Lesson 4: Visual aids

Fresh Material

Introduction

It is possible to write vast swathes of text without using a single image, so this lesson becomes more or less applicable depending on your approach, but even in text heavy AARs, pictures can be used to make your AAR more effective.

The vast majority of AARs are an amalgamation of text and pictures. While it is important to avoid AARs becoming comic books, the value of using pictures to provide supporting imagery is significant. They help set the mood of the story, help readers to visualise background scenery, and help to bring alive the chaos of battle, for example how deadly a cavalry charge was. You can describe how the enemy were scattered and severed limbs flew in all directions, but actually seeing it is rather more powerful, particularly with the newer games which offer better graphical fidelity.


The chaos of melee is best captured by close up shots of the action

The use of pictures almost turns an AAR from a written story into a movie, with the pictures used acting as still frames from the action. In that sense well composed and edited photos are as central to the story as the narrative itself. Sometimes even a single image can be used as a header to give a sense of authenticity to the story.

Like so:


Simple picture of a Roman arch used to introduce a story from the period

Finally, sometimes selecting a handful of powerful images can help the writer develop the storyline. Taking time to think about which images to use can be a wonderful solution to writer's block at times.

Composition

Decide what message you are trying to capture with the picture, and where it fits into the narrative. Wide angle shots are better for setting the scene, while close up shots tend to portray action, and are more suited to melee. Once you’ve taken your screenshot crop it so that only your subject matter remains – removing distractions such as the unit cards, battle timers and so on can only help to improve immersion.

As for time of day and weather - it is not always easy to get the effect you want for your battle during the campaign, so don't be afraid to use custom battles to help give you the perfect imagery. Night shots and adverse weather can be used to portray emotion with great effect. Different seasons have different moods about them - spring is more cheery, while summer and autumn are more neutral seasons in terms of setting the tone. Winter can help to highlight feelings of loneliness or hopelessness, for example.


Calm before the storm - wide angle shots of army compositions help to portray the magnitude of large battles


Shots from behind can be used to imply motion, especially if you have the intended victims in view as well. The vice versa can be used to demonstrate the solidity of defenders bracing for impact

Size

Pictures should be resized so that they are not too small or big. Posting pictures that are too small leave your audience straining their eyes to see the content, while enormous pictures would only serve to take the reader away from your story. A good range is perhaps 500 to little over 1,000 pixels wide, with a reasonable ratio of height to width. Panoramic photos are also a great choice for certain subjects.


An example of panoramic shots used to present a scene

Post production

Post production isn’t necessary, but can be used to embellish your pictures further. Borders that reflect period art can help to add authenticity, while even the simplest black border can help to make them look more polished. Simple adjustments of saturation and brightness can be used portray different emotions. If you’re feeling more adventurous things like motion blur and bokeh can be used to emphasize motion, focus in on characters, and so on. It’s usually best to limit heavily edited photos to a small number – partly to save time and partly for the sake of emphasis.

Real life imagery

Real life photographs or other imagery can do wonders for an AAR, especially when you’re going for the movie shots approach to pictures. They help sculpt the scene for your characters, and can provide for imagery the games by their nature cannot.


A chapter set in Athens is perfectly introduced with this image of the Parthenon.


Death awaits in the shadows...


Euphemism for lust and debauchery?

Practical advice

  • In the later games you can save replays after a battle and take screenshots using the replay. If your computer is low on graphics memory you can play the game at low detail to improve frame rates, crank the graphics settings all the way up afterwards, and then take beautiful screenshots.
  • Make sure you deselect whatever unit you are using before you take the screenshot. There is nothing more immersion-breaking than a little green/yellow circle under the feet of your samurai/line infantry.
  • By the same reasoning, avoid showing game UI wherever possible. The K key can be used in some TW games to automatically hide all game UI.
  • Avoid the use of spoiler tags - they are the equivalent of asking your readers to turn the page, so if that is not your intention then do not use them.


The four components of selecting battle pictures for your AAR

1. Perspective: does the picture show what you want it to show? What does it tell the reader about the battle?
2. Unnecessary features: is there something in the picture which should not be there?
3. Action: does the picture show the battle in action?
4. Animation: is there some weird deficiency of the animation that would ruin the picture?

Further Reading

- Nanny de Bodemloze, CQ19

Assignment is in a separate topic due to the number of pictures posted