Final Thoughts

I always find it difficult when asked to reflect on somethings as long and involved as an entire semester. More than any other semester, I believe most of my learning involved small things, things that one can only learn through experience.

First, I have realized many of the subtleties in the creative process. The creative process does not occur within a vacuum. Creativity, especially in regards to advertising, tends to occur out in the world that we live in. I mean, that is how people are going to receive our message, whether it be at a point-of-purchase display, billboard, etc. Also, ideas can come at anytime and any place. Ideas tend to come to you when you are not thinking about the project. I had dreams about my ideas. So I consider myself a "creative dreamer." Last, most of the time a first draft will be unrecognizable compared to a final draft. The theme and idea will remain, but the way it is communicated may have a completely different look.

I thought both of the books we read were good reads with lots of information. While I did struggle at times with the books, that did not take away from the information that was presented. The most important thing I have taken away from the class is the idea that all of our views are socially constructed. Even when viewing an image, one views that image and interprets the meaning through their view of the world. I would venture to say there is not one image that is universally understood.

I would have to agree with Janet on this point. I think many of the things we have discussed in this class I once thought to be intuitive. All of the theories of visual design talked about seemed to me to be things that occur naturally in images, but I have come to the realization that these are things that I have actually learned. I can now apply these theories to my own visuals as well as identify visuals that follow these principles.

Moving toward the exits...

After reading the section on "The Moving Image" I began to contemplate how High Definition cameras has changed the way television and film is produced. While there can still be shots in a disconnected syntagm, can actors still be shot in different locations and then cut together to restore the connection? It would seem like the technology used would make this more difficult and would require much more planning. Maybe HD actually makes it easier to achieve naturalism or realism, I am not sure. There is also the issue of modality, and how HD can affect visual detail, background depth, light and shade, color, etc. Does this change how a moving image is viewed or has there become a new standard for the moving image and how its elements are viewed by the receiver.

I know I do not offer any solutions, mainly because I do not have any, but I imagine this would be a discussion in newer textbooks.

The End is Near

Modality: the truth value or credibility of statements about the world

Visuals can represent people, places and things as though they are real, as they actually exists in this way, or as though do not - as though they are imaginings, fantasies, caricatures, etc. (156) Since modes modality judgments are socially constructed, how are we to make visuals that are universally comprehended? We have discussed this topic at length in regards to the written language in our other MAPC classes. Kenneth Burke's terministic screens come to mind. Reality is in the eye of the beholder, or is defined by a particular group, which makes this task very difficult. I cannot say we have come to any particular solution to this persistent problem in professional communication.

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