Post #10 Technical Perspective

-http://robsmovievault.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/robin_batman1966.jpg

An example of an image with low production value comes from a 1966 film Batman the Movie. The image depicts Batman and his sidekick Robin running down a street in New York City. There are a number of clues that show the low production quality compared to what we are used to seeing. The background is probably the biggest indicator of the production quality. The background is of the City of New York and is quite blurry. In fact the background appears to just be a picture of the street that was made into a poster and then put behind Batman and Robin. The background is painfully obvious to be a fake and the whole running seen was probably done on a green screen in some studio. Another sign of low production value are Batman and Robin’s costumes. The costumes appear to be made of spandex or some sort of very cheep material. Robin’s mask also seems to be poking him in the eyes and sliding off his face. Batman’s utility belt appears to be just a plastic belt with some blocky yellow things, which look like bags, glued to it. The whole image appears to be fake, which is understandable since the movie was made over forty years ago. Today with tools such as Photoshop average people can easily make a more believable image that what a studio could have done back in the 1960’s. But that’s advances in technology for you.

Post #9 Stereotype persistence in the media

http://static.emedco.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/Smoking-Signs--Smoke-Free-Workplace-Law-79719BBVPLYALU-lg.jpg

I choose the “Smoking is not permitted” sign as the stereotypical piece of media that can be found just about anywhere. The “Smoking is not permitted” sign is designed to show areas of public or private places where smoking is prohibited by the inhabitants. The sign depicts a cigarette with smoke coming from it with a red slash mark across it, and a white background. I believe that the sign was made to be very stereotypical and we don’t even realize it since we have seen the sign for most of our lives. The sign has become iconic, indexical and symbolic. It is such a successful sign because it can be viewed in many different perspectives. It can be viewed from personal, ethical, cultural or critical perspective. The sign is stereotypical because cigarettes are not the only form of implement that people can use to smoke from, yet for some reason the sign specifically targets them. I have never seen the same “Smoking is not permitted” sign, but with a big fat cigar or pipe on it. Apparently the media has shown that all the smokers simply smoke cigarettes and therefore there is no reason to put other products on the sign. I don’t think the stereotype is fare to the companies that produce cigarettes or the smokers, since it makes them seem like one trick ponies. 
     

Post #8 Advertising of Social Causes

-https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW3ef_QG4MJsia3Jqqrl2fIWqaB1NRF1O5fW96wb-jEOAbz1qnnM1BO7VvgKJV7LTy2-XBePlhsSj4zdBYo4hH8ekFv779-fX8oGo_xBuVSMnYxDnsmWYjwg9V7utbcTf9kofrT-CGpCZr/s400/India-Ads.jpg

An advertisement for a social issue that I choose is an Indian advertisement about talking on the phone while driving. The image is quite striking. It depicts an Indian woman who is talking on the phone and all of the sudden a huge splatter of blood shoots out of the phone. Right next to the phone is the message, “Don’t talk while driving.” This is obviously an advertisement that wants people to stop talking on their phones while driving and make them concentrate on the road instead. The advertisement uses a pathos or emotional appeal to its advantage to capture our attention. The huge amount of blood that comes out of the phone defiantly shocks us as well as drawn our attention. The underlining story behind the picture is that somebody was driving and talking on the phone and wasn’t paying attention. The blood coming from the phone is the driver who wasn’t keeping his eyes on the road and got into an accident. Fear is another tactic used by the advertisement. The image makes the viewer consider that the blood coming out of the phone could be theirs, and makes them afraid to drive and talk on the phone. It also makes a logos or logical appeal as well with the argument of since you are driving shouldn’t you concentrate on that so “this” doesn’t happen? The designers also made the focus point of their advertisement to be the blood. They did this by making the background lack a lot of colors and then making the blood so huge and dark red that the viewer immediately recognizes it.

Post #7 Visual Cues

- http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjMyOTM4MDMxNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjIyNzExOA@@._V1_SX214_.jpg

For an example of an image that uses one visual cue above all others I chose the poster for The Amazing Spider-Man movie. The poster depicts Spider-man surrounded by his webs with the city of New York in the background. He has two diagonal cuts on his chest that seems to have been done by something with claws. Spider-man also seems to be staring at the viewer although it is hard to tell because his eyepieces are reflective. In his eyes we see the reflection of the rest of New York City. The poster uses all the visual cues but the one that is most dominant, in my opinion, is color. Spider-man is wearing his trademark blue and red costume, which simply captures our eyes because blue and red are some of the most eye drawing colors out there. There also seems to be some sort of blue light right behind Spider-man, which illuminates him further and punctuates the blue side of his costume. The blue tint of his webbing all around him also make a kind of frame around Spider-man, further making him the focus of the poster. By making the background darker our eyes are instantly drawn to Spider-man. The white letters at the bottom of the poster also catch our eyes. The designers made the poster so that our eyes lock on to Spider-man and then down to the white letters and only then do we focus on the city behind him. 

