There is one aspect to working with angles that’s important to consider, and that’s “the bread and butter shot.” Jarrod Shiflett talks about this as part of his development process. He knows that there’s one angle – the bread and butter shot – that comes from how the piece will ultimately be displayed. It’s the angle that the audience will first encounter the piece and is the most important angle to focus on. That’s because it’s the moment your project imprints on the viewer.

Certainly you have to look at everything from all angles to cover the core design of a piece, but you also have to stop and consider where the project is going.

If you’re a propmaker designing a piece for display – perhaps along a pathway or near an entrance – you have to consider the angle of approach and the positioning at final arrival. Where will you emphasis the drama to best take advantage of the side that will be presented? In this case, you may need to set the project on the floor. If it’s something that will tower over people, you need to put it up high – maybe on a shelf or stack of boxes – to check the emphasis points that might be hidden. Again, it’s a combination of working from every angle and designing for the end result: the first encounter.

I agree with 9th Monk and Grim that you can’t rely on one angle or let it take over your development process as you build your piece, but you have to keep that point of emphasis in mind from the start and as you progress. It should also be the last thing you finalize before calling a piece finished, because you don’t want all of that hard work washed out when you finally put it out for display.

And this is important for anyone working in 3D. How your piece is displayed or photographed can determine how much of an impact it creates (and whether or not it sells if you’re also a merchant-artist). If you can capture and convey a sense of drama (terror, horror, power, presence, foreboding, love, lust, etc.), you’ll sell your audience on your design.