Vancouver Film School

Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

Horizon Line Variation and Scale

When determining the size of objects in a perspective picture it is the scale of objects in
relation to each other, not their visual size, that counts. The visual size of objects is just
how big one thing looks in relation to another. The scale of an object is how big one thing
actually is in relation to another. Objects of the same size can look bigger or smaller in
relation to each other depending on how close to the front of the picture they appear to
be, but their scale tells us that they are the same size.

Perspective controls scale; it does so through vanishing points (vp). If two objects are of
the same actual size (the front and back of a cube for example) the vps towards which
perspective lines recede confirm that they are the same scale and actual size even
though they appear to be different in visual size (the front of the cube will appear to be
bigger than the back of the cube but is actually the same size). This is the case in Ill.1:
the front edge of the cube looks as though it is larger the two back edges, but the
receding perspective lines converging at controlled vps along the horizon line (hl) tell us
that they are actually the same size. As viewers we intuitively recognize this in
perspective images. We know that back of the box is the same size as the front of the
box.

Ill.1: Vps control the scale relationship between the front and back edges of the cube. We know that they are the same size
because their scale is controlled by perspective

The same would be true if it were people,

puppies or hamburgers being compared to each
other in a perspective picture. If there were
many people of the same size in the same image,
their visual size may differ depending on their
proximity tot he viewer but their scale would be
controlled by perspective. Ill.2 shows people of
the same size that appear visually bigger and
smaller but are all of similar size. We know them
to be about the same size because of how they
all relate to the hl. Because the hl intersects
Ill.2: These people look like they’re different heights
each of these characters (large or small) we know but we know them to be of similar heights because of
them to be approximately of the same height. how they relate to the hl: it intersects with each of
them at about head level.

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

The visual size may be different but their scale relationship tells us that their actual size is
the same.

The hl establishes the position from which we as an audience are looking at an image.
This is a pictures eye-level. The hl also establishes how much information is above or
below eye-level for the audience. When the hl intersects with objects we know that all of
those points of intersection are at the same height. The audience also knows that
information below the hl is smaller than their eye-level height, and information above the
hl is bigger than their eye-level height. How big an object in the field of vision is can be
measured by breaking the eye-level height into its smallest unit and measuring how many
of those units are in an object at any one position.

For instance, a person looking at a 3-foot box (Ill.3) at a specified position from a 6-foot
POV will have 3-feet of space in between the top of the box and their eye-level. The 6-
foot space in between the groundplane (gp) and eye level has been broken down into two
3-foot chunks. That 6-foot space can be further broken down into 1-foot chunks. The 3-
foot box is comprised of 3 separate 1-foot chunks. The 1-foot chunk is the smallest unit
of comparison between the 3-foot box and the 6-foot eye-level. This unit is the base scale
unit.

Ill.3: The 6-foot distance between the hl and gp can be broken into 1-foot increments. This allows us to tell that the box is 3-feet
(or 3-increments of measurement) tall
Depending on how close the box appears to be to the viewer the size of the base scale
unit will look visually bigger or smaller. An object that is farther away will have a smaller
base increment, and one that is closer will have a larger one. However, whether large or
small, near or far, the 6-increment distance between the hl and gp will always be broken
into 6 equal units. Ill.4 shows how the 3-foot box that is closer to the viewer has a base
scale unit that appears to be visually larger than the 3-foot box that is further away.

Ill.4:Closer object will have bigger base units, farther objects smaller.
2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling
Vancouver Film School

Both boxes though have the distance

between their base on the gp and the hl
divided into 6 equal chunks of their base
scale unit. Any position on the gp will be 6-
units awayEvery object in the image will
have their own base scale unit. Finding this
unit of measurement is the key to keeping
objects in scale relationship to each other in
a perspective image. If a person walks
through the world and has a 6-foot eye-level,
object will appear a certain way (Ill.5&6).
How big those objects should be in relation
to each other is a matter of creating scale
relationships. The buildings, parking meters Ill.5: The world looks a specific way from a 6-foot eye level.
and car of Ill.5&6 all have a height that an Objects of our experience share an expected scale
relationship: trees are taller than parking meters, etc.
audience expects them to be in order to be
believable.

