Visual Journal

Visual Journal turned 1 today!

On Wednesday, we concluded the discussion of motion pictures and started talking about film shots. We talked about the different varieties of the common shot. There is the medium shot which nearly approximates how we see the environment immediately around us. Another type of shot is the Extremely Long Shot. Also referred to as the very wide shot or very wide angle shot, it is traditionally used in exterior shots. It shows a large amount of the environment and is often used as an establishing shot. 

On Monday, we discussed motion pictures. Eadweard Muybridge is considered the father of motion pictures. The very first film shot in the US was called Monkeyshines 1; Monkeyshines 2 followed shortly after. We learned that the first motion picture viewed in a movie theater in America was on April 23, 1896 at the Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York. We discussed D.W. Griffith and his film, "The Birth of a Nation". While it was blatantly racist, Griffith still pioneered techniques that are still used today (i.e. the close-up, the scenic long shot, the fade-out/fade-in).  

On Monday, we also talked about contrast and affinity. Contrast is difference and affinity is similarity. The greater the contrast in a visual component, the more the visual intensity or dynamic increases. The greater the affinity in a visual component, the more the visual intensity or dynamic decreases. 

On Monday, we discussed Visual Structure. In visual structure, pictures can be broken down into three fundamental building blocks: story (plot, character, dialogue), sound (dialogue, sound effects, music), and visuals (basic visual components). 

On Wednesday, our guest speaker was John  Goheen. He teaches video production and documentary filmmaking at Loyola University Chicago's School of Communication. We watched some of the documentaries he has produced including one about how boys in one of Kenya's largest slums make their own soccer balls out of plastic bags and rope/twine. We also watched another clip he produced about the abundance of mopeds and motorcycles in Vietnam.

Today, Scott Rensberger. He talked about his career and how he got started. He lectures about videography in 35 different countries. He freelances for 10 different companies, with a majority of them based in Europe. He said to not let any obstacles get in our way of doing something we want to do. He gave the example of when he worked for a news station as a photographer and joined 3 different unions (one for photography, one for journalism, and one for broadcasting) so that nothing could limit what he wanted to do.

On Wednesday, we covered visual structure. We learned that pictures can be broken down into three fundamental building blocks: story, sound, and visuals. We leaned that the difference between contrast and affinity is that contrast means difference and affinity means similarity. We also discussed the basic visual components: space, line, shape, tone, color, movement, and rhythm.

On Monday, we took the second exam of the semester. I had more trouble with this exam than the last. Maybe it was more difficult or maybe I didn't study as much as I should have...I don't know. However, I was surprised that I did a little bit better than I did on the first test, so I guess I was more prepared than I thought, or maybe it was just luck.

On Wednesday, we discussed photography. Nicephore Niepce was the first person to make a permanent photograph. He is considered the "Father of Photography". We discussed Louis Daguerre and the early Daguerreotype drawbacks. These included that the length of exposure made portraiture difficult, the image was laterally reversed, and the film was very fragile and did not last long.

On Monday we talked about cartoon techniques. It's one of the oldest forms of communication and one of the most complicated art forms. There are three types of single-framed cartoons: caricatures, editorial, and humorous. We also talked about comic strips, the making of animated films, and the different types of animation (Cel, rotoscoping, object animation, etc.)

On Wednesday we discussed editorial cartoons. They are a form of visual protest. Editorial cartoons are composed of two elements: caricature and allusion. Caricatures are parodies of individuals and allusions are situations/context into which the individual is placed. Caricatures go back to Leonardo da Vinci's exploration of the ideal type of deformity (the grotesque) which he used to better understand the concept of ideal beauty.

On Monday we talked about Graphic Design. Graphic design is the art and craft of bringing organized structure to a group of diverse elements, both verbal and visual. W.A. Dwiggins was the first designer to use the term graphic design in 1922. The history of graphic design can be divided up into 5 eras: Pre-Gutenberg, Gutenberg, Industrial, Artistic, and Digital.

So on Friday, I went to Corpus Christi for the first time! It was so exciting. I've never been to the Texas coast before and I think it was the first time I've been near the ocean in like 3 years. While we were there, we went to the Texas State Aquarium, which I loved (except for the Amazon exhibit because they had not one, but TWO tarantulas). We also went on the U.S.S. Lexington. People kept correcting me because I would call it a boat instead of a ship, but eh...tomato, tomoto.

It's spring break! Most people would think the best way to celebrate this week is with friends, partying and taking regrettable photos on some coastal wonderland where t-shirt cannons and drunken college students run rampant. But nope, not me. The puppet master pulling at the strings that decide my fate in life decided that I would spend the first few days of spring break with food poisoning. Yay for...adventure? Not really. I have now staged a full-on boycott against Chick-fil-A that will probably end when my will power weakens at 10 pm on a week night since there happens to be one conveniently located on campus...

During this class, we talked about Saul Bass. Bass (1920 - 1996) was a design innovator for more than 5 decades. He was instrumental in the development of the corporate identity campaign. His film career was launched after designing the graphics for "Carmen Jones" for Otto Preminger. He implemented a new design form that relied on visuals over language to deliver the message. He also won the 1969 Oscar for "Why Man Creates".

During this class, we discussed the use of title sequences. A title sequence is a presentation of titles, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sounds. During the era of silent films, simple title cards were showed at the beginning and end of the film to signal that the film had started and then finished.