Standard Modules

Standard Module B: Close study of text

Some notes on what to look for in visual texts:

Film

Images

Graphic design

1. What is film?

John Howard Lawson, an American playwright, screenwriter and critic described film thus: " A film is an audio-visual conflict; it embodies time-space relationships; it proceeds from a premise, through a progression, to a climax or ultimate term of the action."

Wikipedia offers: Motion pictures developed gradually from a carnival novelty to one of the most important tools of communication and entertainment, and mass media in the 20th century. Motion picture films have had a substantial impact on the arts, technology, and politics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_film

1. The nature of film:

• space and image including types of shots, high angle and low angle shots, subjective camera, framing the shot, the shot as a part of the whole, the moving shot, zooms and freezes, the sequence of shots, assembling the shots, colouring the image, and lighting the image

• sound includes actual and commentative sound, synchronous and asynchronous sound, voice-over narration,

• graphics include main titles, end credits, intertitles, subtitles, and other uses of the printed word  

• Film genres, for example, narrative genres include the musical, the western, the crime film, film noir, screwball comedy, the horror film, science fiction film etcSubtext in film, for example associations with myth or icons, history, music and between films as in remakes

2.  A study of film involves an understanding of images - the purely visual kind.

Note: images used in this section from http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/collection/features/impressionism/feature1.htm

When an artist or a photographer composes an image the following points will be considered:

• the viewpoint or the parts of the composition you want to focus on

Detail from Manet, 'Corner of a Café-Concert', probably 1878-80. London, The National Gallery.

Despite the size of the man in the foreground the emphasis is on the one face that can be seen: the waitress towards the back of the image. She is the view point of the painting.

• the angle of viewing such as a low viewpoint or a high view point or an eye level view point

Degas, 'Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando', 1879. London, The National Gallery.

This is a painting composed from a low angle, showing the aerialist rising above the artist who is looking up at her as she rises towards the ceiling, pointing her right arm in the same direction.

• the focal point is the feature that you want to be the subject of the composition. This can be subtle or obvious.

Cézanne, 'Avenue at Chantilly', 1888. London, The National Gallery.

This landscape draws the eye towards the walk that is central in the painting. The central arch of darker trees over the path is the focal point.

• creating movement refers to the way in which the eye can be directed within an image

Pissarro, 'The Boulevard Montmartre at Night', 1897. London, The National Gallery.

This landscape draws the eye along the boulevard through the night, the lights and the people.

• light and dark refers to the tones of a colour and can be used for the purposes of emphasis or creating a mood.

Monet, 'The Beach at Trouville', 1870. London, The National Gallery.

This painting uses predominantly light colours to capture the sun, the beach and one of the women sitting in the foreground. Her face is slightly darker from the shade of her parasol. For contrast the second woman is in darker colours, shaded by her parasol.

• using light refers to the balance between light and shade.

'Bathers at La Grenouillère', 1869. London, The National Gallery.

This landscape uses light and shade to represent the river scene. The foreground captures the darker tones created by the shade of the trees whilst the distance of the river is light and bright, reflecting the sunlight.

3. Graphic design: the combination of images and text to make meaning

Things to consider when evaluating graphic design:

• Composition: In an effective composition all the elements work together: images, colours and blocks of text.

• Use of colour: Colour can be used to enhance design and influence the responder. Colours are often described as warm or cool. A sensitive use of colour can  make use of emotional reactions in the responder. Red is passionate whilst green represents life. Blue  is more thoughtful and peaceful. Colour is used to grab attention and to communicate information.

• Choosing a font: Letterforms are more complex than you would think.

1. Fonts come in 'families' allowing for play within the initial choice of font. Just look up "Franklin Gothic' in the Font selections on your computer. Whatever font is selected, it must complement the purpose and the anticipated audience of the design.

2. Fonts can be serif or non-serif. Serif fonts are designed for fluid reading of long passages of text. A commonly used serif font is Times New Roman. This website uses the non-serif font, Arial, which is clean and more fluid.

3. They can be 'antique' or 'decorative'. Antique fonts can give a period feeling to a text, such as Bookman Old Style. Decorative fonts have a limited use although they can be very appealing and catch attention such as Blackadder.

They can represent script or be symbolic. Script fonts, like Edwardian Script, resemble handwriting. They can also give a period feel or be more modern in their look such as Bradley Hand. Symbolic fonts can represent commonly used objects or signs such as you find in Windings or when you insert a symbol.

• Layout:

1. the design grid refers to the balance of text and image. For example, a magazine feature will balance textual information with a representative image of its subject. The Good Weekend will introduce the subject with a strong visual image supported by text followed by pages of textual material with smaller supporting images and pulled out quotations. similarly, The Woman's Weekly often opens a feature article with a page of text balanced by a page image of the subject. A newspaper will place a single image centrally on it's front page relevant to it's major story.

2. using illustration for example,

     photography eg studio photographs such as portraits, food in cooking magazines, documentary photographs such as those used in television news or by photographic journalists, or images from photo banks such as Microsoft Clipart photographs

        illustration  eg decoration, reportage, images to sell or support products, book illustrations, technical illustration, time based media such as storyboards, newspaper graphics or information graphics