Here is a very simple one point perspective layout. This one is somewhat similar to the spiral staircase in that I’ve cheated the perspective of the stairs to a two point view to create a bit of a fish eye lens feeling. The focal point is the doorway and the stairs are peripheral.
I was also a bit loose on the perspective through the doorway as there will be a character right in front of it in the scene. The horizon line is at the character’s chest level. I left the ceiling exposed to provide a strong set of radiating lines towards the character. The edges of the stairs, the floorboards, and the shelves also help to point to the character.
I’ve also forced the position of the railing post closer to the foreground to add a bit more depth to the layout. If you look really closely at the structure of the stairs and the railing, they don’t really work very well but again, they are peripheral to the character.
The majority of your layouts will be set up in a one point perspective somewhat similar to this one. It may seem somewhat boring and to a certain extent, I suppose it is but you must keep in mind that the whole purpose of your layout is to support the actions and placement of the characters within the scene. I have mentioned before, that out of the approximately 2000 layouts that I’ve done in my lifetime, there are probably only 40 - 50 that are actually very interesting looking. Sadly enough, many of them were generated specifically for this book. I have maybe 8 from working on Ewoks and Droids, only one from the Care Bears, about 4 from Punky Brewster (surprisingly enough), nothing from Teddy Ruxpin, Flintstone Kids, and definitely none from the Smurfs. A handful of good ones from miscellaneous small productions and my two other books on layouts.
I’d say easily, 60% of the layouts done for production are just complete throw-away art because they’re soft focus details of master backgrounds, used in close up shots or they’re a sky wash or color card background. You don’t see too many of those in a portfolio presentation, that’s for sure.