Static+Image+Analysis



AS Media Studies Intro (ch 1) AS Media Studies pp. 31-47 AS Media Studies Intro (ch 1) Semiotics test (not linked here, of course!)
 * //AS Media Studies// text: p. 1-30, 31-47**

From //Picturing Texts//: The key terms to visual analysis


 * 1) **Balance** – the use of visual or verbal symmetry (or asymmetry) to present a stance or message to the viewer


 * 1) **Classification**: the grouping of individual units (people, things, ideas) based on like elements


 * 1) **Comparison and Contrast** – Juxtaposing unlike elements in order to highlight qualities or characteristics, or to make an ironic statement.


 * 1) **Description** – the use of detailed words or images to convey a kind of information about a person, place or thing


 * 1) **Emphasis** – Directing the viewer’s eye towards an element in the picture, through design techniques such as cropping, camera angles, etc.


 * 1) **Metaphor** –Manipulating a visual image in a way that exploits other meanings, in order to send a message. (cigarette twisted in the shape of a gun to evoke the deadliness of cigarettes.


 * 1) **Narration** – Details of the image conveying the message that “something has happened, or is happening”.


 * 1) **Pattern** – the arrangement of parts within a whole to create an effect. Understand the word //notan// (using dark and light values to create effect), and the terms foreground and background (negative and positive space)


 * 1) **Point of view** – The use of vantage point, or perspective, in order to establish a relationship between the image and the viewer. In writing, 2nd person point of view engages the reader (“Got milk?”) while camera angles may also engage the reader (see the pic on p. 42!)
 * 2) **Proportion** – refers to the relationship of parts to the whole, usually making one element large next to another “normal” sized element. (notice that this also employs contrast/juxtaposition.)


 * 1) **Unity** – what brings all disparate elements together in an image or piece of writing. As noted in PT, visual unity can be created through repetition or of an underlying pattern.


 * 1) **Charts and graphs** – A simplified visual representation of a process or phenomenon.


 * 1) **Captions** – Words that contextualize a visual, with information, shared assumptions, and the use of allusions to tap into viewers’ schemata.