Jillian Ramirez Paper #2

Jillian Ramirez

February 4, 2010

COM 232 Tom Hammond

MWF 10 – 11:10

Close Analysis of an Image

For my close analysis of an image I chose a still image from the movie Casablanca. The movie was directed by Michael Curtiz and released on January 23 of 1943. I obtained the image from The Internet Movie Database website, www.IMDb.com. According to the American Film Institute, Casablanca came in at number three on AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies, 10^th Anniversary Edition of the 100 greatest American films of all time, www.afi.com. This movie is worth studying because it is a classic and continues to be a favorite after so many years. It is hard pressed to find someone who has not seen or heard of Casablanca.

To analyze this picture, I will be using Nick Lacey’s concepts from his book, Image & Representation: Key Concepts in Media Studies. I am going to start with content of the picture. Now if I had not seen this movie, I would think that the preferred reading of the image would be that the two people are in love and have not seen each other in a while. Also, clearly the setting is in a much earlier time period. The woman’s face looks a bit more sad then the man. Another way to look at it would be if they were saying good-bye to each other, which is truly what is going in the picture. Every person can have a different interpretation in reading this photo because every person is different and thinks differently, especially if someone has or has not seen the movie. The message or idea I see being conveyed is that the two people, Rick and Ilsa, are coming or going. Others might interpret it as they are meeting for the first time like love at first sight. Or, if they were a couple the husband could be going off to war and they are saying good-bye to each other.

The composition of the image is mainly their faces. The tone is a bit hard to tell since the image is in back and white, but the sharpness is easy to tell what they want you to look at because their facial expressions are up close. The camera is showing you exactly what it wants you to look at and what message it wants to deliver. When considering the scale of the objects in the image, you can tell right away they that two people know each other because two people who just met would not be standing that close to each other. Along with the scale, non-verbal communication plays a lot in their frame with facial expressions and especially gaze. You can just tell by they way they are looking in each others eyes, something big has happened in their past for them to look at each other this way. Also their cloths and appearance conform they are coming or going because a trench coat and hat is not something you wear around the house everyday. Their formal features give away most of the pictures meaning, especially with the rule of third. Your eyes are drawn straight to wear their lips should meet showing the tension in the faces. This picture is perfect according to the rule of thirds I think.

The way the frame is set up is just so perfect because although there are not a lot of formal features, with the compositional features, the frame allows the picture to be strong and draw attention to what is most important. In understanding this part, I realize it is just not one part that is important but many things that add up to allow the picture to be perfect like the Academy ratio framing of the still, the close-up distance shot and the depth of field just to name a few. With out the right content in the frame, ideas and perceptions could be different when showing this image.

After seeing how much work is put into each frame I appreciate and understand the meaning of how an actual frame or still is put together to be just the right balance.

Robert Hubbard

Visual Literacy

Monday, February 10, 2010

Close Analysis of an Image

The image that I have chosen is one of great importance to our nation. It is titled Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima and it was taken by Joe Rosenthal after the battle on Iwo Jima. The picture was developed in Guam and the photo's producer exclaimed upon seeing it, "Here's one for all time!" The photo was immediately radiophotoed back to Washington and hit the press within 18 hours of being taken, which is a very speedy turnaround in those days.

This image came to the headlines again when the photo was turned into a statue in Arlington, Virginia outside the walls of the Arlington National Cemetery. This is known as the Marine Corp War Memorial. It honors the all the marines who have died serving their country since 1775.

Again the picture was made famous when Clint Eastwood directed Flags of our Fathers, a movie about the story behind the famous picture of Iwo Jima. The movie goes into the story of how the flag was raised twice because a General wanted the first flag for his shelf at home. The famous photo was of the second flag raising. There was also controversy surrounding the picture when it arrived in the states. Many people believed the picture was staged and there was dispute about one of the six men in the picture. The movie was nominated for a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards.

It is unusual for one picture to get this much attention, but that just speaks to the quality of the photograph. The picture itself is a masterpiece. When the eye takes in the picture the first focal point is the flag. It is the american flag on a white sky background which is exactly what a patriotic photograph is aiming for. The sky is blank and empty drawing no attention away from the action but rather serves as an accent on the flag. The clouds have a white glow surrounding the flag and follow the shape of the flag on the pole. After the eye sees the flag, you move along the diagonal line of the flag pole leading to the action of the image. The men raising the flag. The rest of the image is bleak and uneventful giving more emphasis to the subject of the photo. The background is a white sky and a grey sea creating a slight horizon line. The foreground is black debris looking uniform and not drawing much attention.