Ill.6: If we could see the world in perfect profile we could clearly see how its objects relate to each other in scale without the
distraction of perspective distortion.

Any position on the gp in a 6-foot hl perspective field will be 6-units away from the hl.
That means that any object in that field of vision can be compared against the individual
units that make up 6-feet at any given position in order to find out how big they are. For
instance, if we looked 3 sticks at various distances from us that were all 6-feet tall from a
6-foot eye-level, the top of each of those sticks would appear to be level with the hl but
wold also appear to be of different visual sizes (Ill.7). Because each of those sticks are
attached to the groundplane, and the top of each is level with the hl we know that each
stick is precisely 6-feet tall, regardless of how big they appear to be. The sticks that
appear to be smaller only appear to be smaller because of perspective recession. It is
their relationship to the hl that gives them their size and scale. We assume that any
object that descends below the hl is attached to the gp at its base so that we know
exactly where the object is positioned (as opposed to holding open the possibility that the
object is floating above the gp which would make it impossible to position and scale
accurately).

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

Ill.7: Any object attached to the gp in a perspective field (and we assume that any object that descends below the hl is attached
to the gp) and level with the hl is the same height as the hl value. In this example all of the sticks are 6-feet tall even though
they appear to be different visual sizes because of perspective recession.

If however, we looked from the same eye-level at 3 sticks which were at varying distances
from the viewer but also varied in size, then we could use the base scale unit to establish
the size of each stick. In Ill.8 it is obvious that Stick B is 6-feet tall because the top of
the stick is level with the hl. We can establish the size of Stick A by either seeing that it
is 3-base scale units high (i.e. 3-feet) or half the the distance to the hl tall (i.e 3-feet),
and the size of Stick C by noticing that it is 12-base scale units tall or twice the height
from the gp to the hl at its position. Even though Stick C appears to be the smallest
object visually, we know it to be the largest of the 3 sticks because of it’s relationship to
the hl. Likewise, even though Stick A appears to be the same visual size as Stick B we
know it to be half its size because of its relationship to the hl.

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

Ill.8: Objects that appear to be visually larger and smaller can be deceiving. It is not visual size that matters but the scale
between objects which is established by their relationship to the hl. In this example the largest stick appears to be the smallest
because it is furthest away, but because of its scale relationship we know it to be twice the size of the second largest stick.

Suppose though, that you wanted to show the same world from 2 different POV’s and
have all of the objects maintain the positions and scale relationships to each other. This
means that all you would change between two images was the the verticle position of the
viewer; everything else in the image constant would be kept constant (i.e. the position of
the objects both laterally and recessionally in relation to the viewer). The base scale unit
at each object position would determine how much of each object would be above or
below the new eye-level. For example, if we were to show the 3-foot cube in Ill.4 from a
14-foot eye-level then there would be 3 units of box below eye-level as well as 11-units of
empty space before the eye-level of the viewer was reached (Ill.9).

Ill.9: From a 14-foot eye-level the 3-foot box looks very different than from a 6-foot eye-level, but it’s base scale unit will remain
the same visual size as long as only the verticle position of the viewer changes from image to image.

If we were to show the same 3-foot box from a 1-foot eye-level, 1 unit of that cube would
be below the viewer’s eye-level and 2 units would be above (Ill.10).

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

Ill.10: From a 1-foot eye-level the 3-foot box looks very different than from a 6-foot eye-level, but it’s base scale unit will remain
the same visual size as long as only the verticle position of the viewer changes from image to image.
So, let’s imagine that we want to create a two-frame story that reveals the same building
from two different POV’s. In one scene the viewer is looking at building from street level,
and in the other the viewer has a POV much higher, but directly above the first. Nothing
changes between the two images except the verticle position of the POV (lateral and
recessional position remain constant). The building from
street level can be divided in to blocks, with each block
representing a base scale unit of the viewer’s eye-leveland
verticle distance from the gp. Let’s say that each block in
Ill.11 is 6-feet tall, then each block that the building is
comprised of is 6-feet tall. If the building is made up of
12 blocks, then the building is 72-feet tall (6*12 blocks):
1 block below eye-level and 11 blocks above. Let’s say
that the building from the second POV is to be shown as
if it were looking at the halfway point of the building (i.e.
a 36-foot eye-level). This means that there would be
exactly 6 blocks of the base scale unit below the new eye
Ill.11: This building is divided into 12
level and 6 blocks above. Illustrations 12&13 show how
equal units of a base scale unit, in this
case the eye-level of this image. the same building looks very different from this POV than
from the 6-foot POV.

