J333 Writing for Multimedia

Storytelling

PrintImageVideoAudioNew Media

Visual Communication

Is a picture really worth a thousand words? How do we communicate using the visual? How do we deconstruct the visual? Why are images so important?

Think of an image as a bridge between the spiritual and the material.

A thousand words…

What is an image?

An image or picture is an artifact, usually two-dimensional, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a person, place or thing.

A visual representation of an object, person, scene or abstraction.

This is not a pipe

•If this is not a pipe, what is it?

Established system of seeing that links reality with visual representation.

Visual Literacy

Ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image.Visual Literacy is based on an idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading. The pipe is read as a pipe until the contradiction text informs you, it is actually a representation of a pipe.

– creating meaning

Turning to Semiotics

SemioticsWhat is it?

The study of how meaning is constructed and understood through the use of signs and symbols.

It is anything that can stand for something else.

Example: What do you think of when you see or smell

roses?

Signifier and signified = complete sign/symbol

• The sight or smell might trigger emotion or even a memory of the last time you received a rose, a marriage, funeral, etc.

It is a different feeling for each of us

Do all images have multiple meanings?

•Semiotics leads to the notion of polysemic

•Polysemic is the capacity for a sign or signs to have multiple meanings.

•Open text is polysemic and open to many interpretations.•Closed text is one meaning

•Propaganda•Advertisements

Open or closed text?

Changing meaning by camera shots, angles and movement

Shots ES-Establishing shot LS-Long Shot MS-Medium Shot CU-close up ECU-extreme close up POV-Point of View OTS-Over the Shoulder

AnglesNormal

High

Low

Canted

Camera Movement:

Pan, Tilt, Pedestal, Dolly/Tracking, Hand-Held

Don’t

Forget!Mise-en-scene

Example of shots, angles and movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VMgLJJKiaA M-Fritz Lang

Deconstructing video/images

Herbert Zettl’s-Media Aesthetics Theory “Aesthetic mantra”

LightColor2-Dimensional space3-Dimensional spaceTime-motionSound

Light

Key ingredient of visual perception and orients us in space and time.Affects our emotionsIs the signal that our eyes receive and our brain translates into perception.

Color

Color is the property of lightColor adds a new dimension to everythingBrings excitement and joy, makes us more aware of things around usHelps organize our environmentColors and FeelingsColor is extremely relative Colors change with different contexts Color symbolism (the red cross)

2-Dimensional SpaceFour structural factors of a screen space Aspect ratio

relationship of screen width to screen height Object size

How do you know how big a playing card that appears on a screen really is?

Using a universal size reference-human being’s hands holding the card.

Image size Our perception is guided by size constancy

This means that we perceive people and their environments as normal sized regardless of screen size.

Deductive and inductive approaches to sequencing pictures Deductive means moving from the general to the

specific (wide establishing shot then zoom to a final close up)

Inductive means going from detail of an event to general overview.

3-Dimensional SpaceProjecting a 3-D world on a 2-D surface. Depth

Graphic Depth Factors Creates this illusion by overlapping planes (partially

covering objects with other objects) Using relative size to inform viewer of distance and space

between objects (foreground/background and head sizes).

Major Graphication Devices Lines and lettering (keying text over an image) First and second order space (OTS in news broadcast) Topological and structural changes

(manipulation/effects)

Time/MotionTime Clock time/objective time

Time the clock records Subjective time/psychological time

Time that we feel and experience Perceived duration Past, present and future

Biological time Regulates body functions and determines when we

feel alert/tired.

Motion Motion is a function of frame density

Change of position of one object in relation to another.

Before and after Motion is also an illusion (24fps)

Slow motion Accelerated motion

Image Composition

FramingHeadroomEmpty SpaceVectorsRule of Thirds

Example of Light, Color, 2-D, 3-D, Time and Motion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvkEMO3JkXU

Wizard of Oz

Sound

Sometimes considered an additional element to an already highly developed story.Sound is an indispensable element in television and film communication.Literal and non-literal soundSound function Information (dialogue, direct address, narration) Outer Orientation (orientation in time, space,

situation, external event conditions) Inner Orientation (orientation in mood, internal

condition, energy, and structure)

More sound!Five types of sound that often accompany a video or photo-montage Music Natural/ambient Interview Voice Over Sound effects

Best time allotted for an interview clip is 30 sec

When writing for audio: Avoid big words Use colorful adjectives Be short and concise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmgD4S2_gyA