Some of the aspects of films and videos that directors use the impact us include sound, the movement of the camera, editing, and the actual objects in and/or physical properties of the scene.
During the “How to Write a Blog Post” event this Thursday night, Zach talked about how to analyze films since a lot of our events will be film screenings. I enjoyed his explanations since I am taking a class that urges students to look at media content critically. I was especially interested in Zach’s example of the impact editing can have on the viewer: in a horror film, the director typically uses sound to build tension right before the scary ghost comes out and then a smash cut, or an abrupt transition, to the ghost to scare the viewer. Because of Zach’s explanations, I was able to see other ways that visual media is able to effect or, in a way, manipulate its viewers besides the ways that I hear of in class.
Analyzing the film was also a cool way to talk with some of my floormates. Even after the event, we got to talk more which is always cool!
Visual media’s impact is quite dramatic since they can be anywhere in our day life. And I also enjoyed the idea sharing parts which offers an opportunity for us to talk more!
I think it’s really interesting to think about some of the elements of filming we talked about at the seminar in conjunction with a class about viewing media critically. So many of the elements of film– soundtrack, camera work, cuts– are so easy to ignore and yet extremely emotionally impactful. It would be interesting to analyze movies, political campaign ads, or other types of advertisement to see how these elements are used to provoke an unconscious emotional response or create feelings on issues and people.