Picture Stories

When: Week 4
What: Lecture 4
Who: Dr. Bruce Redman

Dr. Bruce Redman was the lecturer, at this week's "Picture Stories" lecture. The Picture Stories lecture was my favourite lecture so far, this semester. I enjoyed it immensely. 


Dr. Bruce Redman began the lecture with the statement, "Picture Stories are everywhere". Have you ever considered how true this statement is? Today I picked up a $1 coin and noticed that it had an Australian indigenous picture of a Kangaroo. Did you know that this is a picture story? Picture Stories really are everywhere. They can be found on the cover of a magazine, amongst a story in a newspaper, and even on the back of a coin. 


Below is a timeline that depicts the development and history of "Picture Stories" through time. It was created using some of the images and slides from the lecture powerpoint.

Picture Stories

The timeline begins with "Australian Indigenous Cave Stories". Last year I came across an article that features the discovery of a red ochre rock painting, in the Northern Territory. The discovery of the red ochre rock painting dates "Australian Indigenous Cave Stories" back almost 40,000 years (ABC News). 

The timeline ends with the recent development of "Digital Publishing and Photo Galleries". In week 2, we learnt that, Digital publishing is the publication of old media platforms (newspapers, magazines. etc) through new media platforms (iPads, tablets, computers and phones). The social web and blogging are also forms of digital publication.

What Makes a Great Photo?

During the lecture, Dr. Bruce Redman stated six key elements that, together and individually, create a great photo. This is what they are:

• Framing
• Focus
• Angle and Point of View (POV)
• Exposure (or Light)
• Timing (Shutter speed)
• Capturing "The Moment"

Framing

The diamond shapes twisted into a wire fence have been used to frame the two girls in this photograph.

Angle and Point of View

The first photograph demonstrates the use of a low angle, and the second photograph demonstrates the use of a high angle. Dr. Bruce Redman stated in the lecture that, low angles are used to make someone look powerful and high angles are used to make someone look diminutive. This notion is evident in both of these photographs.

Capturing the Moment

This photograph was taken by Nick Ut. Nick Ut was born in Long An, Indochina. The photograph is of a 9 year old girl named, Phan Thị Kim Phúc. In this photograph, Phan Thị Kim Phúc and a group of children are fleeing a napalm attack which hit the village of Trảng Bàng, during the Vietnam War. This photograph won the Pulitzer Prize and is a perfect example of capturing "The Moment". Nick Ut has really captured the children's fear and pain. The photograph is very emotional.

The Rule of Thirds

Dr. Bruce Redman stated in the lecture that the "Rule of Thirds" is a "guide in terms of what makes a great picture".

The "Rule of Third" is where the main focus of the image, is photographed on the third section of the frame. In the image above, the lady beetle has been photographed on the third.

What Makes a Great Moving Picture

Similar to the photo, Dr. Bruce Redman, stated seven key elements that, together and individually, create a great moving picture. This is what they are:

• Framing
• Focus
• Angle and Point of View (POV)
• Exposure (or Light)
• Timing (and Editing)
• Capturing "The Scene"
• Inclusion of Sound Dimension

While explaining the seven key elements, Dr. Bruce Redman used three famous movie sequences to explain these elements to my peers and I. This was my favourite part of the lecture, because I love watching old films and the films that Dr. Bruce Redman presented, are films that I have viewed and enjoyed in the past.

Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin - 1925

Dr. Bruce Redman used, Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin", to explain the use of editing within a film. Bellow is a sequence from "Battleship Potemkin", titled the "Odessa Steps". This sequence demonstrates how editing can be used to tell a story. 

Using my own example, I would like to identify a few elements that are used when creating a great moving picture.

Nosferatu

Friedrich Wilhelm "F.W" Murnau's, "Nosferatu", is my favourite silent film and is a film that I believe utilises the seven key elements that Dr. Bruce Redman mentioned. Two elements that I believe are prominent features in "Nosferatu", are framing and exposure (or lighting).

Framing

One element that I believe, F.W Murnau, mastered in the filming of "Nosferatu" is framing. In the image above, the door arch is a fantastic example of this notion. F.W Murnau's use of the door arch, emphasises Count Orlok's height and his frightening, monstrous appearance.

Exposure (or Lighting)

F.W Murnau's has also mastered the element of exposure (or lighting). The image above is a screenshot from a sequence in "Nosferatu". In the sequence, F.W Murnau, uses the contrast between light and shadow to create the shape of Count Orlok as he climbs a staircase. By using the shadow of Count Orlok, F.W Murnau, has created a sequence that has a frightening, ominous affect. 


The key elements that, Dr. Bruce Redman, stated in the lecture, all tell a story in their own way. Sergei Eisenstein uses editing to tell the story of "Battleship Potemkin" and in "Nosferatu", F.W Murnau used framing, light and shadow, amongst other elements, to develop the ominous affect of the characters and the story.

Moving Pictures

Films, newsreels and contemporary news are all moving pictures. Newsreels contain prerecorded news footage and stories. Before the television, newsreels were the only way that the public were able to consume the news, in the form of a moving picture. During the lecture, Dr. Bruce Redman stated that "News has always been a big part of television". Television news or contemporary news has changed immensely since it's release in the

1950s. As mentioned in this weeks lecture, news use to be read straight to camera without any video footage. Instead of video footage, the news story would be accompanied by photographs. In comparison, contemporary news stories are almost always accompanied by video footage. Various contemporary news channels run on a 24 hour news cycle, this is where news channels, broadcast news stories, continuously, 24 hours a day. Dr. Bruce Redman mentioned that "ABC News 24" and "Sky News" are news channels that run on a 24 hour news cycle and that because of limited funding, "what was the job of 18 people is now the job of one person".