AREA AND SCREEN FORCES

Area and Screen Forces:

We can define area and screen forces as, highly specified field forces or vectors that operate within the frame to create, direction, magnetism and asymmetry.

I will talk about some of these examples as they appear on the GED, PSA.

Horizontal Direction- At the beginning of the commercial fig.1, we se the pep-talk poster that is demonstrating horizontal direction, it becomes stronger when we zoom into the poster. We also se Danny Trejo and Henry Ian giving us a strong Motion vector as they walk out the frame to the left. A lot of horizontal objects in this PSA giving it a calm and eased feel to it. Making the targeted audience feel safe and confidante that they too can obtain their GED.

Figure 1

            

Headroom- In the shots with; Wendy Raquel, DMC fig.2, Terry Crews, Danny Trejo, etc. We are able to see very little or no head room at all. We keep the viewer’s attention right where we want it. The viewer is not distracted by something that is above the character. The viewer is also not wondering around staring at the white sealing. The complete attention is at the person giving the pep-talk, making the viewer feel like if he was receiving the pep-talk.  

Figure 2

Graphic Vector- The text on scree appears on graphic vectors that have a horizontal direction fig.2. The vectors naturally split the screen, the colors used for the vectors are soft and pleasing to our eyes. The graphic vectors also add a balance to the shot as a whole. The simplicity of the graphics works really well because you do not blast the senses of the viewer, nor do you cause them to be overwhelmed by so much information. The graphics make obtaining your GED easy.

Figure/Ground- Figure ground is very beautifully present in this PSA fig.3. We are able to tell that, they are in cubical like offices. We see phones, folders, pencils, and computers. Everything in the shot is easy to distinguish. We know that our brain will do, psychological closure, but with the figure ground in all of these shots the brain has a really easy time absorbing the information. The target audience will be amazed and motivated by what they see. Most of the people that do not have a GED wish they did so they could work in offices, with nice seats and computers. Seeing that the people who give them pep talks work in offices will inspire and motivate the viewer.

Figure 3

Placement of actress/tor: Every time we see the shot change we also se the actress/tor on the opposite side of the frame. For example in the shot with Wendy Raquel fig.3 she is on the right side of the shot. Then in the following shot fig.2 we see that DMC was placed on the left side of the shot. They could have done linear editing to keep the viewers eye hooked on one spot but they decided no to. This was a good idea because the point of the commercial is to promote the completion of GEDs. Having the viewers eyes move keeps them entertained and attentive, making it more probable they will take in the message.