Game Concept Art 1: Richland Game Art (Introduction) Week 1

Spring 2019 - Week 1 (22JAN19)

Circle, Square & Triangle: Foundation for Design

Using the aspect ratio 1.85:1 for the canvas, place a circle, square a triangle in an appealing composition. Techniques like adjusting opacity and tone (black white & 50% gray) will help provide a focal point and create depth.

Experiment with variations of layouts to see which is more appealing. Do NOT move forward with your first idea! Visual Development is about trying different ideas to see which is best suited for the concept.

Pick your final design and print it out so it can be hung on the presentation wall next Tuesday. Be prepared to explain your design choices.

Aspect Ratio:

The proportion of height to width in the camera aperture, used in film-making to add landscape and more actors to a scene. Original photo aspect ration was 1:1. Then 1.33:1. The release of television motivated the movie studios to change the picture format to attract audiences. The invention of CinemaScope (2.35:1) and Vista-Vision 1.66:1) were a result of this.

The preferred aspect ratio for today's cinema is 1.85:1 and modern television is 1.78:1 (or 16x9).

You can create a fixed ratio rectangle in Photoshop by using the Rectangle Marque Tool (top left tool set) and adjusting the style of the Marque Tool from Normal to Fixed Ratio.

Next to the Style window, adjust the width to the proportions of the aspect ratio you prefer, for example: Width 1.85 and Height 1 for the Academy Aspect Ratio 1.85:1.

Now, when you drag the Marque Tool across your document, you will create a locked ratio (1.85:1) in any size you choose.

The Coen Brothers style:

- Unique Characters in Difficult Situations

- Cinematic

- Wide Angle Close Ups and Wide Shots

- Limited Color Palette

- Dark Humor

- Bad Choices

- Violent

The Cinematic Style of the Coen Brothers:

Everything You Need to Know About the Coen Brothers’ Cinematic Style

The Coen Brothers' Western:

We will design our "Western" video game based on the genre films from the Coen Bros, specifically:

- Raising Arizona
- True Grit
- Oh Brother Where Art Tho?
- No Country for Old Men
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Breakdown the Script:

Download a copy of the script .pdf file here:

Buster Scruggs

Choose the first story: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and read it through. Pay particular attention to the locations, time of day, characters (and animals), props (anything the character touches or interacts with) and special effects (bullet hits, smoke, broken glass, angel wings). Choose a subject you are interested in and make a list of all of the characters (for example) that appear in the segment. Be as specific as possible. The more information, the better. You will use this list to create your Design List. This is called an Asset List or Script Breakdown.

Examples of Script Breakdowns:

The Difference between Shot, Scene and Sequence:

A SEQUENCE is a part of a film that is distinct from the rest of the film (like a chapter in a book) but is composed of several SCENES strung together to make the SEQUENCE.

A SHOT is denoted by the start and stop of the camera filming while a SCENE is the change of location or time. So dialogue inside a car that leads outside as the characters get out of the vehicle and walk down the street is considered two SCENES (interior/exterior) since the lighting and background will change. The close up of the driver and the 2 shot of the driver and passenger walking down the street are separate SHOTS in the same SCENE. All of the SHOTS and SCENES of the driver and passenger in the car and on the city streets are part of the same SEQUENCE.

Color is Emotion, Music is Color, Music is Emotion

Color can be used to emphasize the emotional through line of a film or it can tell the untold emotional story of another character. Music can do the same thing.

Examples of films with significant emotional color meaning:

Star Wars (Black & White)