Distinctly manipulated lighting and shadows, fog and smoke effects, rain, stylized use of contrast and desaturation, and a myriad of image processing – these are often used to create visual textures that can capture a mood, an atmosphere and a certain emotional tone. Visual textures definitely tell a story but often a singular one strongly befitting a scene or even an entire movie. What stood out in this episode of After the Rain is the use of visual textures as a narrative device in an almost shot by shot basis. Various visual textures were used to accentuate the characters’ emotions and to mirror the dialogue.





After a tense interaction with Kondo in which he said (to Tachibana), “You know nothing about me,” the characters then faced their emotions in Kondo’s apartment. The scene started off neutral in terms of lighting, color and texture. When the two started to express their feelings more, the visual texture changed to reflect the emotional shift. The above screenshots show the change in texture to something akin to an old faded paper with lower contrast. A visual texture change that emits nostalgia as Kondo talks about youthful feelings, which for him are from the days gone by.





Kondo's visual texture of imagery of rising shapes Rain visual texture for Tachibana

The light then goes out which was convenient for allowing more creative use of lighting and shadows for texture. It also marks the point where Kondo really opens up.





The above shots also show the visual texture associated with each character in this scene. For Kondo, the texture are the imagery of rising shapes in the form of glowing lights, light bokeh or bubbles. Perhaps this texture is to convey the uplifting feeling he gets when in the presence of Tachibana.





The visual texture for Tachibana are the shadows of rain water dripping down the window. Her visual texture is a more physical one as it is a product of light/shadow interacting with an object as oppose to Kondo’s which is pure imagery. The rain texture also directly mirrors Kondo’s monologue about Tachibana.





More rising shapes More rain shadows The two visual textures combined

More examples of visual textures for Kondo and Tachibana. In the shots where they are hugging you will notice individual rays of light, giving the scene a more dramatic texture, which is suitable for the most pivotal moment of the show so far. In the third screenshot the visual textures are combined; Tachibana’s rain and Kondo’s imagery of rising shapes (light bokeh and bubbles).