Photo Analysis Essay

If you have any questions on the paper due Monday, don't hesitate to email me at thammond1946@yahoo.com or come into class tomorrow. I will be available there to answer any questions, review your material and give suggestions as needed. Remember to include a picture of what you are analyzing with the paper.

The chapter I gave you yesterday came from "Ways of Seeing" by John Berger.

Close Analysis Picture for Class on 2/10

Instead of bringing a picture into class for Wednesday, I decided to post the picture on the blog. Also because if I printed it, the picture would not have looked as good.

Question about the paper

So, you want us to specifically use and cite Lacey in our paper, but many of us don't have the book. Can we use the packet you gave us in class on Wednesday, ...non-verbal communication, framing,etc. in our paper and cite that? I'm not exactly clear on this...

Textual Analysis

Non-Verbal Communication (NVC)

· Facial expression

· Gaze

· Gestures

· Posture

· Body contact

· Clothes and appearance

Framing

· 1:1.33 (4:3) - Standard TV

· 1:1.37 - Academy ratio (theatrical)

· 1:1.66 - British widescreen (theatrical)

· 1:1.78 (16:9) - Widescreen TV

· 1:1.85 - Widescreen (theatrical)

· 1:2.66 - CinemaScope (theatrical)

Mise en scène

· Subject

· Lighting

· Setting

Codes Conventional Meanings

Angle

· High - subservient

· Normal - neutral

· Low - power

· Dutch (canted) - chaotic, disorientation

Distance

· Extreme Long Shot - establishing

· Long Shot - subject in context

· Medium Shot - “safe” distance

· Medium Close-up - growing tension

· Close-up - intimate, emotional moment

· Extreme Close-up - Intense emotion, reaction

Composition

· Conventional (rule of thirds) - posed, composed

· Unconventional - documentary

· Dynamic - conflict

· Static - calm

Depth of Field

· Deep Focus - mise en scène

· Selective Focus - indicates importance

· Soft Focus - nostalgia, romance

Lens Type

· Telephoto - voyeuristic

· Standard - normal

· Wide Angle - drama

Texture (film stock)

· Grainy (fast) - documentary

· High Resolution - normal

Mobile Frame

· Pan - survey, follow (stationary camera)

· Tracking - Movement on the horizontal plane

· Tilt - up, down (stationary camera)

· Crane - movement on the vertical plane

· Hand Held - pov

· Zoom in - in for detail

· Zoom out - subject in context

Lighting

· High Key - optimistic

· Low Key - somber

· Fill - natural

· Back - glamour

What is Art - Paper #1

Jillian Ramirez

COM 232 Visual Literacy

Tom Hammond

MWF 10 – 11:10 A.M.

January 26, 2010

What is Art?

Have you ever seen a very bloody and gore movie? What about a young child’s scribbles with crayons? Or what about any of Pablo Picasso’s works? Is not Picasso one of the most world-renowned artists? It is hard to find someone who does not know of him. He is said to be one of the greatest artists of all times, nevertheless can a child’s scribbles or a very gory movie be considered art too? I believe art is in the eye of the beholder. A mother would think her child’s scribbles are art and hang them on the kitchen fridge. A director or a gore movie fanatic would think the movie is a work of art. If someone thinks it is art, it is art. I believe art does not have a concrete definition. There are so many ways to describe art that one definition could not adequate it all. Art is anything anyone wants it to be. Art uses skill and imagination to create aesthetic items, environment, or knowledge that can be shared with others.

I do believe art is universal. Thinking back to the prehistoric days, art has been around for centuries even if it was just drawings on the inside of a cave. Don’t museums have these replicas in their halls? Why would they display the prehistoric writing if it were not art? Even thinking to the other side of the world, art is universal. The Chinese culture is the birthplace of martial arts, the art of protecting your self. Although the purpose of martial arts was mainly for survival and warfare, it co-exists with a variety of weapons that you need to become skilled at the art of using.

There is nothing that is not art. Everything and anything has the potential to be or become art. For example, a piece of paper is very plain but it can become origami like a paper crane. Even everyday items like a laptop are art to an industrial designer. The actual laptop design is their work of art. Art does not always have to be strictly appealing it can be functional too.

If I were defending a work as art, I would enlighten that person about my definition of art. It only takes one person to think something is art to be art. And if they still took an exception to my view, we would have to agree to disagree. For example, I think a pair of Jimmy Choo stiletto heels is an amazing work of art. But, to a male onlooker, they could just think they are another useless pair of over priced heels. Everyone has their own opinion; it does not make them wrong.

Art. There is so much I could say; too much. Art is the spice of life; with out it life would be boring. It is a wonderful form of expression and imagination. Look around and try to find something that is not art. I bet you’ll have a hard time trying to find something. Art has been around for thousands of years and will continue to grow and change for many more to come.

