Cinematography Tricks for The Artist

Something that a lot of illustrators forget is that they don't need to reinvent the wheel every time they sit down to draw. They also forget that a lot of different artists have had to deal with the same issues and problems; it may not be a bad idea to look at other disciplines to see what tricks they have that may be useful for comics. The obvious one is cinematography, given that it's also a form of visual storytelling.

With that in mind, it may be useful for beginning artists to at least debate taking a class or two in film-making. This will not only give you a wider vocabulary of visual terms to play with but also show you some other ways of looking at things. It will enforce a more technical way of looking at your art, giving you additional ways to look at a scene and some different ways to draw it. Sometimes looking at things differently is not a bad thing, especially if you want to really have some fun with what you are doing.

Rule of 180

When you're watching movies, pay special attention to how they film conversations: The placement of those talking can add additional subtext if you're paying close attention. The idea here is pretty simple: Most comic book conversations take the camera and pull it back from those talking; if you see two people talking at a table, you're likely to see the same shot of the two people at the table throughout the conversation. While this allows the artist to re-use the same art for each panel thus speeding production, even partially, it makes the conversation somewhat static, even if the participants change poses.

The Rule of 180 places the camera just outside the conversation and focuses on each participant as they speak. Ideally, if the conversation goes as it should, each participant will take up different positions in the panel: The first will occupy the left side and the second the right side, with each looking to the center of the panel. Generally, this doesn't change during the conversation. If you're doing three or more participants, then they take up position in the panel depending on physical position, depending on where the camera is placed.

Remember that thing I said about subtext, however? The Rule of 180 properly applied can add a lot of it. If one or both of the participants are facing away from the center of the panel, it shows disagreement or some other conflict with the other, even a dislike for the other person; this gives a couple having a spat a little added poignancy. Because we're expecting opposing parties on different sides of the panel, it allows you to show allegiances by putting allies on the same side of the panel, and disagreements within the group by having those disagreeing facing different directions.

The Rule of 180 allows for a lot of dynamic conversation, even if it's just talking heads.

Dutch Angles

Generally, the camera is placed squarely and levelly in front of the action. However, sometimes you may want to show things are a bit off, either the situation or the character himself; this is where you may want to tilt the camera a bit, with the greater the tilt the more off the situation or person is. This is referred to as a "Dutch angle", after the tendency of a certain group of Dutch filmmakers to use and over-use it. This isn't good just for horror scenes, but also to give a little foreshadowing that not all is as it appears or to show that someone isn't having the greatest of days. It's a little something subtle, but it can be highly effective when used right.

Forced Perspective

While this is used mostly to help make in-camera visual effects work, it can also be used for some nicely dramatic effects. The idea is usually to mess with the sizes of two different objects for specific effects; the most obvious is to put one person closer to the camera lens so that they appear bigger and another person further from the camera so they are smaller, thus messing with the usual proportions (this allows a small person to appear to be the larger one, or shrinking someone, for example). This is really useful with the props and setting that have been sized appropriately as well, such as huge scissors to make it look like someone is shrinking or given a supposed giant smaller props).

In illustration, this is used to focus attention on a particular object or person. If I place the camera behind the villain to make him look larger than his henchmen, for example, it's harder to ignore his monologue. Conversely, if one person has just won an argument, then you can make the winner look bigger and the loser pathetic. This can also add a little more menace, such as by making the predator bigger than his prey, as well as some comedy (a huge cat about to strike is revealed to be regular size by pulling back). It's usually pretty obvious, but nonetheless an effective technique.

Shadow Play

In noir films, you see shadows used effectively to focus attention on specific details. For example, a person's eyes will be highlighted while the rest of the person is in shadows or the burst of a gun will be used to show who they hit. It can be used to hide or otherwise obscure some details until they are needed. Something else to consider is to use shadows to hide the details of subjects, allowing them to sneak around more effectively or to highlight the target of an upcoming attack.

While this works best with some sort of practical light source, such as blinds or a firearm, even a flashlight, this isn't necessary. This is a simple effect and allows for a nicely dramatic illustration, especially if most of the panels have been well-lit. This can also help you save some time drawing, as you only need to highlight the details needed while obscuring or just suggesting other details. It may be worth looking at the old detective movies just for their lighting.

Depth of Field

This is a pretty simple concept: Originally, this was seen as a limit of how lenses worked as the ideal was to present everything in the same amount of sharpness; that is, no detail was obscured. However, by allowing some items to be in focus while allowing others to blur a little, and by changing the depth of field, some seriously nice dramatic effects can be created. This applies just as much to comics: While you definitely want to usually have everything be as detailed as everything else in a panel, especially in battle scenes, there are some situations where blurring the non-important parts can work rather nicely, such as when two lovers embrace or focusing on the room instead of the occupants.

