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Xzaviar Allen. Online visual journal for MC 3319 Visual Communication - Fall 2014 Monday/Wednesday, 3:30 - 4:50, Hines Academic Center 204

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Hitchcock's Rule - the size of an object in the frame should be related to its importance in the story at that moment. In this case, Tupac Shakur is important throughout the entire movie, in a sense that viewers should pay close attention to him. He is the main antagonist, and he kills several people throughout the film. The eyes of the other characters in the frame are pointed toward Shakur; they are also directing attention towards the front of the frame. They are also watching him as if they should be weary of him, which in fact they should. The gun is the most important piece of Shakur's rampage during the movie. After one of the other characters buys the gun and lets Tupac hold on to it, the lives of the four teens go downhill. By holding it close, Tupac seems to be shielding the gun from the other characters; in one scene of the movie, he actually shoots one of them for trying to take the gun away from him.

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Deep Space and Limited Space - "space" refers to the three dimensional  illusion that can be seen on a two dimensional frame. Depth cues help the audience believe they are seeing depth on a two dimensional frame. The top frame is flat, but you can clearly see various depth cues; the row of buildings, cars lining the street until they are out of sight, and people getting smaller as they walk down the street. The closest object in the frame is the top of a mans head, very close to the camera lens. The picture on the bottom is of 3 teenagers standing in front of a brick wall. You cant necessarily tell if there is anything next to them or in front of them; the frame itself and all objects in the frame are two dimensional. They are all the same size and are in clear focus.

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The Laws of Grouping (Similarity) - If objects in a photo are similar in some way, you automatically assume the objects are part of one group. The picture on the top is a battalion of Airmen facing outward from a jet hangar. They are all wearing the exact same clothing, boots, hat, and they are all standing in the same stance, hands clasped behind their backs. You assume they are a unit because they are similar in nearly every way. The picture on the bottom is a bit less organized, but the effect remains. These men are Bompton Pirus, members of a street gang that originated in Southern California. Most of them are wearing red, their signature color, and throwing up one or more associated hand signs. They are wearing similar colors and are making the same gestures, therefore you assume they are a unit.

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Visual Persuasion through Pathos - emotion appeals used in a persuasive argument. The pictures above are snapshots of  "Feed the Children" commercials, an advertisement for an organization that raises money for starving children around the world.  Before you ask the world for money, however, you must first convince them it is for a great cause. What is a more gruesome sight than seeing children slowly, painfully die of starvation while you enjoy two large pepperoni pizzas at home? The commercials are meant to tug at your heartstrings. Although the message is emotional, the motive may be totally different. The advertisers are specific about the amount of money needed, but never specific about how much of the donated money is actually reaching the kids. In a way, these companies are getting people to buy into their cause through other peoples pain and suffering. Not many people know it takes millions of dollars to constantly show those 5 minute commercials about how the children need money. However, if people give into the message, it has served its purpose.

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Interposition - Lining up objects in photos in front of each other, in such a way that creates a distance effect. In this photo, you see a man standing on a hill in front of a snow capped mountain. In the photo, it seems as though the man is very close to these snowy peaks; his head is just centimeters below the bottom of the snow. In fact, this man may be several miles away from that particular mountain. The distance between the man and this land feature allows one to look at them both in unison (one in front of the other) and perceive both objects to be directly in front of them, side by side. Interposition is not defined by long distances. For example, look at the photo on the bottom. There is a giant hand holding a can of Pepsi, and an average sized man is drinking from it. In reality, the "giant hand" is actually a regular sized one, positioned very close to the camera. The man in the photo drinking the soda is perhaps 10 to 15 away.

