diorama
10 years ago No Comments

(pronounced die-ah-RAH-ma OR die-ah-RAM-ma)

Think of the last natural history-type museum you visited. Most likely you saw a diorama. It’s like an oversized, highly detailed version of one of those shadow boxes you attempted to make as a child. Using a combination of realistic painted backgrounds, lifelike detailing and miniature scaled, sculpted figures, technical artists many times expertly blend together elements as to make the viewer unable to distinguish where the 3-D portion ends and the 2-D portion begins. Dioramas can also be full-sized, especially when representing past cultures, extinct wildlife species and other natural scenery.

Example: “Victor, our designer,” Martha arrogantly announced, “is flying in a scenic artist from Hollywood to complete the diorama we’re installing in the great hall to accommodate all of my husband’s hunting trophies from his jaunts across the globe.”