Visual Literacy-Wag the Dog Movie Reflection

For my Visual Literacy class we were to watch the movie, Wag the Dog. This was going to be the last movie of the semester, and after reading the summary for the movie, I was really excited to watch it. One of my favorite TV shows right now is Scandal and I felt this movie was going to be a similar story line, and I was eager to watch it. I was very impressed with the story, and it might have been my favorite this semester.

Watch the trailer below to see if you would be interested in watching this movie:

If the video does not play: Wag the Dog

I think the director is trying to show how much the media can affect the perception of the American people, just by what the media decides to cover. We were also able to see how twisted the world we live in can be, where it is acceptable in our presidents mind, to cover up his scandal with the idea of a fake war.

Throughout this movie I continually thought how today this movie is even more true, and it was created in 1997. I would say we are now even more affected because of the amount of media coverage and social media available.

Barry Levinson was the director of the movie Wag the Dog. He lived in Washington DC when we was younger, which could have influenced the film and the story he wanted to create about the politics and people he met during this time. 

I believe the people that may be offended by this movie because of the dark humor that runs throughout the movie. Also the people within the government may be offended by the representation that is portrayed throughout the movie.

This movie has added a lot to my visual literacy. I was able to see how a visual, that was not even authentic, could convince people there was a war going on in a different area. I was also able to see how the commercial was put together. It was interesting how they were able to manipulate the video through the different screens and the tools that they used, and I think it would be an interesting job. I also believe the advancements we have made with technology would make it hard to produce a video where people do not hear about it from another source and do not test the authenticity of the video. 

Overall this was a great movie and I encourage you to check it out!

Also, here is a clip of the show Scandal I talked about earlier. If you enjoy Wag the Dog I would encourage you to check this out next. 

If the video does not play: Scandal

Visual Literacy- A Single Man Movie Reflection

The movie A Single Man was interesting, I was enticed the entire time I was watching it, and ended up really liking it although I do not know why. I believe the message throughout this movie is that although life is tough, there is more to push through for. George Falconer is the main character and is a professor. He recently lost his boyfriend of 16 years to a car crash, and does not want to continue going and is going to commit suicide. Throughout the course of the events of his life and the people he coincides with end up changing his mind, and he decided to burn the suicide notes and lock up the gun by the end of the movie. Unfortunately passing away at the end of the movie due to a heart attack.

The director for this movie was Tom ford, who is known for being an American fashion designer. I believe his life experiences molded this movie into what it because. I also think the characters were very well dressed because of his profession!

This movie really added to my visual literacy. I do not know if it is because I am getting good at picking out the significance of the visuals or if the visuals were very obvious throughout the film. There were many times, where it was with the next door family or his flashbacks where only visuals and music are present. During this time we are left wondering the significance of the moment and what exactly what is happening. We are able to use our knowledge of the film and our personal life experiences to help mold the story. There is also a point in the movie where you are staring at a mural with eyes staring right back at you. The visual of the watching eyes, when he pulls up to the liquor store is also very important and could be interpreted in many different ways. I like to think it means that people are there to look after him and that people care very much and he matters. One of the most powerful visuals I saw was when he first put the loaded gun into his mouth. I cannot begin to image what was going through his head, but it was very powerful. I imagine people going through a hard time can relate and make a connection with this visual, when thinking about the battle of giving up and pushing through. The visuals were definitely used to help support the story line and the message being portrayed.

 

This is a picture of the mural I was talking about in the above paragraph. I decided to take a screen capture because I wanted to show how powerful the image is.
Source: A Single Man 

Visual Literacy-Crash Movie Reflection

The movie Crash is an intense story told about the tense race relationships in the city of Los Angeles. The message being portrayed is that racism is still heavily out there, and we need to be educated and do something about it. Often times, just as in this movie, people feel their stereotypical beliefs of someone are justified and therefor they are not being racist. When people are in a place of power, such as the police officer in this movie, it does not mean they can treat people differently because of the color of their skin. In fact, I believe that should make it the exact opposite.

Throughout this movie there are plenty of stereotypes of different minorities. I do not think that it does an accurate job of representing the minorities. This movie does a good job at showing both “typical stereotypes” and examples of people that defy the normal stereotypes. I like how we can see the good and the bad parts of a person. This movie shows a very intense dramatic representation of what people may go through just because they are a certain race. Throughout the film you see Caucasians, African America, Asian Americans, Hispanics and Middle Eastern immigrants.

This film was directed by Paul Haggis, who is an award-winning filmmaker. I believe his life impacted the way he views the relationships that are created in our society. He really wanted to portray how prevalent racism and microaggressions are no matter where you look and no matter what the persons skin color is. I also think it was very important to notice that we have the power to change ourselves and help better the way people are treated.

I believe a lot of different people may be offended by this movie, but I also believe that is the point. Not only do we know not everyone fits these stereotypes, but it is almost embarrassing to see how people treat each other and abuse their power. Throughout this movie we see the way society feels about stereotypes, but we are also able to see the stereotypes people have about themselves and their culture.

