Visual LiteracyJanelle Van Capelle

Chifley College Bidwill Campus

The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan

• To determine what the students already know about visual literacy

• To teach the language and application of visual literacy

• To retest and assess

• To determine if a knowledge of visual literacy will enrich a person’s interpretation of a picture book

Pre knowledge

• Colour – contrast and complementary

• Layout

• Narrative

• Slogan

• Genre

• Font

• image

Questions Responses

• What happens? • What themes are

presented?• What skills (visual

literacy tools) has the author used to communicate meaning to the reader?

• Finds a lost thing and tries to find where it belongs

• Doesn’t matter if a person or thing is lost if they’re happy

• Ok not to belong• Students could not

identify or link visual design tools with text and purpose

New terminology

• Salient object• Vectors• Modality – (hyper real, low)• Close up, mid shot, long shot• Low and high angle shot• Stereotypes• Demand or offer• Symbolism

Demand – the person looks straight at the viewer, demanding attention.

Modality means how realistic the image looks. Low modality = cartoon-like, high modality means it looks hyper-real, glossy and colour saturated. Family photo modality seems “realistic” to us

Narrate is to tell a story. A narrating image shows part of a story.

Oblique angle – the person is not directly facing the viewer, it’s not frontal.

Ideal means the ideal way we would like to live, often at the top of an advertisement

Type of image Impact of this image

Close up

Technique: Close up, demand, direct eye contact with the viewer

Effect: The composer has constructed an image which connects the character to the viewer. The character and the viewer have equal power because the eye contact is at the same level.

Suggest how this close up pic might be used.

Mid shot

Technique: Mid-shot [from head to waist], offer, oblique angle

Effect: The composer has constructed the image with the character at some distance and not looking directly at the viewer. This creates a sense of detachment in the viewer.

When might you use this type of shot in an image? Why has the composer used it?

Long shot

Technique: Long shot, oblique angle, low angle so salient object holds the power over viewer

Effect: The composer has constructed the image to create a character who is powerful and menacing in his impact.

For what purpose could this pic be used?

Long shot

Technique: Long shot, oblique angle, high angle because viewer is looking down.

Effect: The composer has constructed the image so that the viewer feels detached and uninvolved because runners are small.

When would you create this type of image? For what purpose could this pic be used?

Mid shot

Technique: Mid shot [half body], oblique, low angle.

Effect: The composer has constructed the images so that the viewer feels that the runner is strong, powerful and jubilant.

When would you create this type of image? For what purpose could this pic be used?

Offer is when a face is not looking straight at the viewer. It is on an oblique angle.

Reading path is the path our eye travels along when looking at an image.

A Salient object or person stands out within an image

Stereotype is a quick, fixed view of someone – e.g. Nerd, popular girl, sports hero, mad scientist

To Symbolise means to use symbols

Vectors are real or imaginary lines within an image – our eyes track along them.

Attract

Advertisements attract our eyes with a symbol, image or slogan

How did the advertisement first catch your eye? Slogan? Salient person/thing?

Interest

Advert holds our interest so we stay looking a bit longer

Why did you stay looking? What pulled you in? Compositional features?

Desire

We want to have what is being advertised and to be like the actors

Target audience? Which stereotypes are being appealed to? Genre? Interactive features?

Action

The advertisement suggests action and that we should buy something

Which action is suggested? Ideal and real layout? Given and new?

Analyse a print advertisement using AIDA

Teaching method

• Open book• Lots of examples• Lots of discussion

Sample voice thread and tutorial

• Chifley College Bidwill Campus voice thread

• http://voicethread.com/share/728227/

• Voice thread tutorial

• http://www.edsupport.cc/mguhlin/share/uploads/Work/mguhlin_voicehreadtutorial.pdf

Why the TL?

• We are surrounded by visual material

• Visual literacy skills will help students determine authenticity in a visual world

• Visual literacy is an excellent platform that can be used to develop collaborative teaching relationships with staff across the curriculum

Visual literacy in my library

• Posters to display the metalanguage

• More time allocated to visual aspects of book covers during reading and literacy lessons

• Vis lit language to be used whilst teaching library skills

• Collaborative partnerships with English, Visual Arts and Language classes

• T&D in visual literacy for staff