Art/Creative Direction and Symbolism
polycounter lvl 18
It'd kinda throwing me for a loop. Everyone I have asked about this don't know what I am talking about. Yet, I have encountered articles from others describing such.
Do you as an art director, or have one that attempts to include some sort of symbolism as part of the design? Whether hidden under layers or directly out front?
One example of direct in front would be Bioshock Infinite, but that was more creative direction than art direction alone.
Do you as an art director, or have one that attempts to include some sort of symbolism as part of the design? Whether hidden under layers or directly out front?
One example of direct in front would be Bioshock Infinite, but that was more creative direction than art direction alone.
Replies
I've seen numerous examples for basic gameplay, however, such as 'green means go' and 'red means no/danger etc'. I'm not sure that counts as the sort of symbolism your talking about.
But yea... its actually is surprising. On a related note there was one director who came from stage design saying it was standard practice to give each member of the team an item which the director felt overall symbolized what the stage direction meant. It could be anything from a feather to a haiku. It was to help keep the team on the same creative page.
Its very surprising no one *as of yet* can give any experiences in this. To me, this would help make a game that much deeper.
So no, there are no games with symbolism JUST from the art side.
The Sea
According to Hemingway, man was most able to prove himself worthy in isolation. The sea, in the novel, represents the Universe and Santiago's isolation in the Universe. It is at sea, with no help and no recognition, that Santiago faces his ultimate challenge. The novel, in this regard, is an example of Naturalism in Literature.
The Lions
Santiago dreams of Lions on the beach in Africa three times. They represent virility and youth. The lion imagery at the end of the novel represents hope of eternal life.
The Mast
The mast is an obvious allusion to the cross of Jesus. It is on his skiff, where stands the mast, that Santiago suffers. Santiago suffers at sea for three days with painful injuries to the palms of his hands and his back.
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As you can see, this sort of symbolism is not the basic 'green = go' or 'the moon is the symbol for the Night Elves'.
My current pet theory is that usage of symbolism in games is not very prevalent because not many people look for symbolism, or have any interest in it, or are aware that it might exist in cultural works. This might be due to a decline in education...maybe no one is taught about symbolism in school any more.
I think there is two sides to this that keep getting mixed up;
Repeated imagery, consistent with race, religion, culture. Identifies them through symbols, colours, motifs, accents etc. Identifiers basically.
Symbolic imagery, representation of an ideal, underlying moral, motive, etc. Can be repeated and simpler is better. Works best when not in direct focus when it is being repeated. It has a consequence to the development of characters and story through mostly personal experiences. It has a deeper meaning to what the object actually is. Like above examples in kevins post.
Hope that's actually right. Been awhile since i touched upon it haha!
Use of symbolic imagery is by far the best thing to use in a game. It gives it a certain substance that games miss now days. You wouldn't expect to see it in COD, lets put it that way.
False dichotomy? You're separating creative direction from art direction, and while in many cases the two are different groups. They rely on one another to enforce the other. So there can't be symbolism in the art unless IT IS art versus craft.
(Well at least it sounded smarter in my head)
Laz, by your own definition, if we could see the symbolism easily. Then if would in part fail as much impact. I.E.maybe COD does and we haven't looked closely enough. (No, I don't believe they do either, just saying).
Capt, many movies have some whether from writing or direction. Yet still exported globally. I would say a company saying such are using culture as an excuse for lack of a vision. I.E. Content bland/Laziness.
Good discussion thus far. Keep em coming!
I think for Western games you can kind of think of the main stuff as symbols for jingoist macho posturing.
You're asking the wrong question. That type of symbolism is non-visual. Meaning it wouldn't be something that the art-director, who is in charge of the visual cohesion of the game, would put in on his own. The type you're talking about is done in the writing.
In that case, the Halo Arrays in Halo could represent all sorts of things. I'm not sure what the original writer intended, such as you specified with Old Man and the Sea, but some symbolism is obvious. The Halos protect the galaxy against the flood. You have two religious symbols right there. The flood, being taken as the name of the species, is mankind's mortal enemy. Being taken figuratively, it's an allusion to the biblical flood which destroys mankind, much in the same way, by overwhelming it with a force we cannot withstand. The Halos themselves have long been a symbol of salvation in western society. Angels and whatnot. It seems the author of Halo wanted to flip that around. Instead of the Halos saving us, they'll destroy us, and instead of cause the flood, they (or divinity) stop the flood.
I'm sure you could find many of that kind of stuff in most game stories. It's just that you have to look for them in the writing phase. It's not something you'd see visually as done by artists.