The main focal point of the image is the one man planting the base of the flag. Images and film are all about lines. A good picture or frame in a movie will have lines pointing to the subject. These lines serve to move the viewers eyes to the desired focal point. The lines in this picture are exceptional. Every object in the picture points to the base of the flag. The flag pole points directly to the base. The sea runs along the base of the picture and leads directly to the base. The top of the ground leads to the base from both sides. Even the set up of the soldiers creates a line leading to the base of the flag because each soldier is standing slightly taller than the one before.

The photo also exceptionally follows the rule of thirds. The flag is on the left third line and top third line and leads to the men raising the flag on the right third line and bottom third line. The whole rest of the image is below the bottom third line giving the sense that the viewer is gazing up upon the flag.

This picture has all the technical qualities that a good picture must have but there is also something about the picture that makes it great at first glance. The intangibles of the picture are what have carried it though many generations. It is a picture that inspires triumph and patriotism but where does this come from?

It comes from the image itself. This picture was not posed but it has every quality that a studio picture would have. The symbolism is very strong. It is a picture of american soldiers raising a flag over wreckage: triumph out of misery. It is a perpetual action of a flag being raised. The flag pole is frozen in time at a forty-five degree angle. This is the perfect angle to create a sense of action. The mind sees the angle and knows that the flag is being raised. Any less and the troops seem to be struggling; any more and it would seem to be falling.

Another feature that shows the action is the placement of the soldiers. Each one stands in a different position as if the photo were a time-lapse of a single troop raising a flag. The four troops appearing to be in for different frames give the picture movement and the viewer senses the movement on a still image.

This image has all the qualities of a great picture and all the intangible qualities to make it last through time. It is one of the great American symbols of war and patriotism. This image will be around for as long as the American flag is flown.

Analysis of an image

Danielle Salm
Professor Hammond
Visual Literacy
February 14, 2010



The picture that I have picked is out of a scene from the movie A Walk to Remember. It is a story about two completely different people whose lives cross paths and they end up saving each other and finding out that they have a lot more in common then they had originally thought. I picked this picture because yet simple, there is a lot going on. People who haven’t seen the movie could see what is happening as something completely different than what it really is. I am pretty sure that this is a still from the movie but I am not completely sure because it looks like it has been touched up. There are many messages that can be shown by the ways they are sitting, their facial expressions, the lighting, angles, setting, etc. Through the use of Nick Lacey’s ideas of content, composition, and codes, the overall theme of a picture can be explained without the use of any words.
To the people that have never seen the movie, or know the story line there are many observations that they could make about the picture. First of all, one could think that the picture portrays the generic couple in love sitting in the park leisurely. By the look on her face, it could be read as a silly girl who is living in a fantasy land of what she would like her life to be like or what she thinks it might actually be. When looking at him one could think that he is bored or angry. It is logical to think that he is thinking of someone else or that he could be doing something better with his time. He could even look as if he was there not by choice but because it was mandatory. To the untrained eye, it is easy to make assumptions about what this picture is trying to say. In taking Lacey’s ideas anyone who has seen the movie or hasn’t seen it can develop an understanding of the preferred reading of the picture.
Mandy Moore, who plays the character Jamie, has a sense of calm. She seems happy. She is closing her eyes and taking in the moment. Her arms are loosely rested on her lap in a way that ensures she feels security and warmth. Her clothes also show that she is very comfortable because she doesn’t feel the need to impress him; she is content in her own skin. She also portrays a feeling of hopelessness because she is leaning on him. If he were not there she would fall and that says a lot about her character in the movie. She begins to need him and he is what helps her stay alive. He brought life to her.
Shane West plays the part of Landon in this movie. He portrays a sense of conflict through his eyes. His eyebrows are tightened and his face is stiff showing a sense of frustration. He is sitting up with his arm stiffly planted on the ground to ensure he can keep her up. He knows that if he breaks his stance he could lose the delicate girl. He also has is knee up to ensure that she is safe and molded into him. His arm is up holding her head, once again showing that he needs to protect her. He is also comfortably dressed which shows that he can completely be himself around her.
The standard TV scene takes place in the forest where Landon brought Jamie so that she could see star that could only be seen right before daybreak. The background is dark, which creates the feeling of trouble and dark days. The low key lighting creates a somber mood which goes along with the gloomy days that are to come. Then there is a light gleaming over one side of the both of them. I feel as if the light can be symbolic for death because of the dark setting and the whole idea of the light at the end of the tunnel. It could also symbolize the love that these two individuals share. It can be used to show the importance of the two people in the picture and the bond that they have created. The high key lighting on their faces is supposed to create a feeling of optimism so the picture is trying to show that in all of the darkness and sadness, something good will come of it.
The angle of this picture is neutral to show that these two individuals are equal. No one has more power or is powerless in comparison to one another. At first I thought that this picture was a close-up because of the intimacy between the characters and the emotion gleaming out of the picture but if that was the point that was trying to be shown it would have just been a picture of their faces and shoulders. Since more of their bodies are in the picture it is characterized as a medium close-up which shows growing tension. This tension is obviously shown through Shane’s character and in knowing that fact about the distance of the shot one can see that the picture isn’t in fact trying to show their love but the problems ahead of them. The composition of the picture is dynamic to create the feeling of conflict. There is a selective focus in the picture in which the characters are deeply in focus showing the mise en scène while the background is blurred out to indicate the importance of the characters. The shot is from a side angle to accentuate how they are intertwined in each other as opposed to a head on shot. The characters are also placed more to the right side of the picture which was probably done following the rule of thirds. To get an idea of where they are the forest needs to be incorporated. If the characters were in the middle of the picture, people wouldn’t be able to read where they are and come up with all of the translations of the photo.
Through each of Nick Lacey’s image analysis concepts, anybody can learn how to “read” a picture that has no words. His ideas create the words that we are missing, and they tell us a story of the images we analyze. While walking myself through the steps I found that each of his interpretations of expressions, placement, lighting, and so on were pretty much on point with the message that the movie creates. These concepts also help me to understand how much effort is put into specific ads for movies, products, or events to reveal the appropriate emotion for the intended crowds. What is interesting is how much one picture can say without having to sit through a 2 hour movie. These formal and compositional features are extremely important in gaining the interest of people and giving them a sense what they are to expect.

