Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Staging
Staging in fi lm refers to the way we present an image or an action for our audience. We
plan how something is seen and experienced so that the audience gets the story point. You
have probably heard people say that something was “staged.” This may refer to planning
something so it happens a certain way or that something is not a genuine incident, it is arti-
fi cial. If something happens on stage as in the live theater it is art, it is artifi cial. Film is also
art so it is important for the fi lmmaker to offer the audience a moving aesthetic experience,
while providing the essential storytelling images. It is this marriage of the aesthetic and the
narrative that should guide our decisions about staging.
Directing the Eye
Directing the eye refers to using visual devices to get the audience to look where you want
them to look in the shot. When an image comes on the screen, the audience may be looking
at the lower corner, the center, or the upper third. Perhaps if an object is in the center the
audience will look at that. However, if everything is placed in the center all the time it will
get monotonous. Sometimes a moving image will draw more attention to itself than a station-
ary one. A strong color or anything that has greater visual attraction can direct the audience
to look at that place on the screen.
Because our images may show for only a short time, we must make sure the audience sees
what we need it to see while making the visual experience captivating. We have all seen
group-shot photographs where someone would put a circle around or draw an arrow to get
us to look at a certain person in the group. A spotlight is used on a live stage to accomplish
the same thing. Spotlighting solutions are used in many fi lms as well. In addition to light,
graphic shapes, lines, and alignments can similarly lead the viewers' eyes to see what you
want them to see.
Place a character in front of the vanishing point in a one-point perspective shot of a room
and the receding lines of the vertices toward the vanishing point can direct our eyes to that
person, even if there are other people in the room. A case in point is Leonardo Da Vinci's
“The Last Supper.” Shapes and lines created by foreground objects, shadow patterns, and
tone and color patterns can point to the place that you want the audience to see, thereby
controlling the viewers' attention.
