What is it about Darth Vader helmets and costumes that intrigue us so much? He is the most famous villain in movie history from movies we've loved since childhood, sure. But that still doesn't quite explain it sufficiently. There's something about the look and shape of the helmet that just looks right, something intrisic about it that continues to captivate us and drives us to want to see and know all of its details.
I'm not an artist or a graphic designer, but those who are have learned many of the design rules and tricks to make things look appealing. One is to incorporate the golden ratio (aka golden mean, divine ratio, aka Phi) into their designs.
a b
--------●-----
G
In the line above, G is the "golden point" between the line segment of length a and the line segment of length b when the following equation is satisfied:
a/b = (a + b) / a = Phi
Phi = 1.618 (approximately, as it is an irrational number)
Exactly it is expressed as
Phi=(1+sqrt(5))/2 or
Phi=2*cos(36°)
This ratio is often seen in nature, math, and geometry. And often in company logos and at the pivot point of the arched eyebrows of cable news anchors and Congressmen.
Geometrically it can be drawn in a variety of ways. One way is to draw a circle, then an equilateral triangle within the circle with the vertices touching the circle, and then draw a line through the midpoints of the lines of the triangle.
https://www.goldennumber.net/circlesUpon watching Star Wars for the 1,138,421st time, I noticed the following geometric pattern behind Darth Vader as he is interrogating Captain Antilles.
Connecting a few more points of the previous diagram, we see the outline of the geometric shape painted on the wall in the background. It appears to contain the same geometry above which is used to construct Phi.
If we overlay Vader from a later scene on Tantive IV, we see that the breath mask and surrounding points on the mask match this geometry.
Is this just a coincidence? Perhaps. In the eyes of an artist or a sculptor what "looks right" could very well match in proportion to the golden ratio. On the other hand, this proportion may have been consciously and intentionally been specified as a design requirement. From that first scene with a close-up of Vader's helmet right next to the geometric construction of Phi in the background, it makes me think it was not just a coincidence.
We've all probably heard the conspiracy theories about certain movies being instruments of mind control (The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars in particular), or at least so compelling in their visuals that we want to watch them again and again and to unravel every detail; yet remain somewhat of a mystery why they continue to be favorites after all these years. True or false, doesn't really matter to me.
If true, all I have to say is "How long have you had these droids?..."