Last week, my art of video teacher introduced our class to
a website,
https://www.longliveimagination.com/.
On this site, photographers everywhere are encouraged to take photos that
exemplify the ten themes of storytelling. In this post, I'll be giving a brief
summary of each one, along with a photographic example of each.
10. Mood
Mood is the tone of a story, what gives it feeling, whether
it be gloomy, bright, mysterious, or hopeful. It can be influenced by diction,
imagery, the character of, well, the characters, etc.
Take this for example. Notice how
it is taken from the perspective of someone entering the shop, first of all.
Nothing is given specific attention regarding lighting, so your eye is drawn to
everything along the edges of the frame. The overwhelming amount of light
sources gives the entire photo a feeling of wonder, like someone who enters a
shop to be greeted by an assortment of objects that all manage to attract the
eye. And the way in which the z-axis is clear along the fore-ground and
mid-ground give you a look at the shops proprietor as well, but is
insignificant compared to what he is surrounded by, even as the vectors of the frame
all lead to the center.
9. Goal
What the characters are after.
Central to nearly every story is something that someone is after, but its
importance is relevant to the searcher.
The player with the
ball is the subject in focus, to highlight his importance to the game, while
still leaving the other players visible. The frame also gives the subject a bit
of lead room, to show that he is going in a specific direction, towards some,
well, ahem, GOAL.
8. Back story
The story behind the
story (oh man, fragment sentences, what ever will I do?). What makes the setting/characters
the way they are?
The actual manner of
portraying back story in a photograph can be quite subjective, since, in a way,
any sort of photo can be filled with further information once you look around
the subject. It’s all about paying attention to the details. In this case,
rather then using focus to specify a main object, it puts the sunflowers (and
the hand placing them) in the center of the frame. The lighting evokes a sort
of unreal atmosphere to the kitchen, like a memory or dream. It emphasizes the
importance of the sunflowers to the person on the right hand side. Not sure how
this really relates to back story, but like I said, it can be hard to pin down
(or maybe I’m just dim).
7. Character
Now, this is a very
wide category. A character can be a person, an animal, a rock, a tree, a
planet…as long as it has an active role in the plot. For example, you can
hardly call a rock a character if all that occurs is that another character
describes it. If it talked, however, it would be different. With photographs,
it is less about simply taking a photo of someone as much as it is about giving
some sort of importance or uniqueness to them.
In this example, you
are given a full shot of an old man walking down a street. Like in some of the
photographs before, it focuses on him, with the black and white possibly
symbolizing great age. There is an ample amount of lead room ahead of him,
which shows that he is walking, although the manner in which he walks implies
that he is infirm.
6. Obstacles
Anything blocking the
characters progress, be it mental or physical.
In this case, it is
both. The light is cast up the ladder, to show that someone is casting it their
self. The vertical horizon line gives a sense of energy and vertigo to the
picture, a symbolization of a fear of heights or the danger of climbing the
ladder. In addition, the old appearance of the ladder brings the idea that it
might not be very stable. So the image is both a combination of mental and
physical obstacles.
5. Relationship
Any connection
between characters, objects, or ideas.
By putting the two
children in focus, it brings to the viewer’s attention the relationship between
the two. Being in the fore/mid-ground, they are also the largest things in the
photo, giving them further importance. And the silhouetting of both of them is
a way of telling the viewer that they are connected in some way.
4. Setting
Where the story takes
place.
The house is given a
full shot, so one can see it in fullness. Everything else is blurred out as
well to highlight it, and there is a sort of visual balance coming from it
being the largest single object in frame. The lighting also gives the house a
bright and happy feeling.
3. The Unknown
Why is this
happening? Who is that? What will happen next? This theme is basically anything
unexpected or surprising.
A graphic vector in
the form of the stairs draws your eye to wherever the staircase goes, which is
not elaborated upon. The way the light falls on the staircase gives it a mystical
element. In other words, it gives you the sense that the staircase leads to
somewhere new or unknown.
2. Time
When something
occurs, or the passage of time.
In this photograph,
the moon is the subject, highlighting the current time. All lines lead to this
subject, bringing to it more relevance then the fact that it’s quite dark
outside actually.
Perhaps I summed that
last one up too quickly, but to be honest, I might just not be looking hard
enough for good enough examples, or I’m just not looking hard enough. Perhaps I'll come back to this later if I have a revelation. Shame
that there wasn’t much humor in this post but you try not to force it. The
tenth theme will be revealed on Canon’s site soon, and I will be updating this
post to fit with that development.
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