UNIT I : OVERVIEW OF VISUAL ARTS

Types of Visual Arts

This lesson discusses the various types of visual arts and their mediums. It aims to
activate the background knowledge of the students.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, the students must have:
1. discussed the different types of visual arts;
2. differentiated the types of visual arts based on their mediums;
3. provided specific examples of each of the various types of visual art

Printing

Printing is a process for making multi-reproduction of graphic works. It involves the

preparation of a master image of the drawing or design on some durable material such as
wood, metal, or stone, from which printing is done. It may be classified by the nature of the
surface from which the printing is done.

Relief printing is the process whereby unwanted portions of design are cut away on
the master image. The printed image is formed by the remaining surfaces. Examples of this are
linoleum cuts, woodcuts, and wood engravings.

Intaglio printing is a method of printing from a plate on which incised lines, which carry
the ink, leave a raised impression.

Dry point involves drawing directly on a metal plate with a sharp needle and
scratches lines, or groove, into the metal. Ink is rubbed into the grooves and the unscratched
surface is wiped clean. In printing, the ink in the grooves is transferred to paper.

Etching is the art or process of producing drawings or designs on metal plates

covered with wax. The needle penetrates was into the surface of the plate. The plate is then
dipped in acid, which eats the lines into the metal. For printing, etched (bitten) lines are filled
with ink which is transferred to the paper.

Engraving is done on a metal plate with a cutting tool called a barin, which leaves
a V-shaped trough. Drawings or designs on the plate are entirely composed of lines and/or
dots.
 Surface printing includes all processes in which printing is done from a flat (plane)
surface.

Lithography is the art or process of printing from a flat stone or metal plate by a
method based on the repulsion between grease and water. The design is put on the surface.
The surface is then treated so that ink adheres only to areas where drawing has been done; ink
is then transferred to the paper in printing.

Silkscreen includes the process of stretching silk over a rectangular frame and
unwanted portions in the design are blocked out. Pigment is forced through the clear areas.
For multi-color prints, a separate screen is used for each color.

Photography

Photography is a chemical-mechanical process by which images are produced on

sensitized surfaces by action of light. Reproductions may be in black or white or in full colors of
the original. It is the art of capturing light with a camera, usually via a digital sensor or film, to
create an image. It is the art, application and practice of creating durable images by recording
light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-
sensitive material such as photographic film.

The word, derived from the Greek photos (“light”) and graphein (“to draw”), was first
used in the 1830s.  Literally, photography means a drawing made from light.

Today photography is widely recognized as a fine art. Photographs are displayed in art
museums, prized by collectors, discussed by critics, and studied in art history courses. Because
of the special nature of photography, however, this was not always the case. In the early days
of photography some people considered the medium something of a poor relation to the older,
established visual arts, such as drawing and painting.    The arguments stemmed from the fact
that a camera is a mechanical instrument. Because the mechanical procedure of taking a
picture is automatic, detractors claimed that photography required no coordination of hand
and eye and none of the manual skills essential to drawing and painting. They also argued that
photography required no creativity or imagination because the photographic subject was
"ready-made" and did not require manipulation or control by the photographer. 

The medium used in photography is the camera, which is basically a device that makes
photographs. Originally, the word ‘camera‘ comes from the notion of a ‘camera obscura’ (a dark
chamber)– because the first camera was a pinhole and a dark room. The word ‘camera’ (in Latin)
meant: “private bedchamber” comes from the Ancient Greek, ‘kamara‘, which was a vaulted chamber.

Camera, lightproof box or container, usually fitted with a lens, which gathers incoming
light and concentrates it so that it can be directed toward the film (in an optical camera) or the

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imaging device (in a digital camera) contained within. Today there are many different types of
camera in use, all of them more or less sophisticated versions of the camera obscura, which
dates back to antiquity. Nearly all of them are made up of the same basic parts: a body (the
lightproof box), a lens and a shutter to control the amount of light reaching the light-sensitive
surface, a viewfinder to frame the scene, and a focusing mechanism.

