zark Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Well...in my local model club, we are planning our fourth excibition/contest and once again the same question came up. What is the difference between a Diorama and a Vignette and which are the "rules" that the organizing committee has to follow in order to be fair to the participants. Consider that, a german bike stuck in the mud and the two german soldiers trying to move it, is a...Diorama. The same kit (bike and figures) just standing next to each other doing nothing is a...vignette! ...please share your knowledge with me, I am totally confused about sizes, numbers, story lines and actions...Heeeeellllpppp!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joseph Osborn Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 (edited) This could be a potentially sticky situation. I suggest that the organizing committee (or a rules committe) sit down with a a couple of dictionaries and draw up concise definitions for each category. You can be as arbitrary as you want, as long as the definitions are concise and clear and any competitor can understand exactly why his/her entry is in a particular category. You could arbitrarily say that any entry that contains two or more separate figures is a diorama. It just has to be clear and understandable. Edited November 22, 2012 by Joseph Osborn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Adam Baker Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 The way I've always heard it described is if its trying to convey a story, its a diorama. If its just one or two figures standing next to a vehicle w/o trying to convey any kind of story or meaning, its a vignette. And generally vignettes are limited to a max of 1-2 figures, more than that then it becomes a diorama. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 (edited) Adam's definition is pretty close to the one I've heard as well. But, something the size of a vignette CAN be a diorama if it tells a story regardless of if it only has maybe two figures in it (for instance, two planes on a base with one chasing the other in an act of combat will likely be a diorama as there is a sense of drama or a story there). The main priority with a diorama is the story element is part of the judging, just like the construction elements. A strong story can overcome weak presentation potentially while a technically perfect diorama say showing a tank being worked on but with no apparent story other than what you see (or if it is a weak story) can let it down. So, with the two soldiers and a motorbike, if they are pushing it out of the mud, diorama indeed because it is a strong and obvious story. Two soldiers and a motorbike just standing on a road talking, not a good story. That is UNLESS there might be a good caption associated with it such as "Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" (old American television commercial reference from the 1980s) or "Which way to Antwerp?" then it could work as a diorama (but it still may be a weak story if not everyone gets the reference or the joke). Vignettes by their definition tend to be small and a tight focus. Dioramas can be large or small. So if somebody builds an elaborate display of a parked Tiger tank in a building with a whole bunch of shipping crates and all sorts of details, yet it just has ONE figure in it, I really wouldn't call it a vignette at all, just a diorama with a lousy story (unless the figure is holding a broom hinting that it is after hours at a factory or storage facility). That's the way I've understood things anyway. I would say if there is something that stradles the line of diorama and vignette, play a game of "caption the photo" with the display standing in for a photo. If it can be captioned easily, probably diorama. If not, probably a vignette. Edited November 23, 2012 by Jay Chladek Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegoodsgt Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 What Adam and Jay said. Sort of. Here's my spin. Size and number of figures have nothing to do with the distinction between diorama and vignette. A diorama tells a story. It could have one figure or a hundred. If I were almighty ruler of every model contest in the world, that intended story would be the first aspect of the diorama that's judged. If there's an uncompelling story or a nonexistent story, it fails, no matter how good the modeling is. A vignette is a snapshot. It too could have one figure or a hundred. Imagine a model of an F6F Hellcat with 30 members of the squadron standing on the wings for a photo. There's no story. It's just a snapshot in time. A diorama portrays activity, implies something happening immediately after the moment you're looking at. A vignette is just an attempt to capture a single moment in time with little suggestion of action or anything compelling happening. I suggest we think of it this way using an analogy: Vignette = photograph Diorama = movie Steven Brown Scale Model Soup Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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