UNDERSTANDING VISUAL TEXTS

‘O’ Levels Examination• Section A – Visual Text Comprehension (Paper 2)• 5 marks• Skills

• Understanding of visual texts at literal, inferential & evaluative levels

• Personal engagement• Engagement with visual impact of material• Engagement with real concepts• Engagement with familiar concepts• Engagement with non-linear layout

Visual texts• Texts that are created using still or moving images

• May or may not contain words• Television, film, radio, advertising, billboards, the Internet, computer games and programs, art works such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture, book covers, illustrations

Visual Text Comprehension• Understanding images & words in the context it is being used• Bring life experiences & background knowledge to what is

being read/viewed

• All visual texts are influenced by the cultures, values, ideologies and world views in and through which they are created & consumed.• Eg. Family photo in your home vs. A family potrait in a

magazine or• Artists’ impression vs. housing agent’s view of a HDB estate

How to interpret visual texts?• We need to first identify the different elements that make up the text.

• These include: • Images• (Colour)• words – includes title, headlines, captions• Typographical features - type of font, font size• Layout – spatial arrangement of different elements in a

text

Images…

• Images are mental représentations, pictures of objects, people or animals or any diagram that provides visual information.

• Images in a visual text may contain:• People, animals or object participating in an action• Flow charts, maps or labelled images showing a

concept or an idea• Symbols or icons

What does this image show?

-Concept/idea-Desire to show unity between young & old-Unity between different races also

What does this image show?

-An action – ex – offender trying to remove the label from his back-Stereotype – tattooed people are offenders

More on images…

• Angles – looking down vs looking up• Looking down at someone conveys a sense of power or control

• Looking up at a person or object can make us feel vulnerable

• Framing – determines amount of information given to viewers• Close-up shot – closer social relation, lesser details

• Long shot – distant relation, more details

Framing

NDP poster -Long shot – more details -Focus on people in singapore

Framing

Election poster in 2006-Close-up shot of Lee Hsieng Leong-Focus on voting for him

Words (Includes titles, headlines, captions)

• Who is the target audience when something is said?

• Why are certain words used over others?• What information is being conveyed in words?

• Literal, Inferential, Evaluative understanding of words in text

NEA Poster

-How are the words being transposed with the image in the poster?-Why do you think the words ‘Just Bin it’ was used in this poster? What effect is this intended on the viewer?

Words (Includes titles, headlines, captions)

• Title – main topic of the poster • Headline – main statement that tells the main message of the poster ; usually the text in the largest and boldest font

• Captions – It is the typed text under photographs explaining the image and usually in one sentence

Typographical features - font type and size

• Are the fonts in capital letters or non-capitalised letters?• Are some words intentionally larger or smaller for any reason? Why?

• Usually determines the reading paths of the reader/viewer.• Reader/viewer will tend to be attracted to the larger fonts used in the text.

• Usually for words that are meant for emphasis.

- What are the words that are meant to capture viewer’s attention first?

- What is the next thing that captures your attention?

- With regards to the typographical features, why do you think the poster is created as such?

Layout• Placement of elements in text can influence the meaning of the image.

• Types of placement:• Top/bottom – top contains the ‘attention-grabber’; bottom contains new information

• Left/right – left side contains information that is understood; right side presents new information

• Note: not all of these ‘codes’ apply to every image – images are shaped according to purpose and effect their creators wish to achieve.

Top/bottom

• Top – attention-grabber (Visual + words)

• Bottom – more information about the deal that Burger King is offering

• Left side – reported natural disasters in the country

• Right side – information about the services they are providing

Remember this?

• Advertorial by Watsons

• Study the placement of the image with the products that Watson’s is trying to sell. Notice that the testimonies of the experts are placed before the products they are selling.

• Why do you think the layout is as such?

Recap…• Different elements of visual texts:

• Images• (Colour)• words – includes title, headlines, captions• Typographical features - type of font, font size• Layout – spatial arrangement of different elements in a text

Task• Kingsway Unit 3 Paper 2