Saying that this sort of symbolism doesn't exist or even that it's uncommon is just plain silly. Any great game is going to have symbolism and many layers of meaning behind any given part of its writing, art direction, and every other part of the process. Writers use symbolism like this all the time, its their bread and butter. Art Directors too. It's all over the place, and all you have to do is take a moment to look.
Games that lack this level of depth are usually the ones that get panned by reviews.
Xelioth, from those have any creative and/or art directors come forward listing the symbolism they specifically tried to implement?
I'm sure similar discussion exists about the other games as well, just have to look for it.
Journey makes perfect sense for symbolism. In fact I remember what you are mentioning from a writeup about the designer. Though I am curious what came from him and what came from the art director, and did the art director contribute any more?
I guess I'm looking for more first hand experiences from directors or artists under such. Because like I said all those I have talked to thus far cannot give me any. Which though while you give great examples, at least the small sample I have asked have not experienced directing or working with such in mind.
In short your examples.... are they the exception versus the rule?
LOL I wish! It's one of my all-time favourites.
Basically it's one of those games that Goichi Suda and Shinji Mikami made together and is built in that incredibly convoluted Japanese way where everything is style of substance and has hidden meanings, metaphors and twists and turns.
It's a game where you play as an assassin with a split personality and take out a terrorist organization made up of laughing suicide-bombers. It ends up being a commentary on Japanese politics and East vs. West. (among other things).
Also it looks real good for a GCN/PS2 game.
Zac, no one mentioned art alone. However since that is our forte, I would have hoped to see responses from people who specifically included elements or styles in the art as part of a larger dialog, or a subtext to the art alone .
No one has of yet responded to this thread with first hand experience in creation. Which is what I was hoping. A dialog about the process they used to reach the symbolism. While the few examples of games given, especially western games seems small compared to the total sum of western games. So maybe the new question is why aren't more art and/or creative directors in Western studios atttempting such? Why are we always discussing the mood, pallet, and character distinction in the creation of western games? While overlooking how the art helped or created a symbolic note.
Why are there so many with this option available in Western games who choose to ignore? Even if the game mechanics require no story, that would still allow a subtext in the art if sought.
Does this all possibly link into the arguments that have been on here in the past about whether games are or can be fine art?
Sorry, its just these comments are bumming me out. My background is from idea based art versus just visual results. Feeling out of place with the lack of any fellow artist or designers on here that can attest to it.
But I believe often times video games art created with other things in mind first.
1. The environment needs to first serve gameplay, it should be obvious where to go, and what are the points of interest, the environment should help guide the player. Portal does that very well.
2. The environment is used to tell a story, what is this place, what happened here, is there anything else we can add to boost the overall themes and story in the games.
3. What makes logical sense from a use, nature, and structural stand point. Could this place really exist, how would it look in real life, where would trees actually grow, what would be worn down and affected by people.
After those questions and issues are resolved, the environment is on it's way to completion, at no point is there really a worry for symbolism. Typically that is addressed in the concept phase.
Yeah Im sorry to say that as soon as I left university I was just making what the project lead wanted and if they didnt decide to make something involving deeper meaning or symbolism then it just didnt happen.
Im an artisan more than a fine artist, I craft what is needed to fulfill the game's requirements and I feel the truth of the matter is that very few games these days require deep symbolism. Adding symbolism and deep meaning to your assets while the rest of the team don't could result in a clash of styles and mess up the art direction.
I think its just a question of art direction and not down to the individual artists, maybe if you are working on something epic that has a powerful story like...maybe "the last of us 2" ...then there may be a lot of scope to play with symbolism and meaning and give people an emotional ride they connect with on many levels and can come back to and notice new things.
Fwiw I got suckered into being the art director on the current game my company is working on. Hence why I was seeking people who could testify from experience of how they or their lead implemented and choose such. The designer doesnt mind me adding symbolism, but does worry Im overthinking it at the expense of direct humor versus my natural tendency for sarcasm.
Meh, maybe I will see if I can get in touch with the art director of thatgamecompany to see if they can give any pointers. While all symbolism created was dictated to them from the designer, or if it was a conversation.
Still have to say its disappointing how little this seems to be part of the process in western games.
No it wasnt misinterpreted I was merely giving the observations I can as Im not an art director but wanted to discuss the topic and none of my art directors have ever put any emphasis on adding deep meaning to the project through symbolism.
Im not sure what your current project entails but if adding symbolism allows you to add an extra dimension of depth to your game that most players will understand then it sounds like a good idea.