American television directory (1946)

Horizontal lines express repose, tran¬ quility, stability, and are monotonous, if used to excess. Vertical lines are expressive of import¬ ance, uplift, aspiration, and spirituality. They possess more attraction power than horizontals. Diagonal lines are the lines of force, action, aggressiveness, and change of movement. They are the most dramatic¬ ally exciting lines, because of their power to attract and hold attention. The scenic artist uses the psychology of line in set design. He does so because it is necessary to fit the linear design to the mood. If the content of the scene is light and informal, he will use broken horizontals, perhaps in combination with curved lines. If the feeling is formal and dignified, the linear structure of the setting must be formal. He will not design his sets merely to look well as sets, but to contribute to the effect which the producer wishes to achieve. The cameraman uses line as the struc¬ ture of his shots. He grabs on to a near horizontal for the lower part of the composition, if a feeling of stability is desired. He watches out for the dis¬ tracting vertical that divides his pic¬ ture centrally into two pictures. He looks for transitional lines that will hold the picture together. The producer uses line psychology in the placement and movement of his characters, in the disposition of proper¬ ties, and in the lighting effects he re¬ quests. Since line is produced on the televi¬ sion screen by contrasts of light and dark along the edge of masses, it will be seen that linear structure can be regulated in two ways: by the degree of contrast in the objects themselves, that is to say, putting a light object against a darker one, or vice versa ; and by lighting the edges of objects so that they separate from what is behind them. We must continually think of the inten¬ sity of the line, because the same linear structure can produce two different psy¬ chological effects; brightness, gayety, excitement are expressed, if the shapes are “edgy” and the lines are strongly felt; calmness, solemnity, peace, if the lines are soft and diffused. Mass or Psychological Weight Mass in the dictionary sense is a quantity of matter. Pictorially, mass is used to denote the psychological weight of an area, an object or a group of objects. We intentionally or instinctively group individual shapes into masses, be¬ cause the arrangement produces an emo¬ tional response. We are moved by the wide expanse of the sea, by the precipi¬ tous drop of the cliff, by the majesty of the mountain. We speak of cathedral pines, for we associate the regular massing of tall verticals with things spiritual. Our emotional response to mass is quite definite, as a few examples will prove. The virile, dominating husband playing against the weakly submissive, frightened wife, could not seriously be cast with a puny, dried-up specimen of a man against a big, raw-boned Gashouse Gertie hunk of a woman. It wouldn’t feel right. Conversely, its very absurdity could be turned to advantage in a comedy. A graceful, informal massing of liv¬ ing room properties induces nostalgic feelings of ordered domesticity — but bring a jumbled group of characters into the room and disorder prevails. The character of the masses, their re¬ lationship, one to the other, and their distribution, together with the linear structure of the television picture, play a vital part in establishing the mood. These factors are present in every pic¬ ture; therefore they should be carefully analyzed and used in a way that will create harmony between content and treatment. If not, they may induce con¬ tradictory emotions. Form or Aesthetic Shape Form, in the sense we are using it here, is the aesthetic shape of the areas and masses which make up the picture. Whereas we think of mass as being light or heavy, slight or bulky, we think of form in a more specific way, for we instinctively associate form either with our knowledge of things, or our emotional response to them. For in¬ stance, we speak of Venus as “the form divine.” We speak of a “tubby” man, a “towering” giant; we associate the square with honesty, the circle with continuity, the scales with justice. Form calls to mind conscious associations and subconscious reactions. For this reason, it is imperative that the pictorial forms used be compatible with the intent of the scene. Select the Right Basic Form We use form in two ways; first, in the individual picture units; second, in the structure or basic form of the pic¬ ture as a whole. A picture affects us in two ways: Our minds take in its con¬ tent; our emotions respond to its mood. The one is concrete and obvious. The other is abstract and not apparent to the uninitiated. But the abstract form of the picture is what makes it what it is, and the selection of the right basic form is the first step in composition. It is the abstract structure — the framework — on which the picture elements can be arranged. It will help in grasping the signifi¬ cance of these basic forms, if the mind is kept closed to recognizable shapes, and they are looked at in the abstract, as line, mass and form. The Square is used to express equality of interest or formality. The Right Angle is used to express opposition of interest or informality. 62