Bertolino what is art paper 2/1/10

Art is a very broad term that can be perceived differently from person to person. I believe art is any work that someone takes time to inject their own personal beliefs, perceptions, and talent into it. Art is any kind of work, such as a painting, sculpture, or drawing, but can also be a movie, written piece, or song. The care that is put into something that one does can create a work of art in the eyes of one person, a small group of people, or an audience of millions. One person can also argue that something is art, while another person may disagree. An example could be a plate of food that looks and tastes great to one restaurant customer, while another may send it back because it looks or tastes unlike what they expected.
Art is universal too, because it is not just a tangible project that can be categorized as art. Any ability that causes an audience to feel emotion can be classified as art, but it is the masterpieces that get so much attention, such as a Led Zeppelin song. The famous band has written and performed many classic hits over the years, and many could say that they are one of the greatest artists of all time. But against those that believe that Led Zeppelin’s art is the strongest, it very well may be a friend’s acoustic rendition of a Led Zeppelin song that causes one to be overcome with more emotion than an original recording by the band. That is the gift of art itself, the unintended sense of where to find the art that inspires each person separately.
The question of “what isn’t art?” is not defined by stating facts, but opinions. Each person may consider one work to be art, while another may disagree to the fullest extent. In my own opinion, I find true art in the traditional sense of movies, music, and writing, to name a few, while, for example, I have a harder time trying to get a feel for dance. Dancers are artists by their own definition, with many different styles and messages, but as someone who has never been involved in dance, I cannot say that I recognize dance as an instantly recognizable art form. However, I respect the opinions of those who love dance and I believe I may be in the minority when it comes to the consideration of dance as an art form.
If someone took exception to my view of something as art, I would describe my feelings the instant I first recognized the work as such. Art can be something that strikes a nerve in a human, whether it is good or bad, and my argument would be based on my raw emotions at the time of discovery. The first time I realized how great it is to watch Tom Brady stand in the pocket and play Quarterback in the NFL, I knew that I was witnessing a work of fine art. Brady works at his craft every day, and when he is on his game he is an once-in-a-lifetime work of art on the football field. However, sports fans are very opinionated, and many disagree that Brady is so great at what he does. But my greatest pleasure and favorite moments in my life as a football fan have been based on the greatness of Tom Brady with the New England Patriots, and I will always describe how amazing it was, watching him lead the team to three championships, to defend my reasoning for why his play at quarterback is true art.

What IS Art?

At times we see ourselves looking with skeptical eyes at what is right in front of us: a canvas with unoriginal bright paint splatters covering it for five grand; another auto-tuned song from a Disney Channel star; a college student-made film that shows an embarrassing lack of personal experience in his craft. We may want to label these things as anything but art, but does that take away its artistic value or relevance to the artistic movement of the now? That painting could have been an expression of the artist wanting to create ‘anti-art;’ the mass produced teen pop could have been intended to be a marketing tool instead of high-art; though the cinematography of the student film was a little below average, the writing was fantastic. In short, art is only art to the observer.

In our class, the majority of students including myself felt that artwork is something that inspires emotions—touches us, if you will—and is personal in terms of appreciation. What one person may find as artistic, someone else might describe as obscene or unoriginal. While a majority of people may lean one side or another on how much a work is art, personal opinion is the cornerstone of what makes art unique, meaningful, and valuable. An example would be Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters’ “In Search of America,” a film that Tom Hammond mentioned to me. This film was made in the 60’s and featured Ken Kesey and his group of friends called The Merry Pranksters, who decided to take psychedelic drugs and tour rural America with a video camera, scaring Midwesterners from the sound of it. The movie was reportedly in limited circulation, and there is barely any evidence of it on the Internet. While the movie, being more than 10 hours long, sounds like it would be nothing more than a couple of high young adults fumbling around with a camera, seems like an interesting experiment of the drug counterculture of the time spitting in the face of puritanical America. While antics of that nature are commonplace now, a move like that could have been very edgy and daring at the time, making it more contemporary art.

A great span of media, from music, to literature, to comic books, to video games are all forms of art in their own right, and some gain more notice from the general public than others. The Statue of David by Michelangelo is an easily recognized statue, and is considered by many to be one of the most famous Italian statues in the art world. In many videogame circles, the Japanese-produced game Final Fantasy Seven is considered to be the greatest game ever created because of it’s intricate and well written story, along with the first 3D graphics ever to be features in the franchise. While Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is praised for being the first American feature length animation, Fantasia is regarded by many Disney fans as being the most artistically ambitious and avant-garde animation of it’s time, and is held to the status of a classic film. These four examples of art are well known through the world, even though their origins are from separate countries and cultures. This proves that art is indeed universal.

In the end, artwork can be related to people: some are more interesting than others, some are more original than others, but they should always be judged on their own merits instead of in comparison to each other.