Ill.12: The scale of this building is the same as that in Ill.11, Ill.13: This building looks very different from the building in
as it is comprised of 12 individual chunks of the same base Ill.11, even though it is the same size and scale. Different
scale unit. POVs make objects look and feel different for a viewer.

Altering POV is one of the easiest ways to change the way a story is being told. If you
change the POV of an image, even though the subject matter may remain the same in

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

every other way, the image will feel different to an audience. You will be telling a different
story every time you choose a different POV to convey the same information. It may vary
a little or a lot, but it will always be different. And your audience will notice.

Cropping for Emotion - High and Low Crop

The frame is a cropping device. Cropping means that some information is included
inside the bounded edge of the frame and other information is excluded. Whatever
information is excluded has been ‘cropped out’, whatever is included is ‘inside the crop’.
Cropping can affect the audience emotionally. Common ways of cropping for emotional
purposes are the high crop, the low crop, and the diagonal crop (dutch tilt).

A high crop will fake the sensation of looking up (up-shot/low-angle) and a low crop will
fake the sensation of looking down (down-shot/high-angle). This effect is created by
cropping the eye level of the audience out of the frame. By eliminating the eye-level from

Ill.14: In a regular 1pt/2pt perspective image the hl would be included in the frame, this makes it obvious to the viewer where
they are situated in relation to the image and that they are looking straight ahead at a specific point in it.

Ill.15: By cropping the hl out of the frame the viewer is longer able to position themselves within the image, and even though they
would still be looking at specific point below or above the frame, it feels as though they are looking up or down at the image.
What the picture actually shows is simply what is above or below their eye level.

the frame (i.e. cropping the image so that the eye-level is either above or below the
frame), the viewer loses their relational position to the scene and only sees the

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

information above or below their eye-level. The viewers actual POV is still level to the
groundplane, but because only the portions of the image that exist below or above their
POV is revealed it appears as though they are looking up or down at that scene. Ill.14
shows where the hl would be in relation to the frame given the crop shown in the image
on the left, while Ill.15 shows where the hl would be in relation to the frame in both a high
and low crop. So long as the hl is outside the frame in either a high or low crop the
sensaton of looking up or down will be achieved.

The eye-level and central vp of a picture position the audience in relation to an image. It
lets them know where they are looking at a scene from. When these pieces of
information are cropped out of the frame the audience loses this spatial reference.
Because we know where the eye-level and central vp of the viewer actually are in relation
to the image, we know that we the audience are not actually looking down or up; but it
feels that way because these points of reference have been removed from the frame.
Once a viewer loses their relation stance to an environment it becomes impossible for
them to concretely positon themselves spatially, but becomes possible to create these
effects. Ill.16 shows a street scene that has two potential crops above and below eye-
level superimposed overtop.

Ill.16: The eye-level and central vp in this image are still present, but will be ‘cropped out’ by the two frames that have been
superimposed overtop. These two frames create the effect of looking up (High Crop) or looking down (Low Crop) when
presented as independent images.
When these crops are treated as images in their own right, as in Ill.17&18, the effect of a
high and low crop becomes clear: the viewer feels as though they are looking up at the
information in Ill.17 and feels as though they are looking down on the scene in Ill.18.
This effect cannot be experienced in reality as we can only focus on a single point at any
one time and we either have to look straight ahead or tilt our heads/eyes up or down in
order to look at that point. However, the effect is easy to create in visual media by
creating drawings/paintings with the eye-level outside the frame or by cropping the eye-
level out of photographs/video (images taken with any camera are subject to the same
limitations as our vision, it is in post-production that the effect can be created).

