TASK 1 - Exercises (Character Design)
LIST OF CONTENTS:
- Module Brief
- Lecture Notes
- Week 1 : Character Design 101 - The Fundamentals of Memorable Visual Storytelling
- Week 2 : Chiaroscuro
- Week 3 : Composition Theory 1 - Visual Types & Shots
- Week 4 : Composition Theory 2 - Perspective
- Week 5 : Composition Visual Theory 3 - Fore, Mid & Background
- Week 6 : 3 Acts Structure
MODULE BRIEF
LECTURE NOTES
WEEK 1 - Character Design 101
- Iconic – Strong silhouettes make them instantly recognisable.
- Unique – Stand-out designs create lasting emotional impressions.
- Simple – Clean, digestible visuals help communicate character traits fast.
WEEK 2 - Chiaroscuro
Origins & Key Artists
This technique gained popularity during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Notable artists who mastered chiaroscuro include:
Leonardo da Vinci – known for subtle gradations of light.
Caravaggio – famous for dramatic, theatrical lighting.
Gerrit van Honthorst – often used candlelit scenes for effect.
These artists employed chiaroscuro not just for realism, but to enhance narrative depth in their compositions.
Famous Artworks
Some classic examples of chiaroscuro in traditional paintings are:
The Matchmaker – Gerrit van Honthorst (1625)
Still Life with Fruit – Caravaggio (1601)
The Calling of St. Matthew – Caravaggio (1599–1600)
The Taking of Christ – Caravaggio (1602)
These works highlight how contrast between illumination and shadow creates a sense of drama and focus.
Related Technique : Tenebrism
While chiaroscuro uses contrast for form, tenebrism takes it further. It involves:
Illuminating only select parts (like faces or hands).
Placing these details in predominantly dark surroundings.
Creating a spotlight effect that directs the viewer’s eye.
Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ is a prime example.
Chiaroscuro in Film & Photography
Chiaroscuro extends beyond painting. In film and photography, it's known as low-key lighting, where deep shadows and selective highlights emphasize mood.
Key filmmakers using chiaroscuro lighting:
Francis Ford Coppola in The Godfather series – emotionally charged scenes lit with minimal light.
Stanley Kubrick in Barry Lyndon (1975) – natural candlelight enhances authenticity and tension.
Examples:
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
The Godfather I & II (1972, 1974)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
These films use light not just to illuminate, but to tell stories through emotion and symbolism.
Chiaroscuro in Modern Visual Narratives
Chiaroscuro is common in contemporary media, especially comics, animation, and digital art. It's used to guide viewer focus and convey tone.
Popular modern uses:
Houseki no Kuni (2020) – highlights fragile beauty and depth.
Batman comics – reinforces the dark, brooding atmosphere.
Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – uses contrast for energetic and emotional visuals.
Moon Knight – balances shadow and light to reflect the character’s duality.
This technique offers several benefits:
Increase Dramatic Tension: Enhances emotional intensity and visual intrigue.
Create Sensational Effects: Adds a fantastical or theatrical tone.
Attract Attention: Guides the viewer’s eye to key subjects, establishing hierarchy.
Make Tasteful Compositions: Balances positive space (subject matter) with negative space (surroundings) for aesthetic appeal.
By understanding chiaroscuro, artists and visual storytellers can craft more powerful and engaging visuals, whether in classical painting or modern digital storytelling.
WEEK 3 - Composition Visual Theory 1
Composition in visual design refers to the intentional arrangement of elements within a frame to communicate meaning. Whether you're taking a photo, designing a scene, or filming a shot, every decision—what to include, exclude, and how to place it—shapes the visual outcome and its narrative impact.
“Your composed shots should consciously arrange the focus of the scene to stand out, even in the subtlest manner.” — The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Core Principles of Composition
To create strong compositions, consider the following visual narrative rules:
Visual Narrative: Your visual should support and reflect the story or emotional intent.
Visual Flow: Guide the viewer's eye naturally through the scene.
Visual Balance: Arrange elements to achieve harmony within the frame.
Visual Hierarchy: Direct attention to the most important details first.
These principles help maintain clarity, emotion, and meaning in visual storytelling.
Types of Visual Composition
Here are key types of composition and what they achieve:
Visual Narrative
Matches subject focus with the mood and theme of the story.
Example: Violet Evergarden, Ep.10 – emotional alignment between visuals and story.
Visual Flow
Guides how a viewer’s eye moves through a scene.
