DRAFT SYLLABUS - SUBJECT TO CHANGE
COMM 262/CINE 204: Visual Communication
Summer Session II: July 1 – Aug 9, 2013
Mon and Wed, 5:30 –- 8:40 pm
Annenberg School for Communication, Room 224
Debora (Deb) Lui, PhD Student
Annenberg School for Communication, Room 133
Office Hours: Mon and Wed, 4:30-5:30 pm, or by appointment
dlui@asc.upenn.edu
Course Description:
Images permeate our everyday lives. Whether we are watching the news on TV, watching a
movie on our laptops, or checking out a website on our smartphones, we are in constant
interaction with images. In this course, we will learn why visual literacy matters. What do
images tell us? How do we ‘read’ them? How do we produce them? The course explores these
questions by introducing students to the techniques of visual communication, or how ideas,
concepts, and narratives are conveyed through images - both still and moving. Using
advertisements, television shows and film clips as case studies, we will examine both the formal
features (e.g. design) and contextual elements (e.g. circulation) of images. We will explore how
images are never ‘neutral’ because they work to support particular messages and agendas.
Because our ability to analyze media is strengthened by media practice, we also will create our
own visual artifacts (e.g. a short film, a digital collage, a small comic book, etc.) as part of the
course.
Grading:
Attendance/Class Participation
Still & Moving Image Analysis
Responses to Image Analysis
Final Visual Project, plus explanatory essay
15%
30%
20%
35%
Attendance/Participation: We will discuss readings and analyze visual artifacts in class. Thus,
regular attendance and active participation in class discussions will be expected. Please note that
more than one absence is considered excessive and will affect your overall grade.
Readings: All assigned readings will be posted on or linked from Blackboard. Please note that
these are subject to be changed based on work within the classroom. Please refer to Blackboard
for the latest changes.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
Still & Moving Image Analysis (Due July 15)
Choose 3 still and 2 moving advertisements that can be viewed online. For each, provide a short
visual analysis of 250-300 words. For each advertisement, discuss at least TWO visual
techniques that were covered in class. Explain why these techniques make the ad effective -- how
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DRAFT SYLLABUS - SUBJECT TO CHANGE
does each technique work to engage and/or persuade the viewer? Please note you have to discuss
at least FIVE different techniques IN TOTAL.
Post your analyses on the class Blackboard site, under Discussion and Forum: Still and Moving
Image Analysis. Click the ‘Create Thread’ button on the top left of the window and post your
analysis under your name (Last Name, First Name).
Response to Image Analysis (Due July 24)
Read through your classmates’ visual analyses on Blackboard. Choose 2 still images analyses
and 1 moving image analysis from at least two different people. Write a response for each
analyses either supporting or challenging the arguments; you may also point out other visual
techniques used in the ad. Post your comments of 150-200 words on Blackboard as a reply to the
original posts. Please email me to let me know who you are responding to for the assignment.
Final Visual Project and Explanatory Essay (Due Aug 7)
In groups or individually, you will be responsible for creating a visual artifact (e.g. a short film, a
digital collage, a small comic book, etc.) that will elaborate some theme of your choice in class.
The artifact is intended to be pedagogical; in other words, think about how the project could be
used by someone else interested in learning more about visual communication. Each student is
also responsible for writing a short accompanying essay to explain how you think the visual
aspects of your project enhance what you are trying to do. No previous experience is required;
we will be learning the necessary digital tools for production in class. More details on this
project will be discussed in class.
Schedule
PART I: Techniques of Visual Analysis
Mon – July 1
Topics: Introduction to the Course; Perception and Visual Literacy
Wed – July 3
Topic: Making Sense of the Visual
Reading:
 Messaris, Paul – Visual Literacy: Image, Mind & Reality, Chapter 1 – Four Aspects of
Visual Literacy
 Carroll, Noel – “The Power of Movies”
Mon – July 8
Topic: The Visual Construction of Narrative
Reading:
 Chatman, Seymour – “What Novels Can Do That Films Can’t (and Vice Versa)”
 McCloud, Scott – Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, Chapter 3 – Blood in the
Gutter
Wed – July 10
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Topic: Montage as Visual Argument
Reading:
 Kuleshov, Lev – “The Principles of Montage”
Video:
 Marker, Chris - Sans Soleil – on reserve at Annenberg Library, or available via Hulu Plus
(Free Trial for 7 Days): http://www.hulu.com/watch/215810
PART II: Ideologies of Visual Images
Mon – July 15
Due: Still and Moving Image Analysis
Topic: Understanding Media Effects Research
Reading:
 Sherry, John – “Would the Great and Mighty Oz Play Doom?: A Look Behind the
Curtain of Violent Video Game Research”
Wed – July 17
Topic: Semiotics and the Cultural Context of Viewing
Reading:
 Barthes, Roland – Rhetoric of the Image
 Excerpts from The Hoftstede Center website – National Cultural Dimensions, Dimension
descriptions
Mon – July 22
Topic: Historical changes in seeing
Reading:
 Excerpts from Galassi, Peter – Before Photography: Painting and the Invention of
Photography
 Benjamin, Walter – “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Wed – July 24
Due: Comments on other people’s image analyses
Topic: Production Tutorial/Final Project Planning
Location: TBD
Reading:
 Institute for the Future – “The Future of Video: Becoming People of the Screen”
Mon – July 29
Topic: Looking at Gender and Race
Reading:
 Mulvey, Laura – “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”
 TBD
Part III: Producing Images
Wed – July 31
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Topic: Iconic Images; Visual Manipuation
Reading:
 Newton, Julianne – “Influences of Digital Imaging on the Concept of Photographic
Truth”
 Perlmutter, David – “Hypericons; Famous News Images in the Internet-Digtial-Satellite
Age”
Mon – August 5
Topic: Media Literacy
Reading:
 Hobbs, Renee – “The Seven Great Debates in the Media Literacy Movement”
 Buckingham, David – “Will Media Education Ever Escape the Effects Debate?”
Wed – August 7
Last class
Topic: Final class presentations/discussion
Fri – August 9
No class
Due: Final Visual Project + Explanatory Essay
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