Alright, all of you have heard my recent love for Tron: Uprising. And with good reason, other than it just being awesome (which it is), it is also a very EXCELLENT example of strong compositional storytelling.
Don't believe me?
I'm glad you asked for more!
Because, without further ado:
Episode 1 Intro Comp Analysis of TRON: UPRISING
**I will explain the basics of the first page, after that, you get the jist of what the arrows and diagrams I am drawing represent. PLEASE, full screen, download if you want higher quality! These images blow up nicely.**
Page 1:
1. the simplicity of this shot, and yet the vanishing point is at the center of the frame, follow the grid at the bottom of the screen and it points at the center, back at the silloutte in the center of the frame. Notice the only lighting is the center of the screen, where the grid will be 'birthed' and his classic 'tron' light from his back.
2. the world expands as the camera backs slightly. and yet as the world build, as the arrows show, everything still points back at flynn. the building even point down, into the arrow, into flynn! the classic silloutte still black and crisp in the center. the blank in the right corner is equaled out well with the building white on the left side. the sky is bare to the floor being full. another balance. and the final piece is the 90 degree angles that STILL point to flynn. Insane.
3. the cracking and crumbling of the grid, point exactly to the perpetrator: Beck. his black silhouette is the ONLY black on the whole screen. Even the corners on the right side are faded out, to give a sweeping motion of pointing back into Beck. His pose is even sweeping back into the grid point. Excellent posing.
4. Even the random garbage points towards Beck in this shot! The glowing of the grid shards point towards Beck as he slides down the mountain in the back and walks towards the camera. Even so, look at the background of the mountainside. Notice the DARK area off to the right, sweeping into the shard that points back to him.
5. Again, the darks and lights of the background focus our eye and tell us exactly where to look. The dark of Beck and the bike are off center, but even so, BECK is in the center. The whole shot (and most shots as you will see) are built at a DIAGONAL. actually, any time that something exciting or action is happening, chances are, there will be a strong diagonal in the shot. Notice that even the mountain behind points in this diagonal exchange.
6. SPEAKING of diagonals! Lo! Again, the environment shards and scraps are used to point us in the direction of Beck's travel. The diagonal in this shot is the focal point.
7. Beck's capture. It's an intense moment, so the best way to show it is often the simplest. They don't even show beck, but his disc! Again, diagonal, and his disc spins and falls in the center of the screen. Pointed to by the diagonal horizon line.
8. Beck's captured. He's alone. How do we portray that? By putting him alone in a room that seemingly ALL points at him. The focal point is him and so is the vanishing point. Smart move. Not only that, we have those handy 90 degree angles again, telling us where to look. And since we are on edge with Beck's unsure state, just as he is, the camera is of course, angled and giving us that lovely slant. Beck's shadow lies perfectly black in comparison to the blinding white interrogation light.
Enjoy! I know I learned a bunch from these screen shots.
Cheers,
JECooper
