Thursday, December 15, 2011

Photo Analysis

1951 ... Ridgeway to Korea!

"Matt Ridgway's Arrival to Supreme Command"


To begin with, I will introduce the 3 variables of photography.


Camera Angle is the first variable I will introduce and it's importance is that it makes a difference to a person's feelings towards a picture. There are 5 different kinds of Camera angles.


Camera at eye level, where the main focus is on the subject and it's face. It shows that we are equal to the subject.
Camera above subject, where the focus is on top of the subject and it's head. It shows that we are superior to the subject.
Camera below subject, where the focus is below the subject and it's body. It shows that we are inferior to the subject.
Subject not squared, where the main focus is not the subject but the things near the subject.
Subject severely slanted, where the focus is tilted to a 45 degree angle and the subject doesn't seem stable.


Lighting is the second variable and it's important because it shows colour to a subject and provides emotions to make the subject as to what the author wants it to be. There are 5 different kinds of Lighting.
Sufficient light, where it is enough to light the whole subject without shadows and provides enough details of a subject's emotion.
Insufficient light, where it doesn't show all the details to a subject making it hard to read a subject's emotion.
Lit from above, where only one part is being lit, which is above. It shows the head but with hard shadows all over the face. You would see the nose, but not the mouth because it's covered by a shadow.
Lit from below, where the subject only has one source of light, which is below. A subject lit below is unusual for a person's eyes to see so when we look at a subject lit below it makes people feel uneasy and it will look scary.
Lit from the side, where the half part of a subject is hidden and the other part has sufficient light.


Proximity is the last variable, and it's important because if you make the proximity closer it provides specific details on a subject and if the proximity is long there will be less detail on the subject and more of it`s background. There are 5 different kinds of Proximity.


Long shot or establishing light, where it shows the whole body and there's lots of composition showing a large portion of  the background. Not much details about a subject
Medium long, where it shows the whole body too but lessens the composition showing a small portion of the background. A few details about a subject's face.
Medium shot or torso and face, where it doesn't show the lower portion of the subject's body but only the subject's upper body and the face. It shows a pretty good detail on a subject's face.
Close up, where it only shows the face and you can see good details about a subject's face.
Extreme close up, where it shows a part of the subject's face revealing specific details.


Photo Evaluation.
The Camera Angle used in this photo was Eye Level because the main focus is his face. It was made like that to make us feel that he is equal to us, although I think he's superior. I'll say that there's 2 different source of light. One is from above, because he has hard shadows on his chin and on his forehead, but it also has a bit of sufficient light because there are no shadows on most parts of his face and you could see good and specific details. The Proximity used is Medium because it only shows his torso and his face. It was made like that so that we focus on his face, not his body. The author wants to make us feel that this guy is strong, and seems like he's been through lots of hardships. The guy carries a grenade, a prop, so I say the prop is there to make him macho. He wears an army cap and wears formal army clothes making him serious and it shows that he is powerful. His posture is not sloppy as he stands straight. His eyebrows are lowered, making his facial expression serious. The background is pretty powerful too because a big part of the background is mainly black making him seem dark but they didn`t make it that fancy because the main focus is him. I`ll say that this picture is persuasive and powerful.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Keystone Light Beer Commercial



The product in this advertisement is Keystone Light Beer. It is a beer by Coors Brewing Company that was invented in Golden, Colorado on September 1989.


The techniques of persuasion used by this advertisement was Humor, and a little bit of Sexy. The strongest technique was Humor because it made me laugh and this advertisement was about a guy who was buying a Keystone Light Beer on a store as he confronts an embarrassing situation with a hot girl with a Bluetooth in a store. It also used Sexy because basically the girl is and the guy thought the girl was inviting her to hang out with her but then he was definitely wrong.


I could say that this advertisement is pretty effective in persuading people when they said "You can't always be smooth. But your beer should be. With a specially lined can sealing the taste Keystone Light is always smooth, even when your not", it is like they are convincing people that when you are doing bad in a day always drink a cool and smooth beer so I think it is effective.







Persuasion

Persuasion is the act of influencing an individual's thoughts and actions. Persuasion is used in commercials, newspapers and advertisements. An advertisement usually use 10 techniques to gather people's attention and persuade them about a subject.


 An advertisement uses Humor, Macho, Friends, Family, Fun, Cartoon, Sexy, Nature, Celebrity and Wealth. Humor is making the viewer laugh with funny and crazy images and make the viewer watch it until the end. Macho usually uses guys that are buff and strong and often in dangerous places. Friends is a group of people enjoying each other's company. Family contains a mother, father and children and usually advertisements with families advertise house objects. Fun. Everyone is happy, smiling and having a good time. Cartoon is drawn with animation and often funny. Sexy usually uses girls and reveals a big portion of their bodies and they're always thin and has a good body figure. Nature has a background that shows the outside world like mountains, oceans, forest and snow. Celebrity uses popular people that lots of people recognize and look up to like athletes and singers. Finally, Wealth uses expensive things and/or places like a mansion, cars and jewelry. These are the techniques that advertisements use to persuade people.