Example: Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020) – flow from action to detail.
Visual Balance
Manages the weight and placement of elements.
Example: Parasite (2019) – balance between social classes in frame.
Visual Hierarchy
Uses focus and contrast to prioritize what the viewer sees first.
Example: Hans Holbein's portraits — strategic subject focus.
Different Types of Shots
Each shot type provides a different perspective and narrative impact:
Establishing Shot
Wide view to introduce setting, scale, or context.
Example: Wizard of Oz (1939)
Bird's Eye View
Overhead shot, often at a 90° angle; creates distance or detachment.
Example: The Avengers (2012)
Frame Within a Frame
Uses elements like windows or doorways to emphasize a subject.
Example: Mulan (1998)
Medium Shot
Shows characters from the waist up; balances detail and context.
Example: Titanic
Close-Up
Captures facial expressions and emotions; builds intimacy.
Example: Get Out (2017)
Worm's Eye View
Extreme low angle shot, often used to show power or scale.
Example: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Final Takeaways
Good composition is not just aesthetic—it’s functional storytelling. Whether through a balanced layout or emotional close-up, each visual decision should support the narrative’s purpose and engage the viewer effectively.
WEEK 4 - Composition Visual Theory 2
Perspective is the visual technique used to represent three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface. Its purpose is to create a realistic sense of depth, space, and positioning in a composition. Mastering perspective allows artists and designers to guide the viewer's eye, create believable scenes, and tell more immersive visual stories.
Types of Perspective in Visual Composition
1. One-Point Perspective
This is the simplest form of perspective.
All lines in the composition recede toward a single vanishing point on the horizon.
Often used in scenes like long hallways, roads, or railway tracks.
As objects get closer to the vanishing point, they appear smaller, eventually vanishing completely.
📍 Use it when you want to draw attention directly into the depth of the scene.
2. Two-Point Perspective
Uses two vanishing points, placed on either end of the horizon.
Objects and buildings are drawn toward both points, creating a more dynamic and realistic spatial effect.
Helps in showing corner views or scenes where the subject is angled.
📍 Ideal for architectural drawings or when portraying objects from an edge or corner.
3. Three-Point Perspective
Builds upon two-point perspective by adding a third vanishing point, typically above or below the horizon line.
Used to create dramatic, towering, or plunging viewpoints.
Perfect for illustrating tall buildings from below (worm’s eye) or looking down from great heights (bird’s eye).
📍 Best for conveying scale, drama, and intensity.
4. Isometric View
Unlike linear perspectives, isometric views don’t have vanishing points.
All axes are equally foreshortened, and angles between them remain constant.
Ideal for technical drawings, game environments, and object-based concept design because it shows multiple sides without distortion.
📍 Use when clarity and detail are more important than realism.
Dynamic Application of Perspective
While structured perspective is useful, artists are encouraged to mix and adapt methods based on narrative and style. For example:
In a scene with a crashing spaceship, using multiple perspectives—one for the object and one for the background—adds energy and complexity.
📍 Flexibility in applying perspective can increase visual interest and support storytelling.
Example of Complex Composition: Las Meninas
Las Meninas (Diego Velázquez, 1656) is a masterclass in layered perspective and composition.
The painting challenges the viewer’s perception of space, positioning, and narrative.
It blends the viewer's space with the subject’s space, blurring the boundary between observer and scene.
🎥 Watch the breakdown to see how Velázquez’s use of layout and perspective tells a powerful story.
Key Takeaways
Perspective is about illusion—transforming 2D space into a believable 3D experience.
Choose your perspective technique based on what you want the viewer to feel:
Direct and focused? → Use One-Point
Dynamic and angled? → Use Two-Point
Dramatic and immersive? → Use Three-Point
Clear and technical? → Use Isometric
Don’t be rigid—experimentation can lead to more powerful compositions.
WEEK 5 - Composition Visual Theory 3
In composition theory, the arrangement of visual elements—known as composition—is essential for guiding the viewer’s eye and creating a strong visual impact. A well-composed image can make artwork more engaging and effective. One key technique is the use of three spatial planes: foreground, middle-ground, and background. These planes help create depth and a clear sense of space.
- Foreground : This is the area closest to the viewer. It usually contains the main subject of the composition and is often depicted with larger scale and more detail to draw immediate attention.
- Middle-ground : Positioned between the foreground and background, the middle-ground connects the scene, adds depth, and helps guide the visual flow. It often supports the main subject or action.
