Camel Advertising

     This advertisement is for Camel cigarettes and was created to make smoking cigarettes more attractive.  The shape and position of the woman's body in this advertisement keeps our eyes moving around the picture.  The curves of this woman contour with the objects she is sitting on.  The "Camel" logo appears at the top of this advertisement and tapers downward.  This added curve leads our eyes back into the picture and the text "Pleasure to Burn".  The colors in this picture allude to a certain coolness as the background, logo, and one of the objects the woman sits on share a same calming color.  The yellow compliments these colors and creates the atmosphere for this woman to smoke her cigarette.
     The first step in Bennet's four step process to analyzing ideology within an artifact is "what should the audience think or do?"  This ad makes viewers think about an attractive woman smoking a dressed up cigarette.  Also that she is having a good time because of her smile and relaxed posture.  It appears she is holding a cigarette casually in one hand and a remote in the other.  Overall, the viewer thinks that this woman is attractive and having fun and perhaps the cigarette is the reason for this.
     The second step is, what does the text ask the audience to do?  The text in this advertisement has a duel meaning.  Under the Camel ad, the text reads "pleasure to burn".  One interpretation of this is; burning cigarettes causes pleasure.  The second meaning is that of a sexual meaning.  Attractive women are often considered pleasureable so this ad capitalizes on that.  Basically the text in this advertisement encourages women to smoke and become something desired.  Also to a man, this advertisement makes the cigarette more attractive because of the attractive woman smoking it.
     How does the audience know what these texts mean?  The audience knows this because everyone knows that cigarettes burn.  In our society the word "pleasure" is often associated with euphoria which is often related to sex.  The ad almost advertises an indulgence in pleasure because there is so much of it, you can let it burn.
     The last analytical step is; who is empowered or disempowered?  Well, depending on who you are and your perspective there could be several view points.  One way to look at it is, women are disempowered because the woman is being objectified as an object of pleasure.  However, another viewpoint is that the woman is empowered.  She seems to be having a good time, she is in control of her surroundings, and the she is the focal point of this picture.
     After dubunking this advertisement with the four step process one thing is for sure, smoking is desirable.  To who is empowered could be debated but basically the purpose is to sell cigarettes.  The demographic this ad targets is extremely broad because this woman is attractive to many generations and both sexes to either want to obtain the woman or be that woman.

Pineapple Express

     The beginning of Pineapple  Express takes place in the 1940’s, in a secret underground government testing facility. Here, government agents are using another agent to test the effects the marijuana. After seeing the funny but strange behavior exhibited from the ‘guinea pig’, government officials outlaw the use of the drug. This scene advances the dynamics of the plot because it goes from past to future and explains why it’s illegal. The next scene Dale Denton, an avid pot smoker and process server, is driving to various people to serve them sepinas, all the while smoking pot and calling into radio talk shows. Here, he is giving and receiving commentary about the pros of legalizing marijuana. This scene shows the shift from older governmental attitudes toward the use of marijuana and the new-age supported acceptance of the drug. the transition from driving around and smoking and him working to advance the plot, showing Dale by himself and how he interacts with others. This gives the audience a sense of how he is in social situations and meeting new people. After work, Dale goes to his drug dealer, Saul Silver’s house which leads us to the next scene. At Saul’s house, Dale learns about Saul’s compassion for his grandmother, and how he sells drugs so he can not only support himself, but afford to keep his grandmother in a nice nursing home. Dale can tell saul is a little strange by the fact He watches two televisions with two different programs, at the same time. Someone then knocks on the door, Saul exchanges a few words and sell them some low-grade marijuana. Then a friends of Saul’s costumer asked for prescription drugs, which bothers Saul. “I’m not a drug dealer” he responds harshly. Here, the audience can see Saul only sells pot because he has to make money, not because he enjoys it or thinks it’s morally right. This part shows Saul’s personality which is essential to the rest of the plot, transitioning into a friendship between Saul and Dale. The two men leave and Saul rants about the them. Meanwhile, Dale is looking for a way to leave without being rude. Saul shows Dale this amazing marijuana called, “Pineapple Express,” which intrigues the two. They smoke a joint of this pot and the scene is over. This scene is important to the plot because it shows the titles significance. It also contrasts drastically with the first scene, showing an outward acceptance of the drug. Also, the last scene ties together with the second, showing how Dale interacts in different social situations.

