CLASS NOTES:
CG130 Drawing & Design Fundamentals

What is Narrative Focus and how does it apply to Design?

Since Design is anything but chance and we are here to learn the Visual Language to express our ideas more clearly, Narrative Focus gives us some tools to think about when creating our designs.The field and eye level we choose in our designs should be enhancing the Design, so there should be reasons why we choose one over another.

According to the ideas of Narrative Focus, there are three things you MUST do:
Orient the viewer
Reveal Character
Advance the Storyline

Some of these ideas may apply more readily to Story Boarding than some other commercial endeavors, but the principals are still there... have a reason for adding to the design. If what you are about to add does not Orient the Viewer (Visual Pathways, facilitating Eye Travel), Reveal Character (Action from use of Obliques, Pressure Psychologies in the scene) or Advance the Storyline, then you don't need it.

Sterling Cassavetes says there are only five stories to tell:
Man Against Himself
Man Against Nature
Man Against God
Man Against Time
Man Against Man

Are you getting all the emotional content into your Design as possible?

Is your message clear?

Use of Narrative Focus can determine, rather than dictate, the one best answer for your Design. It tells you where the action is so that you can most appropriately feature that space.