Chapter 4 Perspective, Scene Design, and Basic Animation 97
a beach at sunset. It is just there to make the
scene look better. You are not actually at the
beach, it just looks that way.
The photographer might also use some
backdrop objects to help it look like you are
at the beach. Here, the photographer places
some stairs on one side of the scene leading
to an imaginary dock. The stairs are part of the
scenery, but you can walk on them. Therefore,
they are considered a backdrop object. The
combination of the background object (sky) and
the backdrop object (stairs) really helps sell the
idea that you are at the beach.
In video game design, a designer must set
a mood for a scene to help add emotion and
anticipation to the gameplay, Figure 4-9. The
choice of an object, its color, and shape help set
the mood of the frame. The choice of a back-
drop color could determine if it is a blue sky, a
sunny day, or a dark night.
If the designer is setting a scary scene, the
use of dark colors, a gray or muted palette, and
sharp-edged shapes will help set the mood. As
Figure 4-7. Notice how this scene has dark colors for the
sky and ground. It even has a dark, scary tree and a ghost
character. Yet, the building is a gingerbread house, there
is a holiday tree out front, and an elf character is carrying
presents. These items are created with bright, cheery
colors. This is a mismatched scene. The dark, scary parts
do not go with the bright cheery parts.
Background
object (sky)
Character
(avatar)
Backdrop
object
(platform)
Active objects
(rolling balls)
Figure 4-8. In this platform game, the player must avoid the rolling balls. Once the player reaches the top platform, a new
game level is launched.