Alright guys,
I don’t have a blog so I’m gonna start posting the tips I have in blender artists,
I’m no pro but there are some things I don’t hear being talked about all that much
So 3 is a more interesting number than 2, what do I mean by that,
I mean 3 people in a scene is more often than not more interesting than just 2 people… wait no… bad example
I’m talking about the rules of odds
Wanna know why sometimes 2 people in the same scene doesn’t “feel” as good as a portrait of one guy or 3 guys or [insert odd number here]?
Because it’s more easy on the eyes, grabs people’s attention
just like every other composition trick
Now this doesn’t have to be with just people, it can be with the amount of objects in your scene or even the amount of indents in your armor.
^^Was a bad (populist macho) move in that film… you got three hands?!?
Fast simple notes - scratching the surface /// BEWARE symbolism!
0 - it’s not nothing, a wonder, before the… or end of - left for continuation
1 - master, plan, unity, all there is, infinity… in most simple way
2 - pairs, symmetry, equality… god for status quo, creating tension & representing the state of balance, continuity
3 - rule of thirds… trinity, the most simplistic representation of hierarchical order, state of grace
4 - baad… to eastern cultures representation of evil, always followed by action… war, krieg, fight, apocalypse…
5 - the leader, great, master Group (5 books Torah, 5 rings (Miyamoto Musashi), terrorist cell (Turgenev)…)
…
… and so on.
If you are about to make an art work, know what you can implement to make an amazing narrative story. Never ever take it for an absolute truth.
Study based on your intent, goal, target group.
The point being:
Interest is very subjective concept.
It depends on what you want your viewer to focus on. Using an odd number of objects if you want the eye to focus on the one in the center (https://mrdedwards.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/7539633906_dfecb17907_o.jpg) or an even number of objects to guide the eye on something else, like in symmetric compositions. Even numbers leave an empty space in the center and if there is nothing that attracts the eye you lose the attention of the viewer. In the end it all comes to balance in your composition and your focal element.
With characters it gets a little bit more complex because the eye line is another important thing to guide the eye. Two guys staring at another guy -> I stare at this guy to. To guys staring at each other -> I don’t know what to do! Who is more important? Two guys staring at you -> that’s basicly a mirror…
And to address what ricky said: two arms and you focus on the the head, to legs and you focus on… you know what i mean
It’s important though not to get too wrapped up in these rules, often they make for analytically “good” compositions though frequently they become stagnant, stale and visually predictable. You see this a lot in “rule of thirds” compositions or triangular hierarchies.
Just over two years ago I was making a mod for a video game (it was during the making that I learned about Blender and started my 3D journey), and one of the puzzles I put in the mod started with a clue written on the wall. It went like this,
Three is the perfect number,
One is not perfect because it can not present conflict,
Two is not perfect because it can have conflict or agreement, but not both,
Three is the perfect number because it can have both conflict and agreement.
The clue was to find three wall switches and put two in one position and one in another, thus conflict and agreement. Some people understood it, others said it was too vague. Oh well, I thought it was pretty deep.
Hmm, two people side by side in a scene, not so interesting. Change the angle, so you are looking at one down over the shoulder of the other, and you have a story. It’s not numbers, it’s composition.
It depends entirely on what you want to say! Woody Allen frequently uses side-by-side to construct tension as often his characters put up interpersonal walls (Annie Hall). OTS is extremely intimate. If the scene is about tension, why would you want intimacy?
It’s not always about harmony.
This is an enormous trap that people very often fall into with composition. They think about what’s “pleasing” first, and what’s being said second. Composition is the scaffolding by which ideas are presented.
Newtons equations function perfectly with 2 bodies. It becomes more interesting though when a third body is added. That’s the point where a newtonian system becomes a chaotic system. The difference is that it drastically changes the predictability of outcomes. There may be some intrinsic interest in the number three.
