Image Composition – Across the Board

After watching Scott McCloud’s TED Talk titled Understanding Comics, I found myself with a newfound appreciation and understanding regarding composition. And I mean composition as it refers to all things visual, not strictly traditional photography which is where the minds of most go when they hear the word “composition”.

McCloud’s examples were rooted in the world of comics given that he is a comic artist by trade, but when you think about it, composition plays an important role in all visual media whether it be comic strips, 2-D art, 3-D art, video, photography, drama performances, even live events, video games, and so forth.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

This is an aspect of visual media that a lot of people don’t stop and consider. Our brain appreciates that things look nice, and we accept this fact without any consideration. But in reality, a lot of thought goes into how things, especially visual things, are composed and positioned for the eyes of the viewer. As an exercise, next time you look in a magazine, watch a movie, or see a billboard, stop and think about what elements are where, and why that might have been done. It’ll probably open your eyes up to an entirely different world of design and deliberation.

Something else that McCloud brings attention to in his TED Talk, is that while the preconceived notion regarding what composition looks like for each respective visual medium and how that should be implemented exists, that doesn’t mean that these notions and current understandings shouldn’t be challenged or experimented with. He himself gives an example of comic books that can be read continuously (as he points out was the case in ancient history) thanks use of modern computer screens. Could different compositional takes be implemented into film then? What about fully immersive film, which is slowly becoming more and more of a possibility thanks to the creation of virtual reality (VR) technology? Or, using the same technology, fully immersive digital art? Interactive Sculpture (See the video below) has been around for a short time now, so what’s the next “big-thing”?

These questions and more, brought about by McCloud’s own questions in the talk linked above, are as exciting as they are perplexing. Only using our imaginations can we wonder about what is yet to come, but even then, no one can ever know for sure – until, that is, such imaginings are nurtured, supported, and brought to life.

What do you imagine we will see in the next 10, 20, 50 years? What new things might be brought into existence and change media, the way we know it, forever? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think! And then, maybe look into turning this speculation into a reality; you never know what you might be capable of supplied with a little curiosity, some hard work, and a vision.

Until next time, keep asking questions, keep making connections, and keep on creating.

-Kortney