High and low crops are more extreme versions of raising and lowering the POV of an
image. A high-crop will have the characteristics of a low-angle shot with its dominant
implications, while a low-crop implies a high-angle shot with its diminutive

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

characteristics. As long as the eye-level of the audience is kept out of the frame the
effect will occur. How far below or above eye-level the image is cropped determines the
intensity of the shot. These kinds of pictures accentuate the emotional characteristics
attached to low/high-angle shots but are more subtle alternative to physically tilting the
POV.

Ill.17: High Crop. The spatial references of the Ill.18: Low Crop. The spatial references of the viewers eye-level
viewers eye-level and central are cropped out of the and central are cropped out of the frame. This gives the effect
frame. This gives the effect of looking up. of looking down.

Cropping for Emotion - Diagonal Crop (Dutch Angle)

Both high and low-crops in the section above assume that the crop remains level with the
eye-level of the viewer. A crop however, may be oriented in any direction overtop an
image. Crops level with the eye-level of the viewer will tend to more readily mirror the
stability of reality we experience as we wander about our daily lives. The world viewed in
this way is predictable and balanced to an audience.

When the orientation of this crop is upset so is

our experience of the image. By angling the
crop it is therefore possible to make an image
feel more unstable. The world in images such as
this feel more dynamic and exciting in their
unfamiliar appearance. Crops like this are called
a Dutch Angle (alternatively known as Dutch tilt,
Dutch shot, oblique angle, German angle, canted
angle, Batman angle, or jaunty angle). In a dutch
tilt the eye level of the viewer is at an angle to
that of the groundplane. An extreme version of
this is the Bavarian Angle which has verticle
lines horizontal in the frame. These crops can
be seen superimposed over a master image in Ill.97: Dutch and Bavarian Angles crop an image at an
Ill.19, and reoriented as images in their own angle to the eye level. When they are reoriented they
right in Ill.20, 21, and 22. create an image that feels unstable and disorienting.

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

Ill.20: Dutch Angle Ill.21: Dutch Angle Ill.22: Bavarian Angle

This kind of crop is typically used to

show the psychological unease in an
image, the more exciting and dramatic
quality of an image, or as a way of
accentuating tension in a scene. In any
case, a Dutch tilt increases the
emotional excitement of an image and
can be used as an alternative to
physically tilting the camera into a
high- or low-angle shot to heighten
emotional excitement. A Dutch tilt
differs from high- and low-angle shots
in that the latter refer specifically to
the height of the POV whereas a Dutch
tilt can be implemented from any
height (and combined with more
extreme POVs for even greater effect). Ill.23: High Crop POV without Dutch angle = Dramatic POV

Ill.24: Dutch angle crop superimposed over image Ill.25: 3pt high-angle POV with Dutch angle = even MORE
dramatic POV
For example, the downward POV in Ill.23 is already a dramatic image perspectively. But,
when that image is Dutched (Ill.24), it becomes even more dramatic, tense and full of
bad news for the little folk facing the ogre (Ill.25). Whereas Ill.23 showed that the group
was in trouble facing a dangerous enemy, Ill.25 shows that they are in TROUBLE! The
ogre seems to loom with greater menace than it had before, as the picture has been
Dutched in such a way as to force the little party into a lower corner of the frame.

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

Any cropping of an image is used to facilitate the point

the story is trying to make. It is part of setting the
mood, establishing an environment, and even
developing character personality. For example, Dutch
angles were used extensively in the original TV series
and 1966 film of Batman, where each villain had his
or her own angle (Ill.26). Scenes filmed in any villain's
hideout, when only the chief villain and his or her
henchmen were present, were often shot at an angle
departing extremely from the horizontal. This was to
show that the villains were crooked.