- Background : This is the farthest part of the scene, often used to set the environment or mood. It typically features less detailand helps reinforce the focus of the foreground or middle-ground.
Depending on where the subject is placed, each plane can be the main focus. For example, in scenes from Adventure Time, the foreground can be emphasized using size and color contrast. If the middle-ground is the focus, light and shadow contrasts are effective. When the background becomes the focal point, shape and value contrast help highlight the distant elements without overpowering the scene.
In addition to spatial layering, effective compositions use a principle called design flow. This refers to how the viewer’s eye moves through the layout. A strong design flow ensures the eye transitions smoothly from one element to another, maintaining visual interest and clarity. Good design flow often combines line, contrast, color, type, and imagery to lead the viewer naturally through the content. This is especially important in interface and information design, where organizing content clearly is key to communication.
WEEK 6 - 3 Acts Structure
Storytelling begins with a central theme, which is the underlying message or main idea the story conveys. Often, this reflects the storyteller’s personal opinion or belief about a subject. A story may include both major and minor themes.
- Major Theme : A central idea repeated consistently throughout the narrative.
Minor Theme : A subtler idea that may appear occasionally but is not a key focus.
A story also needs conflict, which drives the plot forward. Conflict builds tension and suspense, which are essential to keeping the audience engaged. Without conflict, the story lacks momentum and emotional investment. It creates the stakes that keep audiences interested in the protagonist’s journey.
Characters are another core element of storytelling. Most stories include multiple characters, but there are usually at least two central figures:
Protagonist : The main character. This is the person with a clear goal or conflict to overcome. They don’t have to be perfect, but they must elicit emotional engagement from the audience.
Antagonist : The force (person, place, thing, or situation) that stands in the way of the protagonist’s goal. The antagonist represents obstacles and challenges the protagonist must face.
The Three-Act Structure is a classic format for organizing a narrative. It includes:
Act 1 – Setup : Introduces the world, characters, and status quo before the main conflict arises. It ends with an inciting incident that sets the story in motion.
Act 2 – Rising Tension : The protagonist faces a series of increasingly difficult obstacles. Each challenge raises the stakes and intensifies the conflict.
Act 3 – Conflict and Resolution : This act includes the climax—the highest point of tension—and the resolution, where the protagonist either overcomes or is defeated by the conflict. The story ends with some form of closure.
This structure helps storytellers maintain clarity and pacing, ensuring that each part of the narrative builds on the last. It’s widely used in film, literature, and other forms of storytelling because it provides a natural arc of development.
A common way to build a short story using this structure is through the narrative formula:
Once upon a time… (Setup)
Every day… (Routine)
One day… (Inciting Incident)
Because of that… (Consequences)
Until finally… (Climax and Resolution)
TASK 1
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| Fig 3.1.1 Moodboard (Week 8, 15/06/2025) |
After generating initial sketches with ChatGPT, I refined the chosen design in Illustrator using the pen tool, focusing on fur details and playful yet whimsical proportions. I kept the forms simple and approachable, with rounded silhouettes, large eyes, and small accessories like staffs or satchels to hint at personality and story. I also experimented with the width tool and studied film stills and character sheets to guide proportions and maintain consistency in style.
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| Fig 3.2.1 ChatGPT Prompt & Output (Week 8, 15/06/2025) |
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| Fig 3.2.2 Chosen Sketch (Week 8, 15/06/2025) |
Far beyond any known map, past crumbling mountains and memory-blurring mists, lies the Wyrdwood Forest—a place where trees whisper secrets and shadows weave spells. Here, magic doesn’t just exist—it breathes.
Guarding this realm are the Wyrdwood Wardens, three peculiar yet noble creatures chosen by the forest. They live in Rootreach Hollow, a glade where trees bow and stones hum—seen only by those who still believe in quiet magic. As the world rushes on, the Wardens remain—tending to the old life beneath root and stone. Gentle, strange, and steadfast, they remind us the softest beings often guard the greatest power.
Fig 3.3.1 Bramblehorn(Week 8, 15/06/2025)
Fig 3.3.2 Croakley(Week 8, 15/06/2025)
Fig 3.3.3 Elder Thistle(Week 8, 15/06/2025)
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| Fig 3.3.4 Line Art (Week 8, 15/06/2025) |
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| Fig 3.3.5 Character (Week 8, 15/06/2025) |