Sarah McConnell
COM 232; Visual Literacy
Paper#2 - Photo Analysis

As the Ezekiel scene is one of my favorite scenes from my movie collection, I chose this frame image from the movie Pulp Fiction. This frame is very important to the film because sets the stage for your initial characterization of Jules Winnfield played by Samuel Jackson. By threatening to shoot Brett (played by Frank Whaley) in the head, Jackson is showing his dominance and power over Whaley. Jackson’s perceived self control, as well as his lack of humanity shows in the glaring gaze of his eyes, his demeaning facial expression, threatening body language, his stiff posture and finally in his dark yet crisp clothing. His overall presence and demeanor shows him to be the self-proclaimed “bad mother fucker” in this movie. This image is extremely critical to the film because as the movie progresses, he continuously questions himself as the “bad mother fucker,” the purpose of his life here on earth, and his quest for salvation after death.

The framing of this shot is in 1:1.85 – widescreen, allowing maximum intensity to come through to the viewer. In this shot, your eye initially focuses on the gun (while some could argue that the gun is main character in this shot – I disagree) due to the lighting focus, but the lines in the background of the frame direct your eye to Jackson. The yellow and green color of the walls along with the single dried rose on the wall tends to portray a peaceful, light, and serene atmosphere within the apartment. However, Jackson’s long handlebar-like moustache with his other facial hair and his dark clothing is in direct contrast to the background, making him stand out more to the viewer. The stiff black suit, staunch white shirt and pencil-black tie, represent a darker and dangerous image which is anything but serene. His clothing and his moustache fit the stereo-type of the “bad” man, or antagonistic character in a film. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the screen, the viewer clearly sees that Whaley’s character is very clean shaven, almost too preppy, making him the victim or the weaker of the two men.

The low angle of the camera only perpetuates the image of power and dominance that Jackson has over Whaley as shown with Whaley’s hands up in surrender. The long shot of the frame also allows you to infer dominance and power, establishing who is in control of the current situation. Showing the man in the back corner with his eyes closed while he seems to be praying (mis en scene), shows that Jackson is not only in control of Whaley, but also of others in the room causing an overwhelming sense of fear and domination.

This particular frame is an amazing scene from this movie as it shows so many visual contrasts to the viewers. This scene evokes a sense of fear, domination, and perceived power that takes you through the movie.