Suspicious Minds

Suspicious Minds

This akward family photo breaks the norms of a family photo on many levels. The overall gesture of this photograph is extremely comedic. First off, this photo breaks the norms of a basic eye line. Most family photo's done in this fashion include all members of the photograph looking the same direction. Also, each family member has a different expression on their face. The father seems to be staring angrily at the camera in typical hard-edge father like figure. This attitude is excentuated by his domineering eyebrows and hands at his hips. As we move our eyes lower and to the left, we see the mother with a shocked look on her face. Her daughter sitting next to her is looking off screen and looks extremely annoyed. Something tells me that the daughter and the father of this family were perhaps at a disagreement with each other about how much fun they were having. The last person in this photo is the son of the family. His expression is completely different from the rest. He is looking slightly to the side of the camera, but close nonetheless. He appears to be the only one besides his father that the camera is there. He seems to be the only member actually looking at the photographer and making a photogenic face. Another factor that contributes to this photo's awkwardness is the selection of clothing. There does not appear to be any common dress or theme within the choice of clothes. The mother is wearing a light blue dress while her daughters patterned and full of warm colors. The father and son are wearing similar shits, but if you look closely, their ties are completely different colors. Lastly, the photographer themselves contributed to this awkwardness by placing the members of the family at a slight distance. Most of all, the picture itself is lined up poorly. Ideally, eye lines of the tallest member of the picture should be way higher in the picture. Instead, this photo has alot of extra gray space above the family photo. In summary, this photo has many visual clues that make this an akward photograph. It violates the norms by its dress, facial expression, eye lines, and even photograph skill. Although Im sure it would make a very interesting conversation piece above a living room couch.

Visual Elements of Time Photograph

    

      This is a picture of a sleeping polar bear and what looks to be a younger polar bear cub.  I can tell this is a younger cub to the left of the bear because of the defining dark line between the two individuals.  It appears that the baby is pressed up against its mother to procure some body heat.  The tonal quality to this photograph is on the light end of the spectrum, however it does include the bear's black nose, therefore engulfing the full spectrum.  The contour lines of the snow guide your eyes into the background of fluffy white tundra.  The bear's fur is a series of textural lines.  This photograph is completely realistic.  This photo represents a universal feeling of love from a mother to daughter.  There are visual texts that lead us to believe we are in the tundra and the background is fading away.  The lines in the snow get closer together the farther away they get.  The tonal background is simply white, however the light hitting the snow and creating shadows creates dimensions of color within the white.  The lines in the snow and the shadows on the ground also create the image of the polar bear sinking into a hole or a den. The bear and the snow, although they are technically the same color (white), the light and dark shading as well as the detail, captured the contrast of the rods and cones  makes it easy to find the focal point.

Visual Elements of Frank Miller's "Batman The Dark Knight Returns"

This is a comic page taken from the book "The Dark Knight Returns"  written by Frank Miller.  This entire picture makes use of positive and negative space.  Batman himself is all negative space, he is rendered completely black.  The contour lines of batman himself, show his muscles and parts of his costume.  The bat in the foreground has gestural qualities of his cape and  bat wing on the end of his rope.  His eye line runs with the cape well and it makes your eye move.  The curve and directional lines leading down the cape make your eyes travel back into Batman's form.  The background has a decent tonal range.  It ranges from a dark almost grey-blue to a lighter blue.  The words in the corner are grey and yellow.  The grey is easily missed but the yellow draws us in.  Yellow is a complementary color of blue, and since it is so much lighter, it provides a high contrast and sticks out.  I feel like this perspective of his body leads us to believe we are looking slightly up at him, but mostly straight forward.  I believe this is to show his sheer aesthetic strength.  His body is in a position where he could spring into action at any second and even leads the reader to believe that he is actually involved in a battle.   Lastly, I believe the visual text of this entire picture is to display Batman's awesome strength and offer intimidation to any who cross him.

