Art Direction

A recent critical studies task was to give a presentation on art direction. Coming from A-level art history I went with traditional media to analyse as opposed to a game or film. 

I presented on a American painter Edward Hopper as I felt he displays a lot of the skills we been working on this year. His body of work covers various points of perspective, cityscapes, figures of people and he has a particular fondness for capturing light. What I like most about Hopper's work is how he brings all these aspects together and creates atmosphere in his paintings. 

Using one of my favorite paintings as an example, Nighthawks painted by Hopper in 1942 is one of his best examples of atmospheric painting. So much so it was the image Ridley Scott presented to his team creating Bladerunner for the feel he wanted for the city.  

Hopper has painted a lot of works exploring the effects of different light but Nighthawks is one of his best examples of the effects of man-made light during the nighttime such as the highlights on the counter seem highly reflective which would not be visible in the day.

Hopper uses the posture of his figures ad creates a sense of story within the dinner, giving the viewer the feeling of conversation between the people inside. 

The overall feel of the painting gives a 'city never sleeps' feel. Despite the surrounding buildings being dark and locked up for the night there is still part of the city open and awake with people around.

The skills Hopper shows in fitting atmosphere and story into a still image are commonly applied to game design, concept artists attempt to do the same with the artwork for the game worlds they are making. This concept work for Deus Ex: Human revolution does a lot of the same work with lighting, showing the reflection of man-made and neon lights.