the 2D Field
the 2D Field: Area
Screen Space: fixed borders that defines the new aesthetic characteristics
• Aspect ratio: relationship of screen width to screen height
• Horizontal orientation
• Standard ratios
• Standard TV / computer screens adopted 4×3 ratio of early motion
pictures (1.33:1 ratio)
•Digital/HDTV16x9(5.33x3or178:1)
• Standard wide screen of motion pictures (5.33×3 or 1.85:1)
• Panavision / Cinemascope has extremely wide aspect ratio – 7×3
(2.35:1)
• Wide-screen – format of most U.S. films
• Framing
• 4×3 frame (film standard was established as early as 1889)
• advantage is that the difference between screen width & height
does not emphasize one dimension over another
• works well with close-ups
• 16×9 frame
• have to pay more attention to the peripheral pictorial
elements/events
• Changing the Aspect Ratio
• Matching aspect ratio
• Letterboxing: wide screen letterbox is created by showing the whole
width & height of the original format, and masking the top and
bottom of the screen with black, white, or colored bands called
dead zones
• Pillarboxing: fitting a standard 4×3 image onto a 16×9 screen
(vertical pillar bars)
• Cutting, stretching, squeezing
• Secondary Frames
• Masking – blacking out both sides of the screen (ex. D.W. Griffith –
Intolerance)
• Multiple screens
• Moving camera
• Object size > context
• Knowledge of object
• Relation to screen area
• Environment & scale
• Reference to a person
• Image size
• Size constancy – we perceive people and their environments as
normal sized regardless of screen size
• Image size & relative energy
• Power of image is related to screen size & format
• People & things
Chapter 7 – The 2D Field: Forces within the Screen
Main directions
• Horizontal (ex. Renaissance architecture)
• Vertical (ex. Gothic Cathedrals)
• Horizontal/Vertical combination
• Tilting the horizontal plane
• Level horizon: stability
• Tilted horizon: dynamism
• Tilted horizon: stress
Magnetism of the Frame
• Top edge (ex. Headroom)
• Sides (ex. Positive /negative pull)
• Corners
• Centered object: even pull (ex. pull of entire frame)
• Large disc: expansion (ex. attraction of mass)
• Small disc: compression
Asymmetry of the Frame
• Up/Down diagonals
• Screen left/right asymmetry
• Tend to pay more attention to the right side than the left
• Figure & Ground
• Characteristics
• Figure is “thing like” – you perceive it as an object
• The line that separates the figure from the ground belongs to the
figure not the ground
• The figure is less stable than the ground
• The ground seems to continue behind the figure
• Superimposition – ambiguous figure/ground relationship
• Figure/Ground reversal
Psychological Closure: tendency to mentally fill in gaps in visual information to
arrive at complete & easily manageable patterns & configurations
• Gestalt – pattern that results from applying psychological closure (whole that
is larger than the psychological sum of its parts)
• Example 3 notes played together become a chord
• High & Low definition images: high definition images has more information
than a low definition image
• High – HDTV/film
• Low – standard TV
• Requires constant psychological closure
• Facilitating Closure – low definition image is helpful only if it facilitates,
rather than inhibits, closure
• Proximity – when similar elements lie in close proximity to one
another we tend to see them together
• Similarity – similar shapes are seen together
• Continuity – once a dominant line is established its direction is not
easily disturbed by other lines cutting across it
Vectors – directional forces that lend our eyes from one point to another (force
with direction & magnitude)
• Vector Field – combination of vectors operating within a single picture field;
picture field to picture field; picture sequence to picture sequence; screen to
screen; on screen to off screen events
• Vector Types
• Graphic Vector – stationary element that guides our eyes in a certain
direction
• Ambiguous direction
• Index Vector – points in a specific direction
• Vector Magnitude – determined by screen direction, graphic mass, perceived
object speed
• Z-axis vector: points toward or away from the camera
• The larger the graphic mass in motion, the higher its vector magnitude
• The faster the speed of an object the higher its vector magnitude
• Vector Directions
• Continuing Vectors – point in the same direction
• Converging Vectors – point toward each other
• Diverging Vectors – point away from each other
Chapter 8 – Structuring the 2D Field: Interplay of Screen Forces
Stabilizing the Field Through Distribution of Graphic Mass & Magnetic Force
• Graphic Weight
• Dimension
• Shape
• Orientation
• Location
• Color
• Hue
• Saturation
• Brightness
• Screen Center – most stable position of an object
• Off Center – the more the object moves off center the greater its
graphic weight and the attraction of the frame increases
• Counter weighting – achieve balance with another object of similar
graphic weight
Stabilizing the Field Through Distribution of Vectors
• Structural Force of Index Vectors
• Nose room & Lead room – need to leave enough room otherwise it will feel
cramped
• Nose room for index vectors
• Lead room for motion vectors
• Converging Vectors – can balance an index vector with a converging one
within the same screen
• Graphic Vectors – can use mass to contain other graphic vectors
Stages of Balance
• Stabile Balance – symmetrical structuring of visual elements
• Neutral Balance – graphic elements are asymmetrically distributed
• Golden Section – division of the screen into roughly 3×5 units
• Rule of Thirds – divide screen into 3 horizontal and 3 vertical fields
• Modular Units – adapted golden section proportions into a modular
concept
• Labile Balance – distribution of graphic weight, frame magnetism, and
vectors are pushed to their structural limit, creating a tendency for
imbalance (high tension)
Object Framing
• Facilitating closure – organize structures into easily recognizable patterns
• Graphic Cues – facilitate psychological closure by arranging the vector field
within the screen area so that all the vectors extend easily beyond the screen
into the off screen space
• Premature Closure – improper framing can lead to early psychological closure
• Natural Dividing Lines –premature closure when framing at natural dividing
lines
• Illogical Closure – tendency to group objects together into patterns regardless
of whether they belong together
The Aesthetic Edge Unusual Compositions – breaking compositional rules for
emphasis
• Emphasis through off-center placement
• Emphasis through partial onscreen placement
Multiple Screens
• Increased information
Dividing the Screen: screens within a screen
• Graphic Blocks
• Secondary Screen
• 2-axis vectors in split screen
• Temporal & spatial contexts
• Temporal – when several simultaneous events are shown in separate,
isolated secondary screens, the direction of the index & motion vectors
within such screen is relatively unimportant
• Spatial – placement of screens in the primary screen space, and the
direction of the index & motion vectors with a secondary frame become
significant structural considerations