(Fallout) Costumes Revisited

In the September 5, 2012 post we mentioned the Gestalt Principles and in the last post we forgot to incorporate them w/ the costumes.  Same with the September 11, 2012 post with those three principles as well.  Well, here's a little correction (minus the images to save on room) for those of you that cared how that these eight principles might apply to them.

Image 1
This photo of a veteran NCR ranger draws ones attention first to the holes in his trenchcoats' shoulder, part of the Proximity principle with some Pragnanz mixed in.  It's a lot of little holes put together in one location among a simple blank brown trenchcoat.  The Continuity starts here where your eyes travel down to his belt, where one can clearly see the ammo (maybe from the body of the enemy that made the holes), and use Similarity by noticing another hole in the knee signifying a tough fight or something & the gun above (for the ammo belt).  Closure & again Pragnanz come in when your eyes "zoom out" and take the whole costume in and figure that this must belong in a post-apocalyptic era.

This image looks like it might be toned down to only have the brown, black, & white colors, making it different for the next three principles. There's definite Contrast between the brown & light greys in the costume, as well as the background and shadow.  Dispite this, there's a Balance with the light grey of the background and the dark shadow, and it helps to make parts like the arm shields noticeable.  The black scorch marks, arm shields, & small white markings on the trenchcoat create a Harmony with each other and Balance with the light & dark greys elsewhere on the costume and in the setting.

Image 2
Here the eyes (unless you're purely sexually driven) will see her head & face first, then noticing the goggles on top, all part of Similarity & Pragnanz (eyes = goggles).  This photo's trickier (for some) because of the chest distraction, but due to the closeness of the gloves to the goggles one's eyes may use Proximity and thereby Similarity to travel to the other hand in Continuity and going to the belt.  What's happening there is grouping the closeness & color of the gloves & goggles, then relating the hands to each other and relating the Pip-Boy 3000 to the items on the belt.  Closure happens just as it did with the NCR ranger, after notice the wear marks of the clothes & other strange gear one can conclude that she's of a different place & time.

Now color's important for these next three principles because the red hair has been unique in all cultures (except the Celtic lands) and stands out providing Contrast.  This keeps the black goggles from blending into dark brown or black hair.  Along with the black goggles the same color of gloves, stockings, & boots Balance out the costume like tent poles.  The green leaves in the background may not be part of the costume, but they provide Harmony with the blue of the cut-down jumpsuit.

Image 4
The first flag happens when one doesn't know where to look first, it's just too busy lacking any Pragnanz.  Continuity doesn't work here because if one tries to focus on the head, the eyes may follow the horns on top up and away from the whole costume itself.  The Similarity doesn't go well due to the tiny accessories on the front of the jacket and the huge backpack parts behind.  What in the world is a furry tail doing on the back of the head?  No Proximity there.  Where the backpack's cut off lends to the thinking there may be more dragging behind or that might be it, no Closure with that or with wondering what might be on their legs/feet. 

Everything has similiar colors so it's in a sort of Harmony, but it would get boring after awhile if the costume was only in a desertscape (where the costume actually might fit-in incidentally).  Also due to the colors being so similar, there's little Contrast and one can forget a part of the costume is the jacket, accessory, or something else.  The backpack lends to a unBalance with it looking unusally heavy and awkward to carry.

Image 5
Well, this costume certainly has a level of Pragnanz till you look at his arm where it doesn't quite match with the rest of the package, lacking Continuity.  The do-rag & vest may have Similarity but at the same time they're into Proximity due to the very similar colors of the shirt & pants (partially due to shadow).  One wants Closure, but the Pip-Boy 3000 on his arm just distracts so much that it's hard to find that Closure.

Not much Contrast here also due to the lack of variety of color, and this contributes to no Balance as well as the bright Pip-Boy 3000.  The clothes lack Harmony, at least at this angle of the photo, due to shadows & similar colors.

Okay, that's it!  Hope that helps you out there that're looking for examples in these visual principles.  Have fun!