What is Visual Structure?

Seriously, what is visual structure? 

Visual structure is the design system behind how stils or moving images are built in a film. It's the sum of the right components to guide the viewers’s eye and their emotions. These components are your storytelling tools. Composition, framing, and lighting, they all shape how we understand narrative.

Why visual structure is important?

All visuals make us feel before we think. A cold color can feel isolating, on the other hand, warm colors can feel intimate. Symmetry suggesting order and chaos suggesting conflict. It is all about how emotion, meaning, and style are all connected. Consider it as an architecture of the image. All the visible pieces arranged in a coherent way to support what is happening in the story and plot, but most importantly how the viewer experiences it. Without proper architecture you build a house on a sand.

Why do you need to build a strong visual structure?

• Directs your viewers: Works like a guide, it tells people where to look and what to pay focus on.
• Makes images memorable: Produces pictures that stick in viewers's mind. That’s why some films leave us with iconic memories we never forget.
• Supports your story: Carries emotion and meaning. The way images are produces helps the audience feel and experience the story, not just see it.

“Usually when I’m making a movie, what I have in mind first, for the visuals, is how we can stage the scenes to bring them more to life in the most interesting way, and then how we can make a world for the story that the audience hasn’t quite been in before.”

Wes Anderson

What's next?

Understanding the visual structure and its key components is critical for director. Composition, color, and movement guide your viewer, they shape emotion, and tell your story exactly the way you need. Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions.

Source:

• https://web-app.usc.edu/soc/syllabus/20233/18574.pdf
• https://quotepark.com/quotes/1876218-christopher-nolan-when-you-think-of-the-visual-style-when-you-think/