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Leveling

Refers to the way the setting of a cartoon is drawn. The drawing could be simple or complex. The drawing of the house on the top is very basic. Drawings such as these suggest more innocent times, perhaps a bit of comedy since the setting itself is so simple; it is definitely suited to a younger audience.This drawing is likely to be considered for a children's cartoon.The drawing on the bottom depicts the city of Gotham, the fictional city that provides the setting for the character Batman. Gotham is a lot more detailed, and there is a dark aura about it. The colors and shading is very dark, giving the skies and the buildings a scary or dangerous feel. There are objects in the frame that add to the vibe; the incredibly tall skyscrapers in the background connected by the bridge suggest a massive city, impossible to protect all at once, meaning there is probably much crime going on at once. The gargoyle and eagle statue give that classic, somewhat cliche dark and brooding comic book hero vibe.

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Character Assimilation  - referring to how the cartoon character physically looks. A crudely drawn character may suggest a lighter or funnier tone, and an extremely detailed drawing may be seen as serious.  The picture on the top is Dexter, from Dexters Labaratory, a cartoon comedy. As you can see, the lines are pretty simple and straight forward. There isn't much detail put into the character; even his shadow is simple. It's a perfectly round shadow that does not resemble what the shadow would look like if it were a real person. Aquaman, on the other hand, is drawn in much detail. He is a superhero, and is not to be taken lightly, which is suggested in this particular frame. The low angle adds to the sense of power, and the detail lines in the character himself show his strength and seriousness. Even the background behind Aquaman is serious; the back drop is of a large metropolis, more than likely a city the hero protects, again adding to his importance in the frame.

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Crosscut Editing

An editing technique that alternates between two sequences of action, shot by shot, that are occurring in different times and places, but are made to seem as though they are both happening at once. Inception has a great scene that depicts this technique. There is a scene in which a man is driving the group around in a van; the squad is asleep in the van in a dream state, trying to complete a mission. The people in the dream state are fighting security guards in a hotel. At the same time, they are being driven around in a van while the van is being shot at. In a way, the two sequences technically are happening at the same time, although they are not (dream state time is exaggerated in the real world, meaning days in dream state could be an hour or so in the real world). The exact moments of dream state, however, may be hard to recognize. There are many instances in which the squad is experiencing a dream within a dream.

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Montage Sequence - Rocky 4

Takes many different shots, often discontinuous, and strings them into one "main idea" type of story. The ideas are not made specifically clear, but you can basically guess the message the montage is trying to get across by paying attention to the action happening in each frame/shot. The training scene from Rocky 4 is one of my favorite montages. After the death of his fellow boxer and best friend Apollo Creed, Rocky vows revenge on the man who  killed Apollo in the ring, Ivan Drago. He spends a large amount of time training, but that time is cut short by taking small snippets of each exercise performed over a length of time, shortening the sequence. A montage also provides some sort of contrast; you'll notice that Drago is training with modern, highly technological equipment, while Rocky is performing old fashioned manual labor type exercises. In some way, Rocky is proving the old fashioned way (also the way without the use of steroids) is the way to go.

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Contrast/Affinity- Contrast is the difference in colors in a frame that creates conflict. There is always a noticeably different change in color in a certain part of the picture. The top picture features a close up of an exotic plant; there are dark green leaves in the background, typical of any plant. The actual flower petals are a deep, reddish color, and there are many of these petals in the frame. There are two canary yellow flowers in the middle of the darker petals. The sudden change from dark to light is basically the "effect" of the contrast. 

Affinity is basically continuity; when most of the frame is about the same color, tone, shade, etc. The bottom photograph is virtually the same throughout; there is a small island in the corner surrounded by blue ocean.

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Rhythmic Editing-Kit Kat Bar TV Commercial

Shots are edited into sequences that tell a story. Rhythmic editing is a technique that edits the shots into a specific rhythm or pattern, affecting the viewers sense of tempo. Usually, the shots in a rhythmically edited sequence are on beat with background music or sound effects. The Kit Kat Bar commercials are great examples of this technique. "Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar" is the ever famous jingle of the company. This line is sung in a hearty, upbeat rhythm, to which all of the modern Kit Kat Bar commercials are edited. The background noise consists of singing and sound effects of people typing in the vending machine selection, the candy dropping to the bottom of the machine, and the sound of the candy breaking as people eat it.

