Vignette or diorama?

[Alan 45]

ive just done what I call a vignette, three figures ( if you count the dog ) on a small street scene now last Monday at my model meet we were undecided at what a vignette is and what a diorama is


Some said a vignette is a small dio with one or too figures and a vehicle , others said it's the size a small dio is a vignette, no matter what's on it and a diorama is something large with more than three figures and more than one vehicle


Some just said a vignette is small a diorama is large and it doesn't matter what's on it as long as it tells a story


So what do you guys think ?

[Guest]

Your walking the dog is an excellent, almost for me, example as a vignette.


Sorry to be critique Alan....but on this forum there aren't many diorama builders


As you said, the diorama is a BIG BASE with different items.... We have tendency to say that a tank with a base is a diorama...O_o


Anyway, I'm a diorama lover!!!!


But actually my vote goes for the vignettes

[Alan 45]

I'm with you on that Mr Polux, if I build just a tank and it goes on a base then I put it in completed armoured if it has figures it goes in dioramas , I think a vignette section should be added or mentioned in the diorama section

[spanner570]

Try this....


A vignette :- 'A brief evocative description, account or episode.'


I suppose people will always argue this one. To my way of thinking, because the eye is focused on a small area, a vignette has to impact straight away. I don't think it matters how many, or what is on the small base as long as it 'hits home'.


A diorama :- The word means 'Through that which is seen'


I always look on a diorama as a larger piece with more going on, allowing the viewer more time to wander over it, taking in different 'bits'. Unlike a vignette it doesn't necessarily have to have an immediate result when first viewed.


People state both formats need figures or vehicles. Excellent results can be obtained without either being present. Neither need to tell a story either.....A single waterfall splashing into a rock pool doesn't tell a story, but would make a powerful vignette!


Anyway, vignette is a daft name to start with!

[stona]

I think of a vignette as a snapshot, capturing a moment in time and a diorama as a film, telling a story.


In the real world the two are almost interchangeable, and there is a large grey area between the two.


Cheers


Steve

[Ian M]

I can say with full certainty that there will not be a section for vignette.


With not such certainty; A vignette is a small base with a single or just a couple of items, be they figures, vehicles or the like. Could also be called a simple base.


A diorama in my minds eye is a more complex piece where there is a lot more going on.


I would as an example say walking the dog is a vignette. add a building and a vehicle and other props. it would be a dio.


I think for a modelling forum, the only way to really crack this nut is to follow the IPMS show rules, but that is not what we are about.


Ian M

[Alan 45]

So we've all come to the same conclusion as our club , we all agree a vignette is small and a diorama is big