The term "visual literacy" generally refers to the interpretation of the formal structure of film or television and carries with it the notion that the interpreter has knowledge of the use of camera angles, lighting, flashbacks, and so forth. However, many visual conventions encountered in movies or television may be interpreted even by…

This report describes the uses of visual literacy programs in the schools and outlines four categories for incorporating training in visual thinking into school curriculums as part of the back to basics movement in education. The report recommends that curriculum writers include materials pertaining to: (1) reading visual language and…

It is proposed that visual literacy be defined as the ability to understand (read) and use (write) images and to think and learn in terms of images. This definition includes three basic principles: (1) visuals are a language and thus analogous to verbal language; (2) a visually literate person should be able to understand (read) images and use…

One approach to the study of the televised image is through the combination of signs, created through production choices. Just as a linguistic sign does not carry exclusively the thoughts of its author but interposes its own material form (thus affecting reading of the text), so does the production choice (technique) infect the thought of the…

Because understanding pictures is a significant aid to readers, this paper explores research on picture interpretation. The paper describes the complexity of the process and states that the ability to interpret pictures seems to proceed from the simple to the complex: from concrete experiences with pictures to the abstract interpretation of…

The study of perceptual genres offers opportunities for the treatment of films in a variety of course structures. (JH)

This book poses fundamental questions about telecommunications as a resource of limited supply increasingly in demand. Topics that are discussed include the expanding needs of and the resources available for visual literacy; the technical, economic, and social issues that relate to the expansion of communication frequencies; the legal problems…

Implication of this study is that recurrent findings regarding exploratory behavior and other measures of interest to experimental aesthetics have some cross-cultural validity. (Author/AM)

Four-, six- and eight-year-old children from an Evanston, Illinois school were the subjects for three experiments designed to evaluate the effects of color, complexity, movement, and incongruity on children's visual attention. Computer generated displays were used to: (1) assess developmental trends among the three age groups, (2) test a novel…

The essential task of sharpening students' sensitivities may be facilitated by the curriculum, instructional program, and personnel of the school. Aesthetic education is basic because it is founded on the creative integration of sensing, feeling, intuiting, and thinking. The arts curriculum may be used to sharpen students' awareness and…

Fifty-five Indian students between the ages of 16 and 22 years were selected from the junior and senior English classes at the Fort Sill Indian School to examine the effects of background music in helping lower socio-economic American Indians understand film content and in manipulating their emotions. This study also looked at how cognitive style…

This one-semester English elective course offered in grades 11 and 12 allows students to examine both classical and modern short films to determine the most effective elements of communication in the medium. The course is divided into two quarters and is further divided into topical sections, i.e., Teaching Poetry through Film, The Film as Visual…

This book is a collection of essays by the author on film criticism. An auteurist and historical approach is taken to the primarily American films discussed. The essays are organized by basic theme: "Critical Credos and Causes,""Personal Styles,""Genres,""Politics,""Odes and Obits," and "Arts and Letters." Each essay centers either on an important…

This study is an attempt to determine what level of artistic perception or art taste is brought into the classroom by students in schools of journalism and whether it can be demonstrated that design instruction can raise the level of artistic perception among journalism and advertising students. It was hypothesized that women would score higher in…

This selective annotated bibliography lists current reference sources in the McGill Library system which deal with film. It emphasizes a scholarly approach to the film as art and includes only a few technical items. The citations are arranged in the following categories: guides and bibliographies, film catalogues and listings, dictionaries and…