New meaning to previous picture post

This photograph represents joy and hope. Seeing my little sisters laughing and smiling makes me more happy than i could explain. However, it also makes me think of all the other children who have yet to become part of a loving family. I think those children would look at this photo and feel inspired that someday they will be happy and feel loved. This photo also represents faith. These little girls have re-instilled me with a sense of faith in people that i thought i lost growing up. They do this with such ease, it makes me wonder why my family was so lucky to have gotten the chance to share our home and love with them. Other words that come to mind are innocence, pure, and honesty.
When this photo was taken, i was playing outside with them. When i look at it, I remember them laughing and having such a great time by just running around outside. This is why my photo represents what being a child is truly about. It reminds me to have fun and not take life so seriously all the time. It makes me see how i sometimes forget what's important, and inspires me to be a better brother and person.  It reminds me how much my sisters mean to me and how thankful i am to have them part of my life.

This photograph represents love

My little sisters encompass everything i see love as; They are so full of life and a laughter that can be best described as uninhibited bliss. Tessa and Matthea have brought more happiness to my life than i could put into words. Adopting these baby girls from the territories of southeastern China involved a lot of sacrifice and patience.   The effect my family has had on them and vice versa cannot be described in any other way than love.
     My step father and I met when I was about eight years old.  He is very old school and has a hard work ethic.  Throughout my childhood growing up, he was strict, religious, and a workaholic.  My stepfather and I never really got along growing up, on account of our many differences and in my opinion, it was because he can never accept anything less than perfect.  However, when my sisters came into our family he changed from being strict and hard-edged to being soft to them and bending to their will.  My sisters completely changed him for the better.  There is a similar trend with my mothers father.  A man who used to smoke two packs and work two factory shifts a day is now wearing a crown because he won "Pretty Pretty Princess".
     My sisters have had a great effect on me.  I've learned alot from them, alot of things I used to know but then i "learned" to be an adult.  Its great to spend a day playing pirates then go on an African safari and you forget these things as you get older.  Through spending time with them and teaching them I've developed a specific love for my sisters that could not be replaced by any one else.
     All in all, my sisters represent love.  They strengthened the bonds of love in my family, each other, and with me personally. 

How does Sensory Experience Translate to Visual expression

     As human beings, we are forced to use our senses everyday for virtually every action we take.  Whether its smelling a burning building or smelling overcooked food on the stove we use our senses for life-threatening situations and mundane tasks.  However, among all five of our senses one sense seems to reign supreme.  That is our sense of sight.  Often we can rely on our sense of sight so much that we give our other senses less credit.  When we experience a sense other than our sight and to translate that sense into a visual message, we then become translators of our senses.
     One way that Sensory experience translates into visual expression is emotion.  At a most primitive level humans will evoke emotion from the things that influence them.  When we hear music, for example, we incite specific emotions that are associated with a specific genre or style of music.  When we have these emotions we can translate them to paper or some form of visual medium.  So basically as humans, sounds incite emotions that we feel and with our particular classroom activity, we used our emotions to channel visual creativity.
     A second way that we channel creativity from our ears to our hands and eyes is through symbolism.  Throughout our lives we are shaped by society and institutions around us to recognize symbols.  Because of this, we often draw symbols in reaction to specific tones, melodies, and rythmns of music.
      Lastly, sensory experience can also have strong ties to memories and experiences.  Therefore, a noise or a smell that makes us remember something could cause our hands to draw something from those past events.
     In conclusion, our senses are intertwined and reflect each other.  As humans we use emotions, symbols, and memories to relay to our brain our sensory experience.