Two Dimensional Field: Forces the Screen Within by Herbert Zettl discusses six major types of field forces. These field forces are main directions, magnetism of the frame and attraction of mass, asymmetry of the frame, figure and ground, psychological closure, and vectors. Theses forces are all critical to the production of media and affect viewers perception of media whether or not they know it.
The discussion of the differences in vertical and horizontal lines interested me as it is something that is used in much of the media that I process. We as human beings like horizontal because it is easier for us to manage and process, this is one of the reason why we sleep laying down.
I personally like vertical lines and framing better because it adds more flare to media. In the reading Zettl says that vertical movements are more dynamic and powerful but at the same time more difficult for viewers to understand.
In the reading frames are said to have a magnetic pull. This is something that was new to me, but after thinking about it I began to understand it more fully. The pull of the sides of the screen can make images look larger or smaller. Having a tight frame on an object will make it look bigger such as in the image below.
Having higher color saturation can all give an object a bigger presence or draw more attention to it. In the movie Sin City the director decided to have everything be black and white with the exception of the blood to accentuate it. This effect can be seen in the video below.
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