Creation of Tone and Feel in a World...

Courtney A. Cannon

Creation of Tone and Feel in a World through  precise imagery and sparingly chosen words.

Marjoire Liu and Santa Takeda successfully create a rich and textured world that is complete, and wholly believable with far less than any cinematographer or novelist. They show how less can truly be more, when creating an entire world in frames. Liu and Takeda showcase the principles of media-res with the opening two slides, and maintain believability of the character's connection to this world through brief context giving flashbacks. There is not need to illustrate previous chapters of backstory and to include text for clarity because the character is situated completely within an entire world or intensity. A world with it's own complex history and unique characters. All of this rich texture--the solemn setting, yet vibrant and violent undertones, and the feel of uncertainty and darkness-- is developed through precise imagery and specific word choice and placement.

The progression of the storyboard and the placement of each slide illicit brief moments of humor and irony, precious moments of tenderness with regards to particular character relationships, and of course suspense and thrill in moments of action. The text design not only indicates inner voice and thoughts of the main character, but also showcases movement across moments in real action time through inclusion of dialogue from characters not even in the frame. This moves the eye and time to the next frame. The choice in wording and placement of those words adds movement, maintains the unique tone of this world, and creates captivating action.

The calculated use of color scheme in crafting this world maintains a tone of suspense and intrigue as the dominating palate of dark hues, with marked moments of yellows, reds and plums, blues, and muted greens correspond to the setting of war time in a dark and mysterious world.  These color choices also connect to the times of travel throughout the narrative and character movement at night, in dark places outside, and indoors where light is captured. In short, there is very few moments of brightness illustrating the sunlight in this world, which adds to the believably of this mysterious and troubled world.

Liu and Takeda represent what cannot be seen in the various text design choices, with what is said, and when or where on the frame it is said. The protagonist's quest to uncover hidden truths about herself is accurately illustrated in the darkness and muted hues surrounding the characters and the settings in this world. A world of violence and little remorse for the weakest and strangest, and a world where the powerful fear and hunger to control and consume the mysterious and powerful unknown among them, is all created through the mastery of Liu and Takeda's sparse choice of text and specific color palate within the illustrations.

Courtney Cannon

Comments

  1. MelodyOctober 25, 2017 at 7:27 AM

    I hadn't really picked up on the choice of color as a method of expression, but now I totally see it. The color scheme is another way to communicate about the world/setting, further minimizing what words are used.

    ReplyDelete

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