Herbert Zettl's Sight, Sound and Motion Chapter 1: Applied Media Aesthetics
Notes and thoughts from Chapter 1.
6 major areas of applied media aesthetics to study.
1. Applied Media Aesthetics: Definition
Zettl tells us that 'applied media aesthectics considers art and life as mutually dependent and essentially interconnected', that it is 'a process in which we examine a number of media elements, such as lighting and picture composition, how they interact, and our perceptual reactions to them.'
2. Applied Aesthetics and Contextualism
'Applied aesthetics emphasizes that art is not an isolated object hidden away in a museum and that aesthetic experiences are very much a part of everyday life.'
To say that life and art are dependent is not to say that all of life is art, as it takes an artist to 'perceive, order, clarify, intensify, and interpret' aspects of life to create art.
Contextual aesthetics refers to the how the context of an event effects our perception of it.
3. Contextual Perception
Our perception is effected by context. 'An object is big because another is small'. My dog is large to me because I place it in the context of my small apartment. My friend that owns a bull mastiff would consider my dog small.
Selective Seeing is 'selective exposure' to the things that agree with our ideas and existing views. I'm not likely to pick up a book written to support a political figure I disagree with.
Selective Perception is tuning out things that interfere with what we are focusing on. As I read Chapt. 1, I could here the singing of an Hispanic church half a block away. I listened for a moment as it was pretty, but then I tuned it out to focus on my reading.
4. The Power of Context
'Many of our perceptions are guided, if not dictated, by the event context.' This can apply to optical illusions and camera angles.
Associative Context is when we allow previous experiences and prejudices to effect how we perceive things.
5. The Medium as Structural Agent
'The medium, such as television or film, occupies an important position not only in distributing the message but also in shaping it.' A film prepared for widescreen theaters is prepared differently than a made-for-tv movie.
6. Applied Media Aesthetics: Method
Based on ideas of the Bauhaus instructor Wassily Kandinsky, 'the method of presenting applied media aesthetics is an inductive one' rather than reducive. In stead of tearing down to simple forms, you begin with the basics and work up... 'form follows function'. Based on this Zettl has identified five fundamental image elements of television and film: Light and color, two-dimensional space, three-dimensional space, time/motion, and sound.
This chapter is ended with a warning to be responsible with applied media aesthetics. Use them to help the audience experience things in a new way instead of directly manipulating their perceptions.
Before beginning this chapter, I made myself some coffee (perhaps it was to help me focus, or perhaps to help me avoid the book). I spilled some coffee on the counter and noticed that one drop of it looked like the profile of a girl with a bun in her hair. I called my wife over to look at it and she was very excited by it... she ran to get the camera. She told me to leave it to see if the coffee would dry in that shape. If I hadn't pointed out this shape, my wife would have only seen spilled coffee and would have been mad if I let it dry there. Maybe I'm making a stretch, but I think this is representative of Contextual perception.
6 major areas of applied media aesthetics to study.
1. Applied Media Aesthetics: Definition
Zettl tells us that 'applied media aesthectics considers art and life as mutually dependent and essentially interconnected', that it is 'a process in which we examine a number of media elements, such as lighting and picture composition, how they interact, and our perceptual reactions to them.'
2. Applied Aesthetics and Contextualism
'Applied aesthetics emphasizes that art is not an isolated object hidden away in a museum and that aesthetic experiences are very much a part of everyday life.'
To say that life and art are dependent is not to say that all of life is art, as it takes an artist to 'perceive, order, clarify, intensify, and interpret' aspects of life to create art.
Contextual aesthetics refers to the how the context of an event effects our perception of it.
3. Contextual Perception
Our perception is effected by context. 'An object is big because another is small'. My dog is large to me because I place it in the context of my small apartment. My friend that owns a bull mastiff would consider my dog small.
Selective Seeing is 'selective exposure' to the things that agree with our ideas and existing views. I'm not likely to pick up a book written to support a political figure I disagree with.
Selective Perception is tuning out things that interfere with what we are focusing on. As I read Chapt. 1, I could here the singing of an Hispanic church half a block away. I listened for a moment as it was pretty, but then I tuned it out to focus on my reading.
4. The Power of Context
'Many of our perceptions are guided, if not dictated, by the event context.' This can apply to optical illusions and camera angles.
Associative Context is when we allow previous experiences and prejudices to effect how we perceive things.
5. The Medium as Structural Agent
'The medium, such as television or film, occupies an important position not only in distributing the message but also in shaping it.' A film prepared for widescreen theaters is prepared differently than a made-for-tv movie.
6. Applied Media Aesthetics: Method
Based on ideas of the Bauhaus instructor Wassily Kandinsky, 'the method of presenting applied media aesthetics is an inductive one' rather than reducive. In stead of tearing down to simple forms, you begin with the basics and work up... 'form follows function'. Based on this Zettl has identified five fundamental image elements of television and film: Light and color, two-dimensional space, three-dimensional space, time/motion, and sound.
This chapter is ended with a warning to be responsible with applied media aesthetics. Use them to help the audience experience things in a new way instead of directly manipulating their perceptions.
Before beginning this chapter, I made myself some coffee (perhaps it was to help me focus, or perhaps to help me avoid the book). I spilled some coffee on the counter and noticed that one drop of it looked like the profile of a girl with a bun in her hair. I called my wife over to look at it and she was very excited by it... she ran to get the camera. She told me to leave it to see if the coffee would dry in that shape. If I hadn't pointed out this shape, my wife would have only seen spilled coffee and would have been mad if I let it dry there. Maybe I'm making a stretch, but I think this is representative of Contextual perception.
posted by thisisntjimmy at 2:45 PM
4 Comments:
I see nostrils, angry shadowy eyes, and a Gorbachevian portwine-stained forehead in your coffee spill. I sometimes get so angry!
This is a fine example of contextual perception! Glad to read that Zettl is already becoming a helpful resource. :-)
She looks like Degas' young dancer statue in profile.
Thank you for this post. Planning to buy myself the book soon: was wondering if it is worth it. Think it is, now.
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