Personal horror interpretation - 2D (design no.4)

This post captures the forth 2D design for my personal horror interpretation. Below, I will be outlining the design process, formally analysing the finished piece, looking for any errors and finally setting myself some relevant and productive next steps.

Design process

Using the three point perspective template that came with one of my software tutorial packs, I constructed the basic outline for the floor and the fireplace.

Using a darker shade of brown and a florescent-like orange, I highlighted the floor tiles and the fireplace.

Ensuring this piece told a visual story, I constructed the basic outline for a cellar entrance. Realising that the light would come from the cellar, I created some reflective light bouncing off the surrounding floor tiles.

Ensuring the entire room adhered to this light source, I used tonal greys to create a gradient on the fireplace.

Realising the light would project around the room at a greater intensity, I increased the brightness of the light on the floor tiles and the fireplace.

Filling in the back walls, I took a step back and lowered the intensity of the reflective highlights on the floor tiles. To help great understand the lighting, I added in another colour gradient to portray the light coming from the cellar.

In order to adhere to the characteristics of Japanese horror, I added a heightened greyscale by increasing the saturation.

To add a sense of realism, I created a colour gradient of the cellar stairs using tones/shades of grey and shades/tones of yellow and orange to depict the cellar light. 

 Adding the final touches, I lowered the brightness and added some blood using a scattered spray paint brush and a variety of custom brushes I had acquired online.

Formal analysis:

Summary:

Monochromatic colour values are present in the browns of the walls and the floor tiles, as well as the greys of the fireplace and stairs. The lighting coming from the cellar also shares monochromatic colours to a minor degree.

With no blurring evident, there is an infinite depth of field.

The lighting is directional, projecting in a vertical direction and spreading as well as bouncing all over the room.

The camera is close range, set at a side angle and placed at a lower height

This piece uses a mixture of low and high value colour patterns including; greys, yellows, oranges, browns and reds.

In this piece, the lines are both angular and straight, highlighting no deliberate or fixed pattern/scheme.

Shapes in this piece are rectangular and square in nature and do not conflict.

The overall scale of this piece is realistic to a certain degree, however, I do feel the fireplace is a little too small.

Analysis:

The shaded dark browns of the background are used to distinguish the light from the dark areas of the room. Monochromatic colour patterns are also used for the floor tiles and the walls in order to further project segments of light and dark inside the room, using higher values for the light coming from the cellar and lower values for the dark/shadows in the background and the fireplace. The setting is developed by lack of human presence, as well as the trail of blood because it creates the impression that this location is isolated, thus allowing whoever has done this to continue with what they are doing uninterrupted.

Interpretation:

The aim of this piece is to capture the unique characteristics of Japanese directed horror. Other than the entrance to the cellar, there is no clear indication of entry or exit points, evoking feelings of and anxiety. Themes of abandonment, separation and isolation are evoked via the lack of human presence. Minor themes of violence are captured in this piece through the red blood on the floor. Themes of darkness are also captured via the dark shadows projected in the background and the fireplace. With no answer or indication what lies below in the cellar, themes of uncertainty are evoked. Themes of deterioration and neglect are brought forth via the signs of wear and tear on the walls.

Judgement:

The criteria I will be using to judge this piece are composition, setting and colour. This setting does project an isolated atmosphere, however, Japanese horror evokes relevant feelings of anxiety and uncertainty using folklore or supernatural beings, therefore, a ghost like presence or figure in the background would add more to the projected atmosphere and to this piece as a whole. 

Taking composition into consideration, this piece adheres to the unique characteristics of Japanese horror by using somewhat realistic scaling, angular lines, non-conflicting shapes and the camera is placed at a lower height, set a side angle and a close distance. Scaling would be the only element of composition that requires closer attention

Displaying monochromatic patterns, the colours in this scene are both low and high in value through the browns of the walls and the floor tiles, the greys of the fireplace and the oranges & yellows of the light coming from the cellar, therefore, adhering to the lower value and darkened colour patterns displayed in Japanese directed horror films.

In conclusion, this piece adheres to a larger amount of the characteristics of Japanese directed horror films in comparison to the previous piece I made. Evoking feelings of fear and the atmosphere of horror to a greater degree, more work is needed to be done to fully capture the projected atmosphere of horror.

Next steps

• Realistic scaling
• More background detail
• Japanese folklore