This week gave some introduction to the formal elements and the principles of art.
The formal elements, which all can be used to communicate themes or narratives, are comprised of:
– Line
– Shape
– Form
– Value
– Colour
– Space
– Texture
This discussion really encouraged me to think about works that utilise these elements. I immediately thought about Sony’s Spiderman: Across the spiderverse. A recurring theme in the film are the differences in the different spider-heroes across a multitude of universes. Instead of forcing each supposed universe into one singular art style, every universe is expressed differently, particularly with colour, values, texture, and form.
Miles, the central character, has a classic “comic book” style, but chromatic aberrations and deeper colours express his character and environmental interest, as a kid interested in hip-hop and graffiti. He’s animated to almost look stop motion, an emphasis of his existence as a comic book character.
The art language of his universe is an extension of how he sees the world. By contrast, Gwen, the deuteragonist who in design is portrayed as an emotionally struggling, grieving, but caring character belongs in a universe drenched in pastel colours and blurred watercolour textures. These textures erase the world around her when she emotionally implores others or when she is lost in her grief. Her outlook on the world is different to Miles’, and so is the way she’s expressed in the film.
Thirdly, Hobie, a key supporting character, has an art style punctuated by his personality and intertwined with his political stance. Deeply involved in social justice issues and British punk culture, Hobie himself exists as a collage of newspaper cutouts, stickers, scribbled markers and acidic neon. he, like the others, is expressed in the film through his art style. His movement and rhythm are different from the others, a deliberate extension of the art style he’s portrayed with.
This discussion was useful in helping me consider the deliberate choices in art style. Not every film can employ as many different styles as Spiderverse, but every film will consider colour palettes, textures and values, along with the other formal elements and principles.