purest form. The artist sees a product of meticulous planning, research and understanding. I believe that artists are technicians, and that hiding the technical framework that underpins all good art is the biggest science of all. The idea that there is something more to a successful artist than someone with great technical skill and understanding I believe almost cheapens their work. Talent is a myth and with it the idea of the gifted person, the prodigy, removes the extraordinary amount of effort and dedication required that is required to achieve what these people can achieve. Now, this isn't the place for a discussion involving the soul and consciousness (maybe in another post perhaps?) and I do not believe a robot could create art. But great art only comes from the learned mind. 

Warfare by Otto Dix

Composition is the placement of the elements of the piece, the spacial relationship of the visual entities. Through good composition, an artist can lead the viewers eye in various ways, pacing the visual experience of a piece (for example, a composition that encourages fast eye movements and incorporates strong contrasting elements to overwhelm the viewer, as in Otto Dix's "Warfare"). It can also draw our attention away from less significant areas of the piece and focus us on the more important ones. Note again how with Dix's "Warfare" there are several elements competing for the focus of the eye. This disrupts us and confuses us, and as we stuggle to pick apart the scene we are enveloped in a claustrophobic environment where there is little visual rest. The true difficulty in composition comes with leading the viewers eye -without he or she knowing-. It would be easy enough for us to find the intended elements of a scene if they were the only ones in focus, but that sort of practice holds our hands too tightly. Composition creates an obstacle course (or leisurely walk) that we must choose to navigate ourselves, or the viewer's brains will quickly feel pressured or bored. In the above piece, we are first drawn to the top central painting, and there the confusion and unrest throws us to both the left and the right, where our eyes can focus more clearly. The saturation of the piece fades out as we leave that middle section behind, but the spiraling placement of the elements there forces us back in. It is just little stimulation enough for us to push back into the chaos of the central piece, but not so much stimulation that we get overtired by the painting as a whole. Balance, with all composition, is key. The contrast in that central piece leads the eye downwards where the painting is at its most saturated, finally landing us in the bottom-most piece, its curvature bouncing us back up again until we find our own way out. Entire stories, settings and scenarios can be communicated through composition alone.




http://reflectionsandcontemplations.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/otto_dix_war_triptych1.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_%28visual_arts%29
http://willkempartschool.com/the-secret-of-good-composition/
http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/5-fundamental-skills-every-artist-should-master--psd-28054

Task 14 - Planning and concepting.

In my previous post I did touch on this topic. I talked about how satisfying it is to see an idea go from just a fleeting theory to a full-blown concept, and to take that expanded and explored concept to its fullest potential as an asset, a character design, or whatever it might be. "Your most powerful creative tool is an organised brain allied to a healthy work ethic." I really like that. My work ethic might not be the healthiest at the moment (I'm working on it, we'll get there in the end) but that synergy between all the various components of production is what leads to a substantial outcome.


Above we can see the workflow published by Maxis entertainment during the making of one of the Sims games.We can see the clear entry and exit points for each stage of development, and how all the various components of the production team influence one another to create something which does everything it needs to do. All the different groups are constantly reiterating their product with influence from the other departments.

"Are the members of that group in good communication with each other? Are the list of reviewers involved in regular critiques of the submissions restricted to only those with clear responsibility for the final result? Is the review group casting a wellaimed net to garner feedback from other individuals with influence on the product's future, such as marketing or the publisher?" -Charles London, Maxis Entertainment. Communication is key here, evidently, and whilst this clearly applies to larger productions spanning many different members of a team (as with Maxis and the Sims) it is also something that we as artists have to master internally. Our brains, in a sense, are little mini teams, with various components each with their own goals. Being able to generate ideas doesn't mean you'll be able to see them through if some of those components aren't working together. Letting your imagination fly off the handle and birthing something impossible to create is going to lead to problems down the line. As with the Maxis workflow, communication between components is key to a smooth production- but production is never smooth.

Unknown Worlds is a small independent studio responsible for the game Natural Selection 2. As a sequel to a community born mod, the game had a lot of passionate followers even before it hit the alpha stages. The developer open-forums were flowing with guidance from fans and Natural Selection 1 veterans, all ensuring that the sequel surpassed the original and that none of what they had come to know and love was lost. "It's...interesting! Sometimes we feel we can do no right, but other times the responses are heart-warming and wonderful. The trick is to listen to the reason behind their suggestions and not just the suggestions themselves. Often the solution the propose won't work from an integrity, technological or finance perspective, but you can address the problem behind it in a different way. Then everyone is happy." - Charles Cleveland of Unknown Worlds. The alpha was a failure, and the project was all but terminated. But then a happy accident happened. From nowhere, the community itself offered time and effort to help bring the troubled project to fruition. Sometimes meticulous planning cannot foresee the biggest issues to hit a project, and clearly help can come from unexpected places. The project did finally release as a fully-functioning game on Steam on the 31st of October 2012. I believe that reliance on chaos is foolish and unsustainable, but that occasionally disorder and confusion can lead to great discoveries. Were it not for Unknown World's lack of order, they may never have turned to their own community for help, and the game that resulted may have been very different indeed.


Sources:
http://www.shacknews.com/article/61103/natural-selection-2-interview-the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Selection_2

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/authors/915471/Charles_London.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131369/keeping_up_with_the_sims_managing_.php?print=1