First Moments of Video & Visual Lexicons

Hello Students,

Everyone needs to understand that there is a strong connection between technology and communication design.  Technologies are what make it possible to communicate and different technologies make different approaches possible.

Communication Technologies include writing, printing, painting, photography, motion photography, sound recording, computers and a whole lot of other things.  With the introduction of a new technologies come new possibilities in communication design.

The motion pictures we watched and why:

Muybridge Motion Studies made way for the development of motion pictures.

Silly Boxing, The Kiss, Pillow Fight and the San Francisco Earthquake because they are all firsts in terms of motion content.

Lumiere Brothers Gardener story: It is considered the first motion picture story as there is action, consequence and then revenge.  In reality the guy with the hose got punked and then he got revenge.

These all show that everything that is touted as new has roots in something that has gone before.  Even these short-short films have their roots in stage productions.

Ben Hur is important for a number of reasons:
1. The story migrated from book to stage to film to animation (though we didn't see the animation)
2. It has been successful by many different measures in most of these forms.
3. It is an epic story that created the opportunity for innovation and creativity in production, on the stage and on film.
4. The use of the content by the first filmmakers created the precedent for the protection of intellectual property for book authors when their work is used as the basis for a film.
5. The Chariot scene in the 1960 film has stood the test of time as a well produced moment in movie-making.

The Great Train Robbery is important because it is the first Western Movie and it is also the first motion picture blamed for inciting violent behavior.  It also demonstrates the single camera aesthetic of early films with continuous action and a minimum of cutting.

Birth of a Nation is important as the first large scale scandalous movie.  DW Griffith used this scandal to promote the film and get people to the theatre to watch it.  It also shows a transformational aesthetic where lighting techniques and masking are used to help the audience focus on specific characters and an increased dependence on visual editing to tell the story.  It also sets the standard for branding one's own intellectual property.

Gone With The Wind is another movie based on the US Civil War, but in this case the focus is on the characters involved and the social situation is the context for the action and not the focus of the action.  Like Ben Hur, GWTW is based on a very popular book.  The movie itself if beautifully shot and brilliantly acted even though we didn't see enough of the move to demonstrate that point.

Next week we will get into Sergei Eisenstein, Charlie Chaplin, The Odessa Steps and Comedy.  We will also take a look at Color Theory and get our first look at the history of Typography.

Visual Lexicons are due on 20 October so get to work on them.  You need to have 50 entries that include all of the elements found in the guidelines.

Also remember to make entries in your Visual Diary (Personal Blog).


- Dr. W -