Media Test: Duo Silhouettes & Shapes

Based on the shape and silhouette theory I discussed in a previous post, I decided to test its validity by examining the elements in practice. I've selected the most popular choices for my case studies as part of this examination. I used images that showed the duos as clearly as possible, traced their silhouette, and added the red lines over it to form the most obvious square, circle, and triangle shapes. The theory is that these shapes have pre-existing aesthetic assumptions that have formed over art history and human perception. Circles are soft, friendly, safe and represent innocence, youth, femininity; Squares show strength, maturity, stability, balance, and stubbornness; Triangles are athletic, dynamic, precarious, and convey aggression, masculinity, force, and energy.

It has been mentioned by both Chris Solarski and Michael D. Mattesi that the theory is not a definitive formula, which I agree with in many ways. For example, the effects vary in the character's design over different art styles. Shapes are much clearer to see in more simplistic visuals based from cartoons etc, and the more realistic an art style the harder it is to define them. You can see this in Ratchet and Clank which are more readable, but once you start looking at more realistic forms and proportions characters start to look the same, lose their uniqueness, and tend to be made of mostly varying sizes of rectangles. Use of stylisation can help make a few of these realistic-based styles pop, as with Monkey who hunches and has rounded shoulders and long limbs, making him relate to the animal he's named after. It also appears that creature-based designs like in Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, or Spyro who are naturally more unique in form where shapes are easier to read than in humans.

Shapes can also be interpreted in the character's gestures and movements. In The Last of Us, the world is very realistic in most senses, and the characters move in paced lines dictated by real world physics, whereas in Ratchet & Clank, when you jump you move in an arc and movements are more exaggerated. Other examples could be when the character is injured, and this low state in health could show in a more sluggish or restricted appearance. Overall, I believe there to be a ratio between this theory and its effectiveness to the visual style used, as the more realistic an appearance or movement, the less defined shapes and their impact are.