Development of the Camera

The original concept of the camera dates from Grecian times, when Aristotle referred to
the principle of the camera obscura [Lat.,=dark chamber] which was literally a dark box—
sometimes large enough for the viewer to stand inside—with a small hole, or aperture, in one
side. (A lens was not employed for focusing until the Middle Ages.) An inverted image of a
scene was formed on an interior screen; it could then be traced by an artist. The first diagram of
a camera obscura appeared in a manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci in 1519, but he did not claim
its invention. The recording of a negative image on a light-sensitive material was first achieved
by the Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826; he coated a piece of paper with asphalt
and exposed it inside the camera obscura for eight hours.
Although various kinds of devices for making pictures in rapid succession had been
employed as early as the 1860s, the first practical motion picture camera—made feasible by the
invention of the first flexible (paper base) films—was built in 1887 by E. J. Marey, a Frenchman.
Two years later Thomas Edison invented the first commercially successful camera. However,
cinematography was not accessible to amateurs until 1923, when Eastman Kodak produced the
first 16-mm reversal safety film, and Bell & Howell introduced cameras and projectors with
which to use it. Systems using 8-mm film were introduced in 1923; super-8, with its smaller
sprocket holes and larger frame size, appeared in 1965.
A prototype of the digital camera was developed in 1975 by Eastman Kodak, but digital
cameras were not commercialized until the 1990s. They have gradually superseded many film-
based cameras, both for consumers and, by the mid-2010s, for professionals as well, leading
many manufacturers to eliminate or reduce the number of the film cameras they produce. The
digital camera phone, which developed rapidly in the 21st century., contributed to the demise
of the film camera, and has supplanted the camera for most amateur uses.
The demise of the super-8 film format began with the development of the camcorder,
which used videotape cassettes, in the early 1980s; digital recording was introduced in the late
1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and 2000s high-definition digital video recording and
tapeless (optical disc, hard drive, and solid-state) recording were introduced. By the 2010s most
movies, whether taken by professionals or amateurs, were shot using digital video cameras.
Film

Also known as motion picture and cinema, is the art of, or science of motion picture
photography. It consists of series of images that are projected onto a screen to create the illusion of
motion.

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 It is a term that embraces many types of films or movies—cartoons, newsreels, commercial,
industrial films, educational films, social documentaries, and even home movies, and the most
widespread form of mass entertainment the world has ever known.

The images that make up a motion picture are all individual photograph. The pictures appear
rapidly in succession, so they seem like moving due to persistence of vision. Persistence of vision is a
phenomenon whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been
removed. Although we do not experience the images as individual photograph, we do notice the
differences between them. The brain perceives these differences as motion.

Film or motion pictures are recorded using specially designed cameras that capture the images
on rolls of film. After being processed and printed, the film is run through a projector, which shines
light through the film so that the images are displayed on a screen.

Cinematography is the art and craft of making motion pictures by capturing a story visually.
Technically, it is the art and the science of recording light either electronically onto the image sensor or
chemically onto film.

Cinematographic Techniques. In the cinema, the movie director controls the point of interest by
choosing scenes that are contributory to the development of his film and not necessarily to the varied
interest of his viewers. Cinematographic techniques involve cutting, camera movement and framing.

Cutting or editing consists of joining one shot of scene to a shot of another—but both made to
be logically connected. It makes it possible for the director to show only the scenes the story requires to
further its action and create varied meanings.

This technique helps eliminate unwanted scenes but only to build up a picture of an object, an
action, or a person. There are types of film cut.

Matched action. An action in one shot is continued in another

After action. A shot immediately following an action shot

Before action. A shot immediately preceding an action shot

Entrance/exit. A cut motivated by a character’s entrance or exit from the scene

Foreground wipe. An edit motivated by a foreground object wiping the frame

Look off. A cut from a character to what a character sees

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 Dialogue referent. A cut from a character to what he refers to

Reaction. A cut showcasing a character’s reaction to something

Thought referent. A cut showing what a character is thinking

Visual linkage. Similar actions or visuals in two different scenes form a transition

Dialogue overlap. Dialogue between characters is played over their respective reaction shots

Audio linkage. Audio is carried over between scenes to act as a transition

Loud sound. This is when a cut is made in the middle of a loud noise

The director also makes use of transition so that the viewer is hardly aware of changes
from shot to shot. These transition devices include:

 Fade. It shows the old image gradually fading out and a brief period of darkness comes to the
screen before the new scene gradually becomes visible.
 It is used to show a change of time and a change of place.
 Dissolve. It involves the superimposition of the last portions of the previous shot over the
adjacent portions of the next shot to show two events happening at the same time.
 Iris-in, iris-out. It is a favorable device in silent movies, which involves fades from the edges of
the screen to the center of the screen.
 Turn-over. It shows the whole screen turning over and continuing to the other side.

Framing. Framing is the process of creating composition. The picture in a film is a fixed
rectangle which shows only a fragment of reality. Because of the cinema’s limitations, the director has
to choose, isolate, or limit the subject or show only that which is significant. Framing brings about the
balance and unity that one sees in a film for it is used as the basis of the design. It can give a highly
dramatic effect and can capture and hold the audience’s attention.