Dutch tilts are also often used to represent madness,

disorientation, and/or drug psychosis. In the The Evil
Dead trilogy, Sami Rami used Dutch angles to show
that a character had become possessed. Die Hard
(1988) makes use of the Dutch angle when Hans Ill.26: Dutch angle of The Joker. You know
he’s crooked because he looks crooked.
Gruber first confronts John McClane, leading to a sense
of uncertainty and tension (Ill.27). The Cable Guy
(1996) uses the Dutch angle to foreshadow the disturbed personality of Chip Douglas
(Jim Carrey), and Asphalt Jungle (2008) uses Dutch angles to create tension in scenes
(Ill.28).

Ill.28: The Asphalt Jungle (1950, John Huston) used Dutch

Ill.27: When Hans Gruber and John McClean first meet in
angles to heighten the tension of scenes. The same tension
Die Hard (1988, John McTiernan) Dutch angles helped
that the action-packed Die Hard had was felt in this
accentuate the tension in the scene
comparatively slow-moving film as a result.

In each of these examples, the crop does more than just make an image feel a certain
way or compel the audience to look in a certain direction. It is part of telling the story.
How an image is cropped is just as much a part of storytelling as the story itself. the
crop of a picture helps establish its structure, and that structure in turn helps tell the
story. This is just as true of sequential media as it is of still imagery. But whereas a
single image stands on its own and is interpreted by an audience as such, when many
images are placed in sequence to each other the structure of each frame affects the
interpretation of the previous and subsequent images. How these structures are
arranged helps progress the story just as much as character or narrative development.

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

Orientations

Although the frame may assume any orientation desired given a situation of complete
creative freedom, oftentimes the medium in which we are working with will restrict
available shapes. In film, television, photography, web-page layout, and more traditional
easle painting (and drawing by extension) there are restrictive ratios that dictate a
typicaly rectilinear frame. The convention of the easel picture and its composition is
determined, according to Greenberg, by the frame or the border typical of European
painting. The frame that once enclosed the painting and separated it from the world of
the spectator, has had a large influence on the kinds of frames we currently enjoy in film
and photography. These bequeathed orientations prescribe the kinds of compositions
available as it constitutes the fundamental principle of compositional order. When the
restrictive aspect of the boundary ratio is removed, more compositional possibilities
become available as the ratio of the frame can be designed specifically to accentuate a
picture. This is an ideal situation: the ability to specifically cater every aspect of an
image, including its frame dimensions, to accentuate the work in question. However, as
is so often case creativity thrives in the face of restrictions, and even though the frame
may seem a hinderance to creative freedom some of the most successful solutions are
those found in the face of just such a constraint.

Television, film and photography frame orientations are all restricted by their respective
aspect ratios. The aspect ratio of an image is the proportional relationship between the
verticle and horizontal dimensions of the frame. This ratio varies with the medium in
question. For example: TV format is typically 1.33:1, while portrait photgraphy would be
1:1.33 (the horizontal dimension is listed before the verticle); widescreen aspect ratio for
film can range from 1.66:1 to 2.35:1 (Ill.29). This chapter will focus on these apsect
ratios to discuss the influence that the frame has on images, as the principles which
underlie their effects can generally be applied equally to alternative shapes and
orientations.

Portrait TV Format Widescreen Format Widescreen Format

Format
1.33:1 1.66:1 2.35:1
1:1.33
Ill.29: The most common frame aspect ratios

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

ASSIGNMENT THREE

To be included in submitted assignment package:

1. ONE page: 1pt and 2pt object in consistent scale from 6’H/L, 3’H/L, 1’H/L

2. ONE page: Master Shot of a Street Scene - at least ONE 1pt object, and at
least ONE 2pt object

3. ONE page: Master Shot with 3 different crops - High, Low, Dutch

4. ONE page: All 4 pictures at same scale in linear progression

Save as SINGLE PDF document. Save document as: YourNameFD#.pdf

Label your drawing: Name and Class (bottom right corner of image)

UPLOAD to designated assignment folder on MOODLE before next class (unless

otherwise indicated)

LATE Assignments will not be accepted (no excuses).

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Vancouver Film School

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2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

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2D Design – Jay Senetchko

Assignment 3: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling

Name: Class:

Presentation: /10

Objective: /30

Creativity and Effort: /30

Line Quality: /30

Total: /100

2D Design :: Lesson Three :: Perspective and Cropping for Storytelling