 This movie added to by visual literacy by showing me how words do not have to be used to send a message. I liked how sometimes we just watched as the story developed. We were actually able to see the transformation of some characters. It was also startling to see how fast he shot the young man just by assuming he was going for a gun in his pocket.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gagilas/10681597536/in/photolist-hgTYNL-MWGQ9-5QPSx-4BDEWk-4BHXvY-4BHXqy-4BHXxY-GpqgA-6bPdqF-5fGhUn-78eQog-n9pZ5-3X39bB-apFuHv-bAQy2x-cJPiS-51Ubf4-4BCNxv-nqHmEt-37ofKA-4BH72d-6GCHw3-4LKDtk-7RpNqd-7yoDnQ-9Sjf9N-dATqzX-8UH65e-8vZhGK-3ZW1Z1-3X39mv-c9rbJY-bsL36b-3X39gr-75PdC-iiidWy-3X7r8y-iiivNt-iiidUu-5eo2hq-a2kcob-6aVBVh-2f4tu6-6YNBPZ-5XY23x-i82p6z-3VrWU2-3ZW2vU-csg3DY-4y7xdg CC Public Domain

My hope is that we can ditch the stereotypes and start treating people as people, no matter their skin color!

Visual Literacy- Thank you for Smoking Movie Reflection

I really liked the movie Thank you for Smoking. I thought it did a very good job at showing this industry during this time and the different ways it impacted individuals within the United States. I would rate this an 8/10. My favorite part was watching Nick Naylor as a lobbyist. I thought the way he worked was very interesting and he was a very talented lobbyist. There was nothing that stood out to me as annoying.

Source: http://pixabay.com/p-78001/?no_redirect CC Public Domain 

In the movie everyone is "working their own angles". They do this by knowing what their intended audience wants. They also appeal to what they know the people are going to want, and twist their words to promise they are going to be able to deliver on that promise. Nick Naylor had a great line that stated, “If you argue correctly, you are never wrong.” I thought this did a great job at stating that you must choose your words and the way you represent something wisely.

The truth can be a difficult subject. There is going to be the absolute truth, but then there are going to be truths that are subjective. How can we expose the weakness and appeal to the people to make it seem like something is more important than the truth. For example, not talking about the individual who now has lung cancer from smoking cigarettes. Morals are definitely subjective. In class we did an exercise where we had to talk about different morals, and even though we all used the same photo, we had different beliefs on if it was moral or not by the exact definitely of morals we were looking at. In the United States we are free, but we will never totally be free. We are influenced by many people and have to follow a set of rules produced by the government, social rules created by our culture and communities, and the moral rules we choose to follow.

I think one spin that I often hear is the need for new products and technology in my life. I often see a commercial that will put a spin on a new technology (camera, tablet, and phone) that will impact the way we live and the reason I will need to have it. I am easily convinced these are important tools that will help me better my life and productivity.

Source: This photo was taken in the Rod Library by Robyn Bredvick

I really try to give the facts and the logic of the situation. I do not want to “spin” people to choosing the same as me, but I want them to feel educated in the decisions they are making and I want them to understand how something will affect their lives.

This movie was able to add to my visual literacy. Throughout this video it is evident that people of United States are being manipulated by the use of visuals by big corporations. A great example of this is when Nick Naylor knew if they were able to get the cigarettes back into the movies they would see a rise in tobacco products. I was able to see how visuals and speech can manipulate the way people look at a product.

Visual Literacy-Movie Reflection-Objectified

I decided to watch the movie Objectified which was directed by Gary Hustwit in 2009. The message he is trying to express throughout this movie is the relationship we have all created with the objects that our in our everyday life and the attachment we have to them. The designer’s job is to improve the daily life of individuals, without them even realizing it is happening. This design process has made people crave the new and best design, even more than we need to. Gary tries to point out the designers are understanding what people want, more than even the people know. This has created a relationship between the designer and the consumers.

This director also produced the movie Helvetica in 2007 and it had a similar feel to it. They interviewed and got perspective from different people around the world that have an expertise on the topic. This brought a unique aspect to the video, where we see different cultures and how they produce and design their products. I did not believe this film did the best job showing the situation of people of minority. The reason I feel this way is something they state in the movie. That when designing products they are looking to capture the attention of only 10% of the population, the percentage of the world that already has too much. For example, the person that has the iPhone 5s, but needs to have the iPhone 6 the second it comes out because of the attraction of the new design. I wish they would have talked about designing products and objects that support people in third world countries to help try improve their everyday life. 

