The Visuals of Storytelling

    This week I was tasked to do some reading on how to become a better photographer, as well on what elements create the narrative and tell the story for visual presentations. From the readings I learned that nearly every detail in a picture, video, or movie can be tweaked to design the desired narrative and emotional effect in a visual presentation - the objects in the foreground or background, the spatial awareness in the shot, the contrast of different colors or objects within the shot, etc. I then went back to some of my favorite superhero movies and paused them for a moment to analyze and attempt to identify the narrative that the creator may have intended for that particular shot.

   First i went back and watched a somewhat dramatic piece, "The Dark Knight Rises". I paused the movie during one of my favorite moments, when Bruce Wayne climbs to his freedom after being injured and imprisoned by the villain Bane. In this particular shot I recognized first off the lack of color that was being shown here - namely, the darkness that make up the wall he climbs and the depths below, and the light not only being shown above as his freedom, but also being reflected on the walls to give the shot some depth. I also noted how the protagonist is physically small in comparison to the wall and the light above, giving the shot some dramatic effect.