Journalism 300 – Visual Communication

Here is your final blog assignment in the class:

Today in class we watched part of the documentary film, Control Room (2004).

Especially if you missed class today or left early, please watch the “trailer” (click on far left bottom of the screen).

Then go to the websites: CNN (be sure to select CNN international at top left) and Al Jazeera (English edition).

http://edition.cnn.com/

http://english.aljazeera.net/English

2. Select a story with a visual image that is covered in both CNN International and Al Jazeera (that is, the same story is covered by both news organizations).

3. Starting with a discussion of the visual image that accompanies the story, write an essay that compares and contrasts the coverage of CNN International with Al Jazzera. Who has the better coverage, in your opinion? Does either news organization use the technique of “creating the other” as part of the coverage?

Please see this link for details about your final project.

http://www.commlex.com/jour300finalproject.pdf

We will meet May 8 at 4:30 – 6:30 PM and each student will present his or her project.

In his video presentation, Keen argued that acts of war and terror are often generated as a response to the perception of an “evil other.”

Here is a link to a page about his book and DVD.

For this week, select and discuss a contemporary image of an “evil other.” Your choice may be from cinema, from journalism, or from popular culture, or indeed anywhere else.

Here are the key requirements: It must depict or represent “the other,” and it must be contemporary. (It need not be “evil” in an absolute sense).

In class today we discussed depictions of Arab masculinity, drawing upon the film Lawrence of Arabia.

For this assignment, select a depiction (visual or audio/visual) of Arab femininity, and then do your analysis based on Lester’s model.

Be sure to lead your analysis with your definition of Arab femininity.

To be clear, for this assignment, we are interested Arab femininity which is much more than merely a picture of an Arab woman, and we are looking for a representation closer to a true generalization rather than a false stereotype.

For this week’s assignment, select and analyze ONE scene from a movie of your choice. Using Lester’s approach, discuss the scene in detail.

Provide a link to the movie you selected via the Internet Movie Data Base <http://www.imdb.com/>

What is Reno style? Suppose your editor wants a photo essay on Reno Style for next week. Take a photograph (it needs to be your own photo) that captures the essence of Reno style or culture. What is visually distinctive about Reno culture?

You may select a subculture or a counterculture that exists in Reno as the focus this assignment.  In your blog, post the photo and discuss its specific qualities using the 6 points from the Lester textbook. Conclude your post by discussing the relationship between your photograph and the meaning of Reno style.

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For this assignment, post or link to an image that captures the zeitgeist of a particular time. It is suggested but not required that you select an image from your high school or early college years.

In your assignment, use “Lester’s six perspectives” and carefully follow the instructions in the textbook, pp. 111 – 119. Your analysis must include consideration of:

1. Personal

2. Historical

3. Technical

4. Ethical, cultural and critical (in other words, you can group 4, 5, 6 together in a single discussion, if you wish).

Let’s continue to work with (1) lighting and color and (2) composition and framing.  What you must show is how the interaction of these elements creates meaning.You need to be able to first answer the question,  “What does the album cover or movie poster mean?”  But don’t stop there.  Focus your analysis on answering the question, “How does it mean?”

In other words, use the vocabulary and  concepts that we have been learning to explain your interpretation of the  album cover or movie poster.

So if you did a movie poster last week, do a album cover this week (and vice versa). I look forward to seeing your selections and reading your analysis. And many thanks to Kamila for taking over the class today.