Emphasis and Focal Point

Through the use of emphasis and focal point the artist can catch someone's attention. Three ways to utilize this is emphasis by contrast, emphasis by isolation, and emphasis by placement. 

Emphasis by Contrast

By contrast means there is a difference between two parts of the composition that really pops out to the viewer. In the picture below, the area outside the circle is dark and murky colored, while inside the circle Raine has cast is very light and immediately finds the player's attention. 

Shaorina. "Sharpness - Tales of Symphonia Screenshot." Sharpness - Tales of Symphonia Screenshot. N.p., Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. http://stuffpoint.com/tales-of-symphonia/image/166178/sharpness-screenshot/

Emphasis by Isolation

By isolation, the element is emphasized by being alone. As an extreme example, the man below is immediately easy to focus on due to his being entirely alone and walking in a desert. 

Helgeson, Matt. "GameInformer." Gameinformer. N.p., 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. http://www.gameinformer.com/games/uncharted_3_drakes_deception/b/ps3/archive/2011/10/24/uncharted-3-rev-dummy.aspx

Emphasis by Placement

By placement, the viewer's attention is focused on the item that is placed methodically in a composition, often in the center. In the center of this picture from Ni no Kuni, the plate of cheese  that is emphasized by the struggle between the two characters pulling at the plate. 

"New Screenshots Emerge From Ni No Kuni." DIY. N.p., 10 July 2012. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/games/new-screenshots-emerge-from-ni-no-kuni/P6/

Unity

Unity is essential in art. It is the harmony that exists in a composition. Three ways to achieve unity are by use of proximity, repetition, and continuation. 

Proximity

Proximity is easily described as nearness. The eye is drawn to the proximity of objects and sees them as a whole before it sees them separately. In the picture below from Tales of Symphonia, the five characters are standing close together in the center of the picture. The viewer first sees the group together and then is able to distinguish each character. 

Shaorina. "Eew - Tales of Symphonia Screenshot." Eew - Tales of Symphonia Screenshot. N.p., Feb. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. http://stuffpoint.com/tales-of-symphonia/image/175080/eew-screenshot/

Repetition

Repetition is an element that recurs over and over. Sheena, from Tales of Symphonia, is surrounded by lines of cards in the air that repeat over and over in a consistent pattern. 

Shaorina. "Sheena - Tales of Symphonia Screenshot." Sheena - Tales of Symphonia Screenshot. N.p., Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. http://stuffpoint.com/tales-of-symphonia/image/166356/sheena-screenshot/

Continuation

Continuation is a line that allows the eye to move continually from one area to another. The lines of the rocks above the boy flow to the line of the bridge and onto the next rock, allowing the viewer to see everything very smoothly. 

Emanuele. "Wind Of Change [The Adventure Begins]." Electric Blue Skies RSS. N.p., 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. http://www.electricblueskies.com/portfolio/nintendo-emulation-dolphin/the-legend-of-zelda-the-wind-waker/and-so-the-story-begins/ 

Color

Color is vitally important in art and design. It has a wide variety of ways in that it effects video games as well.  No video game would be successful without the correct colors chosen to reflect its design. Three color types that can be observed are with cool colors, warm colors, and triadic colors. 

Cool Colors

Cool colors are defined as colors on the color wheel that are closer in hue to blue. These cool colors are associated with specific emotional feelings. In the picture below a deep blue pervades the scene of Yuna crying in this emotional scene in Final Fantasy 10. Blue is a color often associated with the feeling of sadness, which is why this cool color intensifies her impending self-sacrifice. 

Emanuele. "Macalania Revisited | Boy Kisses Girl under the Moonlight." Electric Blue Skies RSS. N.p., 6 May 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. http://www.electricblueskies.com/portfolio/final-fantasy-x/macalania-revisited-boy-kisses-girl-under-the-moonlight/

Warm Colors

Warm colors are composed of the colors around red on the color wheel. Axel, from Kingdom Hearts 2, is seen below surrounded by the warm colors present in the sunset behind him. These colors are associated with this heart-warming scene of friendship and give the viewer a sense of happiness that the characters in the story felt at this time. 

Joey. "Tetsuya Nomura Interview HD Screenshots! - News - Kingdom Hearts Insider." Tetsuya Nomura Interview HD Screenshots! - News - Kingdom Hearts Insider. N.p., 4 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. http://www.khinsider.com/news/Tetsuya-Nomura-Interview-HD-Screenshots-3097

Triadic Colors

Triadic colors are colors on the color wheel that are separated by three colors. There are different sets of triadic colors in the triadic color scheme and one of those sets are made of blue, red, and yellow. An example of this set of colors is Mr. Drippy, the fairy from Ni no Kuni. His body is made of blue and yellow, while his lantern/nose is made of red and yellow.

Williams, Ed. "Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch." The 405. N.p., 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. http://thefourohfive.com/review/article/ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch

Value

Value in art is the term for a color's lightness or darkness. Light in relation to video games can be seen in various terms such as: achromatic, chiaroscuro, and value emphasis.

Achromatic

The term achromatic refers to being without color. Not many video games are created in black, white and grey and Epic Mickey is an unusual exception. In this part of the game, the original world of Mickey Mouse can be explored in all of its achromatic beauty, just as it is seen below. 

Riley Little. "'Epic Mickey'€™ Hands-On Preview." Game Rant. N.p., 17 Oct. 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. http://gamerant.com/epic-mickey-preview-demo-riley-46405/

Chiaroscuro 

Chiaroscuro is a term that is used to describe depth created by the combination of light and dark. The figure that is show below is clearly outlined and feels much closer to the screen than the background which is so bright that it feels very far away. 

Romano, Sal. "Square Enix Reveals Next-gen Final Fantasy Tech Demo - Gematsu."Gematsu Square Enix Reveals Nextgen Final Fantasy Tech Demo Comments. N.p., 5 June 2012. Web. 04 Mar. 2013. http://gematsu.com/2012/06/square-enix-next-gen-final-fantasy-tech-demo

Value Emphasis

Value emphasis is when light and dark combine in order to bring the eye directly to an area of emphasis. This picture is encompassed in darkness except for one bright flashlight which in combination allows the zombie figure in the center to pop out as a very strong focal point. 

Emanuele. "'€œBooh'€." Electric Blue Skies RSS. N.p., 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. http://www.electricblueskies.com/portfolio/doom-3/booh/

Illusion of Motion

Art is a reflection of life and life is constantly moving - therefore motion is an important element of art. Some types of motion that can be experienced in a video game include: anticipated movement, lines of force, and kinesthetic empathy. 

Anticipated Movement

Anticipated movement is defined as the motion a viewer thinks will happen given their own  past experiences with the subject matter. In Lollipop Chainsaw, for example, we see the main character swinging a chainsaw at a zombie. We, as the viewer, can assume this motion will be completed with her sawing the zombie and his falling to the ground. 

Ashcraft, Brian. "Lollipop Chainsaw Reveals Skimpy Outfits." Kotaku Australia, the Gamer's Guide. N.p., 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/03/lollipop-chainsaw-reveals-skimpy-outfits/

Lines of Force

Lines of force are well used to strongly suggest the feeling of motion and where the motion is going. Lines of force are widely used in video games, as demonstrated below. The warrior is swinging his weapon and the lines used to show the pathway of his weapon and really enhance the motion are clearly seen below the jumping man. 

Simmonds, Murphy. "Games Reviews Final Fantasy XIII-2, Soul Calibur V, Resident Evil: Revelations." Leeds Guide Articles RSS. N.p., 8 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.leedsguide.co.uk/review/games-reviews/final-fantasy-xiii-2-soul-calibur-v-resident-evil-revelations/20232

Kinesthetic Empathy 

Kinesthetic empathy is motion an observer feels when looking at a work of art. Legend of Zelda's hero, Link, is seen here swimming underwater with bubbles rising towards the surface. Seeing someone swimming underwater can evoke a feeling in the player that reminds them of what it feels like to hold their breath and float in the water. 

Share-Strom, Daniel. "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - Review." - GamrReview. N.p., 18 June 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.gamrreview.com/review/86879/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-3d/

Illusion of Space

The illusion of space is found in all forms of art. The viewer can experience these various feelings of depth and space in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional plane depending on the type of art they are observing. Three concepts of space that can be observed from video games are open form, one-point perspective, and aerial perspective. 

Open Form

Open form is when the elements in the picture are cut off so that the viewer is only able to see what seems to be a portion of the full scene. In the Final Fantasy scene below, we can see a young girl interacting with a creature called a Moogle, but we cannot see everything that is going on outside the frame. Their bodies are cut off, but we still can know that other things are happening outside of this limited viewpoint. 

Duine, Erren Van. "New FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 Screenshots Return to Yaschas Massif." Nova Crystallis. N.p., 22 Aug. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.novacrystallis.com/2011/08/new-final-fantasy-xiii-2-screenshots-feature-serah-farron/

One-Point Perspective

The one-point perspective is directly parallel or perpendicular to the viewers eye-line where lines come together on a single point (vanishing point) that is on the horizon. The vanishing point in this case can be seen behind the running girl from Atelier Meruru. 

Kollar, Phil. "The Year of the RPG?" Gameinformer. N.p., 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/12/29/the-rpgs-of-2012.aspx

Aerial Perspective

Aerial perspective is when the colors in the background of the picture become blurry or washed out so that they look like they are part of the atmosphere. Ni no Kuni's landscape in the picture below illustrates this aerial perspective. The ground closer to the viewer's eye is distinctly easier to see in contrast to the areas farther back which have a blue, foggy quality due to the atmosphere obstructing the colors the eye can see. 

HelenBaby. "Eurogamer 2012 : Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch." Plus XP RSS. N.p., 13 Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.plusxp.com/2012/10/eurogamer-2012-ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch/

Pattern and Texture

Pattern is a series of repetitive designs that are either simple or complex. Texture is similar to pattern, but it appeals directly to the sense of touch. 

Pattern

Pattern, as is stated above, is a sequence of repeated designs. Behind the characters from Tales of Xillia 2 is a fence made up of several repeating simple patterns that frames the scene and the sky. 

Slayton, Olivia. "Tales of Xillia 2 Has Special Order System, 100 Cats to Find - Gematsu." Gematsu Tales of Xillia 2 Has Special Order System 100 Cats to Find Comments. N.p., 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://gematsu.com/2012/10/tales-of-xillia-2-has-special-order-system-100-cats-to-find 

Visual Texture

Visual texture is an illusion that suggests a tactile quality despite not having actual realistic texture. In the picture below from Secret of Mana,the trees and foliage give us a sense of actual texture, despite it not actually having any. 

GamesRadar. "28 of the Most Favourite Video Game Trees Ever." Page 2 -. N.p., 23 June 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://www.gamesradar.com/28-of-the-most-favourite-video-game-trees-ever/?page=2

Textural Variety

Textural variety is a varied texture that draws and keeps the interest of its viewers with its differences. It may seem odd to talk about textural variety when it comes to video games, but there is one video game in particular that has a very unique take on textural variety inside of a game. In Paper Mario, the designers worked to actually produce a game where the world sports a contrast between a normal game and the feeling of paper. In the image below, this contrast is seen where Mario and Toad are clearly made out of paper while their surroundings are not. 

Cubedgamers. "Paper Mario: Sticker Star Review – A Sticky Situation | Cubedgamers." Cubedgamers. N.p., 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. http://www.cubedgamers.com/home/2012/12/15/paper-mario-sticker-star-review-a-sticky-situation/