Ben-Hur studies

In an attempt to make this more interesting , I am now going to explain some of the observations I am making while studying the shots from Ben-Hur. I definitely encourage feedback and/or input from any one taking the time to read these entries on my blog.
I have drawn these as thumb nails as opposed to screen grabs, in order to exercise my problem solving while sketching the shot. In order to practice little techniques for drawing cinematography, lighting and staging of actors and objects in the shot. I am posting the previous thumbnails to finish talking about the shot, so I can move on to new thumbnails.


The shots are a continue to build up the vast size of the Roman Empire through a succession of shots. The use of deep space within the shots are used as a tool to help support the armies size. As the shots proceed, we as an audience are being drawn in closer to the shots by the order of the shots. These shots were all outside, so there is less control of the lighting for these shots versus a stage environment.
The last thumbnail represents a panning shot with the horse being used a wipe for the shot in a way (very clever).
These shots do not get into the meat of the story, as we as a viewer are still being acclimated into the world.