Better yet, illustrators have more options. While a photographer can only blur things out, an illustrator can limit the details to just suggest the less important subjects or even cover them in a solid color. By using these techniques to limit the depth of field, you can focus attention right where it needs to be focused, allowing for some additional emotional weight on the more visible subjects.

[For that matter, by limiting some subjects to just solid colors, you can also suggest specific emotions, such as showing how mad one person is at another by making them a solid red, passion through pink, or even fear through dark grays. The key here is that you don't need to feel like you need to show every last detail; sometimes obscuring some details is more effective than showing everything.]

Splash of Color 

Used to effect in "Schindler's List", some black and white movies will colorize something specific to focus attention on it. Even some color movies use specific colors to highlight different situations or people, such as different universes having different color schemes to show the viewer which universe they are in or different characters using weapons of different colors. While most illustrators do the same thing, this is nonetheless a technique that is so obvious and well-used that some forget about it but is well worth noting.

Chekov's Gun 

Generally, this is more of a writer's thing, where the writer notes that a specific item needs to be highlighted. The idea is to give some sort of foreboding: If the item is being focused on, then you know it's going to be used, probably in or near the climax. However, this can be used for people as well, usually by making someone in the crowd stand out in some fashion and then introducing that person later on. This can also be used to subtly highlight the clue in a murder mystery so its appearance later does not feel like it was added at the last moment. This can also be used to help "hide" Easter eggs so that readers will see it as the homage it's supposed to be rather than just part of the background.

There are all sorts of doing this, such as using a different color than anything else in the panel, blurring it or covering it in shadow, or even just using it and then putting it down. However you choose to highlight the item is up to you, but don't make it too subtle or it loses its point.

Leading Sights 

While this is more of a framing device than anything else, it can be somewhat fun to use every so often. The basic idea is pretty simple: You look through some sort of aiming device and see what it sees. This can be the sights of a gun, the tip of an arrow, or even some sort of futuristic device; you are just showing what the person aiming is seeing. This helps show how good the person aiming is at using the weapon, as well as upping the drama a little, even if everyone knows that the person aiming isn't serious.

Better yet, if you use some sort of futuristic aiming device, it allows you to impart some additional information, such as species, temperature, or even reaction speed; if there's a stat behind it, you can use the device to show, and you can even make up statistics if you want to. This can also be used to foreshadow details if you use it the right way, such as revealing a character is a mutant pages or even books ahead of the actual reveal. Thus, not only does it make for a great way to break up visuals every so often, but you can also use it as a storytelling device.

Uses of Long vs. Close-up Shots

Most scenes default to medium shots; that is, a shot that shows the full body or just the top halves of characters. While this is great for most scenes, you should consider breaking up the shots, if for no other reason than making things visually interesting; if you only use the same medium views, even if it's from different perspectives. This is where long and close-up views come into play.

Long shots are great for establishing shots as well as getting a general idea of what is going on. If you're trying to show the location where everything is happening but none of the main characters, you're using an establishing shot; this is where you see buildings and park scenes, as well as general scenery shots. This helps give the reader a good idea of where they are as well and helps to center the upcoming scenes. You can also use them to take a break and show the whole situation, such as how different forces are aligned on a battlefield, where two people are on the map, or even just how a settlement or camp is set up.

Close-up shots allow you to show details of characters, devices, or even locations. They can also be used to increase drama by focusing on sweaty foreheads, smirks, or putting hands on weapons; you know, those little details that show a person under stress or that the situation is about to escalate. It can even show a gauge going red or a target through some sights; it is best used for helping to increase the drama.

As long as you don't overuse them, these can be used to effect, even if it's just breaking up all of the medium shots being used, making them great visual tools.

Sepia in Flashbacks

Flashbacks used to effect can be a great storytelling tool. However, one of the biggest problems is differentiating them from the general story so that the reader doesn't get lost in the story. The most effective way of doing this is to color the flashback using a more washed-out look; this is usually through coloring the flashback (or at least the beginning and end, for extended flashbacks) browns and black and white (both of these are callbacks to colors used in old photographs). However, this does not mean they are the only options; the most obvious one is to color the flashback the color associated with the character telling it (useful when different characters are relating the same situation, albeit from different perspectives).

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As you can see, some of the techniques used in illustration come from cinematography. With that in mind, it may be useful for someone interested in expanding their visual vocabulary to take some classes in film-making and photography. For that matter, it may be helpful to look at films that you enjoy a little more critically, as often when someone enjoys a movie it's because of the techniques used to create the visuals of the movie; by looking at it more critically, you may find something to add to your own toolkit.

You never know when you may need something interesting or when you may find a new tool that takes your art to a new level.