The Camera Talks
In a group with Chloe and Megan, we were asked to take 9 photos around the school and annotate them with 3 hashtags;
- The type of camera shot being used
- A denotation of the photo
- A connotation of the photo
This was done to make sure we knew what we were encoding each photo with, in order for our audience to decode it and gather connotations from them. For example, the photo with the connotation hashtag of #distracted was taken with an extreme close up angle, meaning we could only see Chloe’s face. This was done with the intention of creating an air of mystery about it, as the audience don’t know what Chloe is looking at, but it must be significant due to the focus of the shot being solely where her eyes are directed. Camera angles are an effective form of media language, and when combined with mise-en-scene, it can act as a very powerful storytelling tool.
This will help me when creating my music magazine, as it has taught me how to encode connotations and denotations into photos. I now have a better understanding of different types of camera shots, encoding and composition.
