I need you guys help with this one. I am building and almost finished a split time dio diplicting a dead US soldier on the normandy beach [Past] and the greiving wife with their grandson standing by his tombstone[Today]. Now my question to you guys is this, should the Normandy cemetary scene be higher than the Normandy beach[Past]? I have seen photos of the area and the beach itself is pretty flat and the cemetary over looks the beach. The beach scene has a dead soldier by a underwater obsticle at low tide, should the cemetary scene be flush with the top of the obsticle? Should the whole diorama be all one level [flat] and not bi-level??
Please help!!

Gday Jody
I can sense your dilemma!
How about having the area between both 'images' neutral to both? What I'm saying in a sense is that what is used to separate the scenes is applicable to either. Grass (for example) that is longer than that in the cemetary, then 'thins out' during a slight down slope to the sand area. As suggested I think that the cemetary should be elevated but not too much so there is no 'flow' between the scenes
Hope this helps some
Brad

OH forgot to add that the top of the obstacle would be the most likely level for the cemetary as you stated. It struck me that you would also need to arrange the layout so that to the viewer they are separate scenes yet still 'tied' together. Maybe a diagonal division of a square base?
Hmmmm....

Here is my thought...

I would consider just the opposite, I would put the soldier on the beach above and behind the "present". This would inhance the the story you are trying to tell. Giving it the feeling of what is behind you, a memory... The dead soldier elivated to the supreme sacrifice, held up high in our memories.

My design thought would be one large round wooden base, two round bases for each scene set upon the larger. For the present I would use another smaller wooden round base, for the past I would use a small round clear acyrlic base raised above the "grounded present" base by about 2". Just my thoughts...

Paul

A back to Back with some sort od Divison might get the point across pretty well..................

I think you should use elements from both Paul's and Matt's ideas. You certainly could have a division by having the beach slop up to some grass or fortifications. Then have an abrupt end to this. Have a sudden vertical drop to the cemetary.

On the other hand you could have a natural look to it by having the beach slope up to the cemetary which is on a grassy mound overlooking the beach. I prefer this as the two scenes will be integrated, but the viewers common sense and logic will be able to differentiate the two. It would seem as if the two mourners were actually seeing the dead man in their minds.

Good luck. Interesting subject.

A very interesting dio with a very unusual concept. This one's going to be a really one of those 'out of the ordinary' dios, Wolf-leader.

Personally I'm more for Matt's idea of a clear division between the 2 scenes. Both could be depicted on the same base but perhaps you could have a jagged grey colored band seperating the 2 scenes. Here's a crazy idea, maybe you could mute all the colors in the dead soldier scene. Give it a kind of toned down colors with a grey shade to depict a past scene while the scene with the mother/child could be brighter or more vibrant color to depict the present. May take a fair bit of painting though.

Would really love to see this dio no matter how it turns out. A truly fascinating idea.

Let me suggest that you use a round display, like a wooden "lazy susan" commonly found in the kitchen dept of many stores. Use a divider to serve as a backdrop for the two scenes, and have it run across the middle of the round base. Then you can make each scene totally independent in terms of height of the other... simply turn the base to go from 1944 to 2005....

Ampifying Beachbum's idea, I remember seeing a diorama in an old book, I think one of the Verlinden Way's, where a guy did a diorama in black, white, and grays, to depict a black and white photo. You could do the 1944 part of your diorama that way, and the 2005 part in real colors.

That sounds like a cool idea. Or in sepia tones if you thing B/W will be dull.

Jody, I would encourage you to integrate the two scenes as much as possible, coz that'll be what will make this dio special, the whole play on time, memories, and reality flowing one into the other. It will be easier, of course to have the two scenes distinctly separate, but than you might as well do two dios.