Just like photography, film also employs various types of shots and camera angles:

Wide shot close up high angle

Full shot extreme close up Dutch angle
Mid shot low angle

Rules of Framing

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 Look for horizontal and vertical lines in the frame (e.g. the horizon, poles, etc). Make sure the
horizontals are level, and the verticals are straight up and down (unless of course you're
purposely going for a tilted effect).
 The rule of thirds. This rule divides the frame into nine sections, as in the first frame below.
Points (or lines) of interest should occur at 1/3 or 2/3 of the way up (or across) the frame,
rather than in the centre.
 "Headroom", "looking room", and "leading room". These terms refer to the amount of room in
the frame which is strategically left empty. The shot of the baby crawling has some leading room
for him to crawl into, and the shot of his mother has some looking room for her to look into.
Without this empty space, the framing will look uncomfortable.
Headroom is the amount of space between the top of the subject's head and the top of the
frame. A common mistake in amateur video is to have far too much headroom, which doesn't
look good and wastes frame space. In any "person shot" tighter than a MS, there should be very
little headroom.
 Pay attention to the edges of your frame. Avoid having half objects in frame, especially people
(showing half of someone's face is very unflattering). Also try not to cut people of at the joints
— the bottom of the frame can cut across a person's stomach, but not their knees. It just
doesn't look right.
 Look for interesting and unusual shots. Most of your shots will probably be quite "straight"; that
is, normal shots from approximate adult eye-level. Try mixing in a few variations. Different
angles and different camera positions can make all the difference. For example; a shot can
become much more dramatic if shot from a low point. On the other hand, a new and interesting
perspective can be obtained by looking straight down on the scene. Be aware that looking up at
a person can make them appear more imposing, whereas looking down at a person can diminish
them.
A. Camera Movements
Tilt
 Moving the cameras lens up or down while keeping its horizontal axis constant. Nod your head
up and down - this is tilting.
Pan
 Moving the camera lens to one side or another. Look to your left, then look to your right - that's
panning.
Zoom
 Zooming is one camera move that most people are probably familiar with. It involves changing
the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame. Most
video cameras today have built-in zoom features. Some have manual zooms as well, and many
have several zoom speeds. Zooming is one of the most frequently-used camera moves and one
of the most overused. Use it carefully.
Pedestal
 Moving the camera up or down without changing its vertical or horizontal axis. A camera
operator can do two types of pedestals: pedestal up means "move the camera up;" pedestal

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 down means "move the camera down." You are not tilting the lens up, rather you are moving
the entire camera up. Imagine your camera is on a tripod and you're raising or lowering the
tripod head (this is exactly where the term comes from).
Dolly
 Motion towards or motion from. The name comes from the old “dolly tracks" that used to be
laid down for the heavy camera to move along - very much like railroad tracks - in the days
before Steadicams got so popular. The phrase dolly-in means step towards the subject with the
camera, while dolly-out means to step backwards with the camera, keeping the zoom the same.
Zooming the camera changes the focal length of the lens, which can introduce wide-angle
distortion or changes in the apparent depth of field. For this reason, it's sometimes preferable to
dolly than zoom.
Truck
 Trucking is like dollying, but it involves motion left or right. Truck left means "move the camera
physically to the left while maintaining its perpendicular relationship." This is not to be confused
with a pan, where the camera remains firmly on its axis while the lens turns to one direction or
the other. You might truck left to stay with a pedestrian as she walks down a street.
Handheld Shooting
 Sometimes the action is moving too quickly or too unpredictably for the camera to be on a
tripod. This calls for making the camera more mobile and able to follow the action of a scene.
Most times the camera will simply be held by the operator, who will then employ a number of
basic camera moves by moving the feet - trucking in and out, dollying in one direction or
another, tilting, panning, zooming - and combinations of all of these.
Floating Cam/Stabilizing Shots
 The Steadicam was invented in 1971 by Philadelphia native Garrett Brown. Famously used in the
jogging sequence in Rocky and extensively with exceptional effect in the Kubrick masterpiece,
The Shining. It uses a series of counterweights (and gyroscopes on more-expensive models) to
keep a handheld camera's motion very smooth. Although the term "Steadicam" is used often,
this is a trademark name belonging to the Merlin company. We call the devices that are non-
Steadicams "stabilizers".
Crane/Jib
 A crane can be used to lift a camera (and operator, if it's big enough) from low to high shooting
positions. Less expensive jibs can support the weight of a camera and lift it several feet off of
the ground. Sometimes called a boom, but the boom term usually applies to the device that
holds a microphone aloft.