Post #6 Media representations of sight

-http://thecia.com.au/reviews/d/daredevil/

For an image of a visually impaired person I choose a seen from the movie Daredevil. The movie takes a new approach to what many people consider as impairment. The main protagonist Daredevil or Matt Murdock is a blind action hero who, thanks to his loss of sight, is completely fearless. Since his sight is gone, Daredevil’s other senses developed to almost superhuman proportion. He uses his other senses to live quite a normal life, except for taking bad guys down of course. In the image Matt is standing next to Electra, talking to her. Matt is wearing black sunglasses, which is an iconic sign that symbolize shim being blind, and is staring a little over Electra’s head. Matt seams relaxed and at ease talking while Electra seams to be taken back a little and seems to have a little bit of a pity look on her face. Matt is also holding Electra’s hand, utilizing his sense of touch so that he knows where she is. Matt is also holding a cane, which he uses to find his way and as a weapon. There is an interesting contrast between Matt and Electra with Matt wearing a darker and soothing colors while Electra is wearing an eye-catching red dress. The image really captures what we believe visually impaired people do and act. 

Post #5 Symbolic nature of light

- http://www.dst-corp.com/james/PaintingsOfJesus/NoJS.htm

A good example of an image or painting that uses light symbolically is a painting by Greg Olson of Jesus Christ reading from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown of Nazareth. Humans have always been awed and curious about the nature of light. Clarence John Laughlin once said, “One of my basic feelings is that the mind, and the heart alike… must be dedicated to the glory, the magic, and the mystery of light.” Scientifically light is made up of partials called photons that could act individually or could be combined to form energy waves. In the western culture light has been depicted as pure and even holy. That is why most often priests wear white, or saints are depicted as having halos made of light surround them. This symbolism can be seen through the image as Jesus is glowing in light compared to his surrounding. But light does not simply represent only purity, different spectrum of light can convey different feelings to us. An example of this could be the torches that are burning overhead. Even though they are giving off light it is of a different sort that Jesus is producing. The light of the torches seems somehow darker and has more colors such as read and orange mixed in. These added colors dilutes the light and further reinforces the image of pure Jesus. The fact that the light seems to be flowing through him could be the artist’s interpretation of us needing Jesus so that he could bring Gods light to us through him. 

Post # 4 An image that has shaped Western culture

- http://spinalcolumnradio.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/911-twin-towers-fire.jpg

I choose the fall of the World Trade Center as an image that has changed western culture. The image was taken September 11, 2001 in New York City. Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked two planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center. With fire spreading on the top levels of the towers, weakening the supports, the image of the explosion of the second plane was taken, and is perhaps the most widely known image today. At the same time just because a large number of people know and understand what the image is, it still doesn’t explain how the image could possibly have influenced at entire culture. The attack shocked not only America but many of her western allies as well. They saw first hand what Al-Qaeda was capable of. The image of the burning towers became a relying cry of outrage of thousands of Americans. The destruction of the World Trade Center roused feeling of revenge and retribution. The image also presented us with a feeling of fear and insecurity. The giant explosion and the knowledge that this is the original image and there is no special effects, makes the image truly terrifying. After the 9/11 bombing, Congress was able to pass bills that would have previously been seen as “violation” of American constitutional rights. But thanks to the hunting image of the explosion of the World Trade Center there was little to no objection in giving up some of our privileges just to bring back some of the feeling of security. The American culture, before 9/11, changed almost overnight to paranoia and perceiving constant dangers in every corner, all thanks to one simple image. 

Post #3 Gestalt Principles Images

- http://www.gestalt-institute.com/fun.html

The above images display Gestalt principals quite well. The first image, at first glance, appears to be a painting of a brown rocky mountainside covered with snow. But as you look harder at the painting you see white horses with brown spots. The image directly correlates with one of Gestalts principals, which is camouflage in which there is little or no separation between the foreground and the background. Another principal of Gestalts that the picture represents is that the brain does not prefer sudden or unusual changes in the movement of a line. The pictures of the camouflaged horses on the mountain don’t create much tension to our eyes so that at a first glance we don’t see the horses. The second image depicts a deer standing in a snow-covered forest full of trees. If you just focus on the deer then there is not much more to this picture, but as our eyes move away then we can see that there is an even bigger deer. This deer is made of the trees in the background. The deer that we see once we move our focus out to the whole picture can be attested to the camouflage principal as well as common fate. Camouflage of course since we can’t see the huge deer unless we focus on it. The common fate principal is that a viewer mentally groups parts of the image together and any discrepancy in the image creates tension. We grouped the forest as one, but then the fact that the trees created a giant deer created tension in our vision, which then made it possible for use to group that particular clump of trees into an image of a deer.