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Exam 2

Lmao. But in all seriousness, I came into the second exam feeling the same way I did about the first one. I actually did feel as though I had studied enough, although I'm occasionally under the assumption that the test won't be as difficult as those in my other classes. It turns out there are concepts in visual comm that need to be learned and understood just like any other class. I think I mentioned before the fact that it may have nothing to do with a students future job. Although that may be very true for some people, it is ALWAYS necessary to learn the material in order to pass the class. In a way, I DO give a shit, very much so, but I differ in terms of why I care for the material at all. You don't have to "like" or enjoy what you're learning in class, but you need to like it enough to pass. Plain and simple.

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Exam 1 - Lol this is literally what I say every time I come into class. Maybe not every time but a lot of times. I'm sure there were plenty of people who said this when they came in on the day of the test. There were a ton of people that I have never seen before; they're kids who regularly skip class. Honestly, I have skipped before too. There were times where I felt like I had more important things going on than some class that will have nothing to do with my life after I graduate. I've gotten better with it thought, I haven't skipped a single class this whole semester. There was this one time I was too hungover to get to my 9 am, but that was seriously the only time! So I'm good. But I did pretty good on the first test, so I can't complain at all.

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Photojournalism/Photography Technique: the art of documenting a story or event through graphic photos, and different ways those photos are captured.

The wide angle lens allows more of the scene to be included in the photograph, which is especially great for landscape, interior, and  architectural photography where the photographer may not be able to farther from the scene to take the shot. The picture on the top is of the Eiffel Tower. Even if you have never been to Paris, you recognize the structure, and you know it is massive in size.Most of the tower is in the shot, demonstrating the specific purpose of the wide angle lens.

The fish eye lens is an ultra wide angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. The fish eye lens was a staple in 1990s Hip-Hop culture. Ma$e, the man in the bottom picture, was part of the fish eye Hip Hop video movement. These visual effects gave artists the chance to be literally larger than life in their videos. The flashy clothing, jewelery, and backgrounds added the shiny "bling" effect prominent in this particular stretch in Hip Hop. 

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Cartoon Technique - Drawings that are not considered serious. However, there are a few different types of cartoons ranging from humorous to serious.

The first picture is a caricature of Jay Z, one of the most famous music artists in the world. Even with that being said, he has certain anatomical features that have been the butt of many jokes. In this particular picture, his lips are overly huge and exaggerated, giving the picture the funny-mirror look.

The cartoon on the bottom is a bit more serious. It was illustrated by Benjamin Franklin, urging colonies to join the union and make America a single nation. Each segment of the snake represents a state that is currently independent. "Join, or die" is basically telling them that banning together is the only way they will gain independence from Great Britain.

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Editorial Cartoons - A cartoon that is perceived as both humorous and deeply serious.

Most modern editorial cartoons involve current politics. In this particular cartoon, the artist pokes fun at President Obama with a clever caricature. On a more serious note, the picture implies all the problems that have come with Obama Care. In a sense, new problems arise just as quick as he solves them. The caption implies that he puts forth a minimal amount of effort to solve those problems (he is simply plugging a hole in a brick wall with his finger). The fact that there are holes coming out of the Obama character himself suggest problems within the presidential cabinet, or uncertainties about the Obama Care program the president may have. The water is up to the characters' knees; the problems may have already had a negative effect, and "the water is rising", figuratively speaking.

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Graphic Title Design and Saul Bass - Saul Bass was an innovator; the idea that the opening scene of a movie should explain it in some way. It does not need to be explained in its entirety, but it does give the viewers subliminal/subtle clues as to what is about to happen.

This opening movie scene was designed by Paul Bass. I have never seen the film, but this particular sequence is suggesting a plot. There is one man who is capable of physically changing himself to blend in with people around him. There is another man who is following him; he is wearing the same suit the entire time, possibly a uniform (police officer or detective). The detective is keeping up with the man in disguise, but the reason is initially unknown.