"Blow Up" Screening

This Monday and Wednesday we will watch Michelangelo Antonioni's film, "Blow Up". It was made in 1966 and was quite influential at the time. The story is about a photographer who may or may not have witnessed a murder. More to the point, it is his camera that has done any witnessing and he is the discoverer, at a later time, of this possible scenario. It is about how we see and how we interpret that which we view. Can our eyes deceive us? Is the photographic image objective? Antonioni was a director who used detailed composition to tell his stories. The studies we have engaged in on the textual analysis of images will prove valuable here. I ask you to pay special attention to the design of this movie; the framing of the action, the objects within the shots (mis en scene), the spatial relationships between characters and their settings and thematic contrasts involving the real action and the "reel" (photographic) action.

If "Blow Up" seems a bit dated today, it is probably because most depictions of "trendy" times almost always seem to suffer from the silliness that attends much of faddish behavior when viewed with the distance of years. In spite of that, this movie is a fairly accurate portrayal of "swinging London" in the "mod 60s". That this film was a major studio release and that it played in mainstream theaters, says something about the viewing habits of the 1960s audience and, perhaps sadly, about today's.

I have added an article by Roger Ebert on the "Links of Interest". Please contribute any other articles or reviews that you think will help our understanding. Be ready to discuss this film and how it relates to what we have studied to this point on Monday, Feb. 22. On Wednesday, Feb. 24, your 2-3 page review of the film will be due.

Another image

Marshall Adams

Paper # 2

Maggie Pringle

The public image that I chose to analyze is a mural done by a friend of mine who is an extremely talented artist. His name is Marshall Adams and he has numerous works that he has created over the past several years. The particular piece that I chose is a mural he painted in Bel Air, Maryland. A Mother of one of Marshall’s friends owns a small craft boutique by the name of Two Sisters in Bel Air, and she had asked Marshall to paint a mural on the side of her building. He did this mural in 2009 and I especially like Marshall’s work because it is simply beautiful. Marshall calls the painting an “organic abstract pattern,” he used bright colors and made sure the imagery was not too complex.

The content of the mural contributes to its overall composition. The left side of the mural has a brightly colored creature-like object, looks to be some sort of sea monster. The mural transitions into a scene of chaotic waters that are colored different shades of blue. Amongst the water are ships and boats, and arms of the sea creature peek out of the water throughout the scene. There are also two men sailing away from a sinking ship.The scene ends on the right with a mermaid sitting on a rock looking out into the scene. The backdrop of the mural is a jagged sunset. The colors are that of a traditional sunset, purples and oranges, with a tinge of blue here and there. The composition as a whole is coherent and pleasing to the eye. The eye is drawn first to the neon figure in the left corner, as it is the most prominent image in the painting. Your eye then follows the water scene across the wall observing the ships and different patterns of waves along the way. Your eye ends with the picturesque mermaid perched on her rock. The mermaid is colored with sepia colors. One of my favorite parts of the painting is the portion on the left side that appears to be a cut-out of the painting, giving the illusion of peeking into the store showing wine glasses, art and jewelry.

The compositional rule called the “rule of thirds” can be seen in the layout of this mural. The composition is balanced because of the layout of its components. The content is not centered and the positioning of the objects create interest, as they are not centered. I asked Marshall about his intent when painting this mural and he told me that he wanted to paint something bright and bold to draw attention to the store. He also told me that it was especially fun for him because his friend’s Mom gave him complete creative control, which is rare when an artist is being commissioned to do a work of art. It is an image that causes your mind to wander, and your imagination to kick into action.

The setting of this image I think is significant because it was painted in his hometown. Marshall has left his mark for his family and friends to remember him by and it represents the beginning of his career as an artist. There is a relationship or common theme between the mural and the art gallery; which is most appropriate because of the nature of both. The mural conveys feelings associated with the concept of art: creativity, imagination, exploration, free expression, a liberation of the mind and heart. People walking by the mural, whether they are going into the gallery or not are sure to be inspired. Its colors remind me of colors a child would use in a painting, they are bright and fun. The mural is also dreamlike, which again emphasizes the use of the imagination, which is an important theme in this analysis. While Marshall said that he typically does not like to think too deeply about the meaning of his art, he said the theme of the mural had some thought put into it and in the end it held a special meaning for him.

Marshall made it clear that he designed the mural for people to interpret and enjoy in their own way. However, to him, the mural is a metaphor about moving forward and leaving the past behind you. To him specifically, the ship in the painting represents Bel Air, his normal way of life he had grown accustomed to, and the mermaid represents the west coast and his future as an artist. This was deeply moving when he told me this and has made me appreciate the painting that much more. I think this mural will become a landmark in Bel Air and will be a lasting impression of Marshall Adams.