Media Techniques Review Guide for Exam 1 Chapter 1 Applied Media Aesthetics Definition Applied media aesthetics is not an abstract concept but a process in which we examine a number of media elements such as lighting and sound how they interact and our perceptual reactions to them Media is not considered neutral means of simple message distribution but essential ele ments in the aesthetic communication system Applied media aesthetics serves not only the analyses of the various forms of media pro Skill is not enough you must bring to the job a genuine concern and respect for your au ductions but their creation as well dience Applied Aesthetics and Art Applied aesthetics emphasizes that art is not an isolated object hidden away in a museum but that aesthetic experiences are a part of daily life Philosopher Irwim Edman pioneered a new aesthetic concept presupposes that life is given line and composition and that the experience is intensified clarified and interpreted Applied Aesthetics and Contextual Perception Figure Ground Principle We order our surroundings into foreground figures that lie in front of or move against a more stable background Selective Seeing Akin to sensitive exposure to information when we have made up our minds about something we seem to expose ourselves mostly to messages that agree with our beliefs ignoring those that would upset us Selective Perception Much more automatic shields you from seeing too many varieties of shades and colors so that you can keep your environment relatively stable The Power of Context Many of our perceptions are guided dictated by the event context When context is imposed and you have little control over it eg a thunderstorm strikes then that is referred to as bottom up context When context is not imposed but based on your actions eg setting up a tent on a hiking trip then that context is referred to as top down Associative Context interpret what you see It consciously establishes and applies a code that dictates how you should feel about and Another example of associative context shows how we may react to the immediate world we have constructed around us and how this world is definitely culture bound Aesthetic Context Sufficient consistency exists in human perceptual processes so that we can predict with reasonable accuracy how people will respond to specific aesthetic stimuli and contextual pat terns regardless of where they grew up The Medium as a Structural Agent Marshall McLuhan said that the medium is the message Many prominent communications researchers remain more interested in analyzing the content of the literal message than in the combined effect of the message and the medium as a structural agent Applied Media Aesthetics Method Vinci s Notebooks and applied media aesthetics is modeled after the theories practices of Russian painter teacher Wassily Kandinsky The method of presenting applied media aesthetics is loosely based on Leonardo da The final outcome of deductive abstract processes is the same but the deductive world is reduced to its basic aesthetic elements whereas the abstract world is built by them Fundamental Image Elements Five fundamental elements Light and color two dimensional space three dimensional space time motion and sound Media aesthetics investigates film s fundamental image and how it affects how we feel Encoding Makes use of knowledge of cameras lenses lighting to mold the aesthetics of a scene Chapter 2 The Nature of Light Video and film as well as computer images are pure light shows Lighting The manipulation of light and shadows for a specific communication purpose Light A form of radiant energy we have a reflecting atmosphere so that we can see not only the source of light but the reflected light The Nature of Shadows with interpreting an object s basic shape and texture Attached Shadows An attached shadow is fixed to its object the attached shadows help Cast Shadows A cast shadow always falls on something and usually show a distorted shape of an object they help us locate an object relative to its surroundings and a cast shadow can be either attached or detached to its object Falloff Means the brightness contrast between the light shadow sides of an object and the rate of change from light to shadow If the brightness contrast between the lighted side of an object and the attached shadow is high then the falloff is fast if the brightness contrast is low the resulting falloff is slow Falloff can be controlled by using highly directional of diffused light for basic illumina tion and by manipulating the amount of fill light the directional beam of a spotlight or the sun creates fast falloff where as floodlights produce slow falloff The more fill light used the more transparent the attached shadows become and the less contrast there is between the light and dark Outer Orientation Functions How We See an Event Lighting reveals the basic shape of an object and where it is located relative to its envi ronment the principal light source the key light and the attached shadows carry the burden of fulfilling the basic shape function Lighting for space is done primarily to orient us better visually whereas lighting for tex ture is supposed to appeal to our sense of touch Time Orientation Control of light and shadows helps viewers determine the time even the seasons Nighttime lighting doesn t mean no light but rather highly selective light with a mini mum of spill the light must also come from an obvious source such as the moon or a street lamp The early morning or late afternoon cause long cast shadows at high noon shadows are Generally the winter sun is weaker and colder so the light should be more bluish the winter also makes cast shadows longer and not quite so dense A slightly diffused light beam helps create softer winter shadows because the snow re flects a moderate amount of diffused light the falloff is somewhat slower than in a similar out door scene without snow Inner Orientation Functions How We Feel About an Event High Key Lighting Means that the scene has an abundance of bright usually slow falloff illumination and a light background reflects normalcy or an upbeat feeling usually found in a TV news set game show sitcom Low Key Lighting Highly selective lighting usually leaves the background as well as part of the scene predominantly dark usually found in crime mystery show Normal lighting is achieved by having the key light illuminate a person from above eye When light strikes from below eye
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