The Troll was about to move. The night was dark. The Wardens asleep. When suddenly the air was filled with yet another smell. A threatening, dangerous smell. That of the one even the Troll himself feared. The Eyeless had also sensed the new arrivals. And he loved to hunt. And he didn’t tolerate anything in the way. Once he choose the prey his hunt began. And it seemed he was about to choose.
Gnarl! They call me. Curse! Craw! There’s new Wardens arriving. New hunters of the cursed. Will tell the Troll. Nice cart they have. What’s inside I wonder? Craw!
Heavy and slow the footsteps went. The dry grass was rustling. The soil resonated. Disturbed by a waltz of two feet and a hand. Bump bump bump – bump bump bump. A single glowing point of white in each eye, the Troll was attracted by what the Craw had whispered to his ear. Wardens. With swords and crossbows. He could smell the metal. But also the flesh of men and horse. Yet he hesitated. The sun was still too bright. These will sleep soon. Let’s wait for the night and the cold.
When finally the moonless night swallowed all hope and fears grew, the Troll was still standing and watching. The Wardens have looked at him several times, wondering how strange that stone looked and whether it had been there all the time. But whatever kept them from investigating was now disturbing their dreams. And the Troll watched.
Didn‘t you know that you should never sneak up like that to a man handling a sword? Yes, Chramulf, that’s my name. No, I‘m not nervous. Why should I be? Did you talk to the crossbows before? Sounds like you have. No, no lootin‘ here. Now, go your way.
By the time it was clear to Aigulf and Chramulf that the nonsense the crossbows said was impacting the retinue. Even Grimoald seemed to be affected. For now they didn’t care much. The booze was safely hidden in the cart. And they were prepared to defend it against any Gnarl coming their way. And against anyone else. Gnarl or not.
Hey! You! Don’t you dare touching that bag!Chramulf, watch out. This guy is after the booze!
The Witch of the Weald already felt it. There was a subtle fear crawling through the earth. She could almost taste it. New souls.
On the day of the Lords 293 JW 975
near the same nameless hamlet
in the valley of Hollar
Grimoald and Fredegar said they found something today. A Gnarl. Much fuzz and rumble. Everyone was excited. In the end it turned out to be a blue mushroom. Well, anyway, at least unusual. Now we really have arrived in the Weald.
What is Vignette28 you might ask. Vignette is a term which appears in multiple disciplines (check Wikipedia to see in how many). Our definition is mostly inspired by the meaning for literature. And we postfixed the term with 28 as a substitute for all scale models and miniatures. Here’s how Just Makes Stuff defined it:
A small, pleasing picture or view.
An evocative, description, account, episode.
Just Makes Stuff
A single image that communicates the mood and atmosphere of an event or moment.
On IG we tag our posts with #vignette28
Why did you join our hobby in the first place? Isn’t it the lore, the stories, the imagination, the distraction, the creativity? We are convinced that most of you have a story in mind when watching your work. A background for the unit, a context for the building, a setting for the kitbash.
And you have the means to tell it. You just have to make yourself aware of the story.
The questions start high level and then will steadily narrow down the focus. For some it might be helpful to write down the answers. I myself often use mind maps. It helps me to be creatively focused.
Of course this questionnaire is only scratching the surface and there could be hundreds of more questions. The intent however is to make you consciously think about the story you can tell. To name what is already there.
You don’t need professional photo equipment in order to create a story telling picture with your miniature. Today a smartphone and one or two apps is almost everything you need – besides the work you have created anyhow. Within this blog I explain my approach while on Instagram there’s awesome content creators who share insights in how they achieve Vignette28.
You can work with your own printed, standard paper sized backdrops. You can work with unfolded pizza boxes. I recently painted a cardboard box black on the inside. Paint your own backdrop. Work with real sand as the ground your miniature is standing on or create a small terrain piece. You can use snow or small rocks. Soil, dried grass or lichen. Create a small, temporary landscape, again the size of a standard paper.
Some apps even make it possible to include moving clouds, fog or fires in your photo. Of course you also can go outside and put your miniature on the street and make use of the real landscape as backdrop.
You can download landscapes from stock photo services (like Pixabay). I’m sure eventually I’ll make a Vignette28 with this photo.
There’s some technical details which make it easier to achieve a story telling aspect (like going down on eye-level with a miniature). But they are not the only or even necessary means to work with. Don’t restrict your creativity because others tell you how they achieve theirs. Everybody has their own way.
The NOT list is my personal view, it’s my subjective opinion. I myself wasn’t able to combine showcasing and story telling within the same photo. Of course I can put my own style in my showcasing photos. But the intense visual stories I was telling so far were those where I restrained myself from the showcasing aspect.
You know what Vignette28 is. Bring the story to your conscious self. It is already there. You just have to find a way to make yourself aware of it. Maybe the questionnaire helps. And then create the setting of the scene. Make use of stock photos, of software. You don’t need to show how well you painted and it is ok to edit the photo. It’s all about the story. You can create Vignette28!