BLOCKING: SPACING PART 1

I wanted to chip away at what I don’t know about how Struzan blocks out compositions. So I wanted to focus on larger concepts that could soon unlock more I don’t yet understand or notice. I wanted to start with spacing of elements.

The two examples below show two different approaches to places sub-elements to the dominant element in the composition.

Expanded Spacing on the left. Compressed Spacing on the right.

EXPANDED SPACING

Expanded Spacing allows for more negative spacing around the dominant element:

COMPRESSED SPACING

Compressed Spacing is when the sub-elements are within or are tightly joined with the dominant element with little or no negative spacing:

HYBRID SPACING

Expanded and Compressed Spacing can live in the same composition. In the Struzan poster below, the top of the composition has Expanded Spacing (the negative space between the lens flares, the ring and the tiger, the acrobats and doves). And the bottom has more Compressed Spacing to contrast the top and provide a solid, visual base for the composition.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull also features both Expanded and Compressed Spacing through Horizontal Reset (Horizontal Reset Study). The top section: Indy, Spalko and Mutt are Compressed. Then there is a horizontal resetthat resets the composition at the bottom to Expanded Spacing around the temple with negative space: