Technical Perspective: Based on your high degree of technical know-how about a certain media form, provide a visual example of a photograph, anima

http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/paranormal-activity-poster.jpg

We live in a world where 3D movies are a norm. Movies are high quality today and there are scarcely any movies that succeed if they do not have high production values. Although there are few exceptions, the quality of the movie is more important than the cost of production in the world today. An exception to this is Paranormal Activity. Paranormal Activity is a low production film that has become famous. It, along with its two precursors, has low production values. The movie seemed to be filmed entirely with a home-video camera. Although this filming seemed low quality, this gives the movie believability. The movies are supposed to be based on true events and by using home video recorders, it makes the movie seem true and real. This technique of using a home video recorder benefits for the movie at hand. If a normal movie camera was used, it would have taken away from the effect of the genuineness of the “home video.” There are very few instances where this style of movie filming would have worked. This is just one of the ways low production values and poor camera skills are beneficial to movies.

Stereotype Persistence in the Media: Find one powerful example in a business-related piece of visual media.

http://youtu.be/uLTIowBF0kE

This advertisement for Old Spice Deodorant has been circulating around the internet. The man in this advertisement tries to persuade women to buy this product for their men. “Does your man look like me?” and then answers promptly with “no.” This man, from a woman’s perspective, is attractive. With this, the man in the advertisement carries on to explain how “perfect” of a man he is by how he looks, smells, cooks, compliments her and many other stereotypical things that make the “perfect guy” to a female. This advertisement is persuading women to buy this product in order for her man to be just like the one in the advertisement. Ethos plays a role in the selling of this product through this advertisement. The point this advertisement gets across is that if a woman wants a seemingly perfect man, like the one in the ad, she needs to purchase this deodorant for her husband. This logic is stereotypical in the sense that they are trying to sell something by giving people false hope for the outcome of the product. This type of logic is seen in many advertisements today.

Advertising of Social Causes: Analyze tactics in any advertisement for a social issue, health crisis, charitable cause, etc. Use print ads only.

http://chapters.aiga.org/resources/content/5/0/0/8/images/JBanuelos_BreastCancerAd.jpg

Breast Cancer is a big issue in the medical world today. It is a disease that many women and men fight and struggle to beat every day. This advertisement sticks to a very simple and basic but powerful layout. The color “light pink” and a light pink ribbon are associated with breast cancer awareness. This advertisement shows a nude woman posing in the position of the ribbon. Her skin color has a tint of pink which makes this appropriate for resembling the pink ribbon. The outer edges of the advertisement have a pink tint to them which helps emphasize the color that is associated with breast cancer awareness. The phrase that is included in this ad, “Where there’s awareness, there’s hope” puts pathos in this ad. “Hope” is a strong word when dealing with serious medical issues. This phrase does well to bring pathos to the advertisement. The nude woman is facing down while she makes the shape of the ribbon. The position the woman is in makes this woman seem sad or pessimistic about her health condition. The phrase gives readers a solution to the problem. This advertisement does well in using pathos to persuade and boost the awareness of breast cancer.

Visual Cues: Find an image that “exploits one of the four visual cues more than the others.” Analyze.

http://ih2.redbubble.net/work.809324.2.flat,550x550,075,f.depth-perception.jpg

Depth is a visual cue that is exploited in the picture above. This picture shows different discrepancies dealing with depth. One of the first things one notices is the two men in this picture. When viewing both men, they seem to be the same size. These two men seem relatively far away due to their size. The mind knows the approximate size of a man and with this in mind, seeing them smaller, the mind concludes they are far away. Looking at the man on the left, one notices that he is sketched on an easel. An easel is a big object in reality, but realizing where the easel is standing, the depth perspective changes. The easel is on a chess board, which is small in comparison to a regular size easel. The chess pieces on this chess board confuse one’s depth perception some more; these chess pieces are large when comparing them to the easel. This implies that the easel, along with the man sketched on the easel, is very small. Finally, one notices the other man standing far from the room with the chess board. In conclusion, the man on the right is much bigger than the man on the left [on the easel]. This picture uses depth in an interesting but confusing way. The mind can fill in the blanks to approximate the size of objects due to the visual cue of depth. Depth can be shown in different ways, as this picture shows.

Media Representation of Sight: Find an image of a visually-impaired person from a famous film or text. Explain.

http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2010/august10/imagesaugust10/ray-charles1.jpg

Many people take advantage of having all 5 senses: hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste. Not everybody is lucky enough to have all of these senses, however. When a person lacks a sense, their other senses must step in and make up for the lack of the other. The picture above is of Ray Charles from the movie Ray. Ray Charles was a famous musician who was blind. He was a blind man who was and extraordinary pianist and vocalist. His lack of vision did not stop him from doing what he loved and being a musician. His sense of touch and hearing were built up in order to supplement for his sight. In this picture, Ray Charles has his sunglasses on and his eyes closed, which is often a sign that a person is blind. He seems content playing the piano and singing. This movie is the story of Ray Charles and his struggles with his disability and how he overcomes his problems through music and his inclined senses of hearing.

Symbolic Nature of Light: A static or “moving” image that uses light in a symbolic way. Explain.

http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2011/last_meals_1003/last_meals_12.jpg

The picture above shows a “Last Meal” on death row in Texas. This meal is given to prisoners before their execution. The prisoners request a meal to be their last before execution, and one of these meals is pictured above. The picture itself is a dark image with little light. It is obvious what type of food is on the plate although there is a small amount of light shining on the plate; fruits and vegetables are on this plate along with two drinks and some bread. The lighting, or lack thereof, emphasizes a dark and gloomy connotation to this photo. In context, the lighting fits the mood. This picture shows the last meal a person will be eating which is doleful. If there would have been more light shining on this food, the food would brighten up and bring positivity to this image, which is the opposite of the meaning behind this image. Light plays a major role in emphasizing the meaning behind certain images.

An Image that has Shaped Western Culture: (or American culture). Choose one and explain.

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An image that shaped American culture is the Nazi Swastika symbol. This history behind this symbol is very heavy and important. This was the symbol that the German Nazi’s used during the Holocaust in the 1930s. This is a hated symbol in the Western world even today as its roots are usually tied to the Holocaust. Fascism is often thought of when this symbol is presented which was practiced when Adolf Hitler was in power. The Nazi Swastika has a negative connotation in most of the world today and the symbol is a reminder of all that happened to the Jewish people in Germany in the 1930s. The Holocaust was a dark time for Jewish people in Germany. Nearly 6 million Jewish people died after being sent to concentration camps, death marches and gas chambers. After World War II, the German’s believed to be superior to the Jews and felt the need to exterminate them. The extermination of the Jews led by German Adolf Hitler was called the “Final Solution.” The world realized the problems that Adolf Hitler caused and decided to step in to put a halt to this disaster. The Holocaust was the largest dispute of racism that the world had seen and the Swastika symbol is a reminder of this part of history.

Gestalt Principles Images: Include two images that demonstrate selected (named) principles

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/magazine/2010/08/2000px-Impossible_staircase.svg_.png

http://www.thecartoonpictures.com/data/media/44/batman_logo.jpg

The gestalt theories were thought up by a German psychologist. These theories describe the certain things one can imply by an image. As the text book “Visual Communication: Images with Messages” describes, “The whole is different from the sum of it’s parts.” This is seen in the two pictures above.

In the first picture, an “impossible” staircase is shown. This picture describes continuation in gestalt’s theories. If one side of the image is seen, the staircase seems normal. As one’s eye continues in a square, it is apparent that the stairs going up (or down depending on the direction) continue to go up into itself. This image is 2 dimensional but the 3 dimensional version of this staircase is seen in the movie Inception. This staircase gives the illusion of continuation.

The second picture shows symmetry. This common symbol is the Batman logo. The symbol is symmetric down the center containing the same colors and shape on either side of the line of symmetry. The simplistic outline of a bat with its arms widespread and the symmetry on the left and right side of the image keeps this logo a well-known one. The Batman logo is simple and memorable. It is a wide known symbol around the world.

Ways of Seeing: Evolution or stasis? Representational relationships between men and women in art.

http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/greek/images/FrancoisGirardon-ApolloandSixNymphs-1673.jpg

The representational relationship between men and women in art is widespread. Men are superior to women in most art forms. In the sculpture pictured above, this relationship is obvious. The picture shows a man getting pampered by 6 women. In this ancient Greek sculpture, the god Apollo is surrounded by 6 nymphs. These 6 nymphs are associated with Apollo as his servants, as seen in this sculpture. The sculpture shows how women were inferior to men. The nymphs happily bathe Apollo while he monotonously receives the bathing. He is sitting down effortlessly while the nymphs carry heavy urns filled with water and fulfill their duties. This relationship is seen in many other paintings, sculpture and other art forms. Men are pictured as the dominant sex and have control over the women even in modern art forms.

Ways of Seeing: Consequences of photographing original art. Offer example and explain.

http://www.panicposters.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/250x/c2bfe4c776f72036b09a06804953f265/p/g/pgp1373-simpsons-scream-copy.jpg

The Scream (not pictured) is a famous painting by Edvard Munch which depicts a man standing on a bridge screaming. The background consists of a river under red skies. The red skies and darker shades of colors that are used give the picture a negative and dark meaning to it. In this painting, there are people pictured in the background but their significance does not commit to the picture as a whole. In the picture above, Homer Simpson of the famous television series, The Simpsons, poses as the man in the painting the Scream. Homer Simpson brings a comical connotation to this picture. The colors are brighter in this reproduction of the picture which lightens the mood from the original painting. In the background, Homer Simpson’s family is shown as silhouettes. The silhouettes give the impression that Homer Simpson is screaming in fear of his family that is simply standing behind him watching him from a distance. Overall, the reproduction of the original artwork changes the meaning of the original piece. Aside from comical relief, the reproduction changes the vibes that the original painting gave off, changing it from a dark and meaningful painting to a laughable work of. This is just one replication that changes the meaning of the original piece. The consequences of replication are often drastic as this picture proved to be.

Memorandum

To: Dr. Newmark

From: Christina Nevarez

Subject: Scrapbook Midterm

The Project: The purpose of this project is to describe and emphasize the different types of visual communication that are found in the world. Each entry contains a different type of picture along with an analysis describing why the picture was chosen for the certain topic.

Entry 1: Ways of Seeing: Consequences of photographing original art. Offer example and explain. The image that was chosen was one of the reproduction of the famous painting the Scream. In this reproduction, Homer Simpson of the television series, Simpsons, is the man screaming. Homer Simpson changes the connotation from dark and gloomy to comical.

Entry 2: Ways of Seeing: Evolution or stasis? Representational relationships between men and women in art. Women in art are often inferior to men. This relationship is shown in the picture that was chosen. Apollo is being bathed by the 6 nymphs that surround him.

Entry 3: Gestalt Principles: Include two images that demonstrate selected (named) principles. Continuation and symmetry are the two gestalt principles that are analyzed in this project. The impossible stairs are an example of continuation while the Batman symbol shows symmetry in the simple design of the logo.

Entry 4: An Image that has shaped Western Culture: (or American culture). Choose one and explain. The image that was chosen is the German Swastika. This symbol has much history behind it. The Holocaust was one of the darkest times of world history and this symbol serves as a reminder of this time in history.

Entry 5: Symbolic nature of light: Static or “moving” image that uses light in a symbolic way. The picture that was chosen is an example of how light puts a different meaning behind a picture. This is a picture of a last meal on death row in Texas. This is a meal that a prisoner receives before their execution in jail. The lighting placed on this meal makes the meal seem gloomy and dark. If there was more light placed on the food, the meal would seem more positive.

Entry 6: Media Representation of Sight: Find an image of a visually-impaired person from a famous film or text. Explain. The man that is pictured in this entry is Ray Charles from the movie, Ray. Ray Charles was a blind pianist and vocalist. His sense of touch and hearing was inclined in order to supplement his lack of vision.

Entry 7: Visual Cues: Find an image that “exploits one of the four visual cues more than the others.” Analyze. The visual cue that is depicted in this entry is depth. This image plays with a person’s depth perception throughout this image. The mind infers certain things due to depth but this picture challenges the mind’s regular thought process with depth perception. This image deals with depth as a visual cue.

Entry 8: Advertising Social Causes: Analyze tactics in any advertisement for a social issue, health crisis, charitable cause, etc. Use print ads only. This advertisement sticks to a very simple and basic yet powerful layout. It uses pathos in order to get to your emotions to raise awareness about breast cancer. The pink color border and the position the woman takes as a ribbon helps this ad because these two are symbols of breast cancer awareness.

Entry 9: Stereotype Persistence: Find one powerful example in a business-related piece of visual media. The advertisement that is shown is a commercial for Old Spice Deodorant. This man gives off the impression that he is the “perfect” man in a woman’s eyes and gives false hope that her man can be “perfect” too if she purchases this deodorant for the man in her life. The stereotype in this ad is the man trying to be the stereotypical “perfect” man for a woman.

Entry 10: Technical Perspective: Based on your high degree of technical know-how about a certain media form, provide a visual example of a photograph, animation, graphic, or other image with “low production values.” Explain. The example given here is for the movie Paranormal Activity. This movie was a low production film. It seems to be filmed with a regular home video recorder. Since this movie is supposed to be based on true events, the home video recorder along with the poor production values gives believability to viewers.