People wait in line for hours for the new phone debut.
 Source:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/theq/663154431/in/photolist-59WfSJ-T1v48-oveVee-d7dP4Y-21AQH6-oifLv7-eXpLBD-21FWnZ-nHkE71-54gVdF-22i17a-dL5iGs-dStGhR-8awJ3Q-cQPKPy-21DTu8-21J3ho-knoQkZ-jy3GV3-53Rqq6-fejXsj-54fB2N-p2VbZ1-53WyPh-57PQ3s-dcHeR9-ocRsYr-dHHkmf-238KDX-86yCHW-238MkR-otFRbm-22i2Ve-dSzueF-21wJBe-dSdGcs-57PJGp-ekiqsb-22nrx1-23d8aS-22noG9-23d7aj-23da3C-22nq53-22i2tM-78ifeY-55npuD-55npsP-7CqLbu-549L1g CC Public Domain

I do believe this director’s background played a role in the production of the film. I feel as though in everything we produce there is going to be a biased in what you believe. The people he choose to interview, what information to include, and the outline of the film were all decisions he had to make. I think we see this often when we are reading textbooks, no matter who the author is you need to look out for bias. I also think he likes creating films explaining the different things that our affecting our everyday lives without us even realizing it. Many people may not think about how text and objects affect their life, but after watching the videos produced by Gary Hustwit, they may have a different opinion.

When thinking about this film I had a hard time thinking about who would misinterpret or be offended by this film. The main thing I could think about was the people that are of a lower class and are not worried about the look and feel of things, but instead they are just trying to purchase things that are affordable and will help improve their life. During the movie they pointed out when you have a smart, simple and sophisticated design it should cost less because that is what the design is meant to do, but because it was designed it will actually cost more. 

This movie added to my visual literacy by showing the amount of work that goes into designing something and knowing this trickles down to the idea of how much time it takes to design anything that is visually appealing to someone. I also really liked the idea that designers are not designing for what is currently happening, they are looking at what is going to happen next. I think this is very similar to visual literacy because it is important to always know where we are going, especially with the ads that are produced. I always relate things back to Apple products, but I know that during the design of the iPhone they also need to think about how they are going to advertise and communicate the new design to persuade people they need this new phone, even though the differences from the last iPhone are minimal. We could all still have the iPhone 4 and have a perfect working phone. The artistic and visual means used throughout this film were the different steps of the design process. It was very interesting to see what all of the steps entailed and some of the things they used were diagrams, 3d models, prototypes and computer software to help their design process.

One of the biggest things I took away from this film, is the fact that designers need to consider what is going to happen to their product after people are done using it or the next big item comes out. One of the designers mentioned he had never thought about the fact that most of the objects he has designed are now sitting in landfills. I had never thought about this either, but I think it is a very big concern that we need to think about. With the average shelf life of an item an item used with being around 11 months, designers need to be designing their products to be reused or easily disposed of.

A lot of thought goes into designing even something as simple as a chair. Source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Library_Chair_dakota_jackson.jpg CC Public Domain

Visual Literacy-Helvetica Movie Reflection

Watching the movie Helvetica was a very eye-opening and informative process. Before watching this video I had never really thought about the different fonts that were available for me to use. I just drop down the font menu and pick one I think will work best. I know I like using Times New Roman when I am writing a paper, but if I were to design anything, I have never put much thought into which fonts to use. 

I feel as though now I am more aware about typography, and the work and time that will go into designing a font. But I still have no idea how to choose a text to match the message I want to portray. 

I have never realized the typeface was important in helping convey a certain feeling or send a certain message, but it definitely makes sense. Typography can have its own personality, its own pallet. As with most things, there is a time and place for different structures and formulas with typeface. For example, there is a prescribed way to make a business card but when making an album cover you will follow a whole different set of rules. One line that really stood out to me during this movie was, just because it is legible, does not me it can communicate what you want it to. I also learned spacing is just as important as design of the typeface is. A person must have an eye for design, just because they are using a fancy design program doesn't mean the design is going to look great. I do not have the eye for design, but I am definitely interested in learning more about how to improve my designs by using better text. 

Helvetica is used for a lot of things, and was often called the default font for a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons. The more people see Helvetica, the more predictable and dull it becomes when people use it. Although Helvetica is used all the time, this is not necessarily a good thing. Some designers do not like Helvetica, while others think it is unique and can speak to different people in different ways. Although, some designers think when Helvetica is used heavily on one page, it as if it is saying, "Don't read me-I am going to be boring". Although many people have tried to make improvements to Helvetica, it never seems to be a better typeface. Helvetica just has an inherent rightness that makes it a favorable typeface to use. 

Although I do not know much about typeface, I have learned that you do not want to overwhelm people with a million different typefaces on the same document. Although you should only use a limited amount of typefaces on one document, you should not limit yourself to those fonts time you create a something. 

After watching this video, I started to become more aware of the fonts around me. I walked around my office building, and in no time I saw it over and over again. 

Here are some of the times I found it: 

Source: Photo Taken at the Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Source: Photo Taken at the Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa



Source: Photo Taken at the Camp Adventure Office,  Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Source: Photo Taken at the Camp Adventure Office, Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa