Image Theory

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Course Description

  • Course Name

    Image Theory

  • Host University

    Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

  • Location

    Madrid, Spain

  • Area of Study

    Communication Studies, Film Studies, Media Studies, Radio - Television - Film

  • Language Level

    Taught In English

  • Course Level Recommendations

    Lower

    ISA offers course level recommendations in an effort to facilitate the determination of course levels by credential evaluators.We advice each institution to have their own credentials evaluator make the final decision regrading course levels.

    Hours & Credits

  • ECTS Credits

    6
  • Recommended U.S. Semester Credits
    3
  • Recommended U.S. Quarter Units
    4
  • Overview

    DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS: PROGRAMME
    1. THINKING IMAGES
    1.1 Image's materiality
    1.2 Image and reality
    1.3 Image and representation
    1.4 Different types of images

    2. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE IMAGE: FROM THE BISON TO THE DIGITAL IMAGE
    2.1 Telling reality: pure mimesis?
    2.2 From art to videosphere
    2.3 The media's image production: photography, cinema, television
    2.4 The digital environment

    3. IMAGE SOCIETY: THE ICONOSPHERE
    3.1 Concept of society, civilization, culture of the image
    3.2 The Society of the Spectacle / Society as a show
    3.3 Image: landscape or essence of the social bond?

    4. PERCEPTION AS KNOWLEDGE: PERCEPTO, CULTURE AND SUBJECT
    4.1 The senses as sources of knowledge
    4.2 How do we perceive the images?
    4.3 The cultural value of the image
    4.4 The perceiving subject: the significance

    5. CREATIVITY
    5.1 Creativity and being creative
    5.2. What makes us creative?
    5.3. Indicators of creativity
    5.4. How to operate in the creative process
    5.5 The artist and the craftsman

    6. MORPHOLOGICAL, DYNAMIC AND SCALAR ELEMENTS OF THE IMAGE
    6.1 Scalar elements: point, line, plane, texture, color, shape
    6.2 Dynamic Elements: stress, rhythm
    6.3 Scalar Elements: size, format, scale, proportion

    7. BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IMAGE
    7.1 Iconicity-abstraction
    7.2 Simplicity-complexity
    7.3 Monosemy-polisemia
    7.4 Originality-redundancy
    7.5 Connotation-denotation

    8. IMAGE COMPOSING
    8.1 On the composition
    8.2 The dynamic equilibrium
    8.3 Weight and visual direction
    8.4 The frame

    9. STILL, SEQUENTIAL AND MOVING IMAGES
    9.1 Characteristics of the still image isolated: painting and photography
    9.2 the sequence: comic, fotonovela, storyboard
    9.2 Characteristics of the sequential images and movies: TV and Film

    10. IMAGE AS TEXT: READING OF IMAGES
    10.1 What is a text?
    10.2 Why the image is a text?
    10.3 Are there reading routes on images?
    10.4 Reading images: the artistic image, the advertising image, the image information

    11. IMAGE AND EDUCATION
    11.1 Generational change and knowledge flow
    11.2. Logos and images
    11.3. Inform, entertain, educate
    11.4 Image Pedagogy and media education

    12. THE BODY OF IMAGES, THE IMAGES OF THE BODY
    12.1 The body and its representation: symbolic and ritual space
    12.2 Body´s ornament
    12.3 The portrait and the subject
    12.4 Tattoo and other practices of marking and body modification: the tuned body

    LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY

    EACH CHAPTER WILL HAVE FOUR KINDS OF PRACTICAL WORK

    INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS
    GROUP AUDIOVISUAL WORKS
    PERSONAL READING AND WRITING
    FILM FORUM

    GROUP PRACTICES:

    Group works will be, as in film production, the result of individual and collective efforts.
    Each member of the group, by rotation or free designation, will be responsible of a particular piece. She/ he will be in charge of film production, direction and projection in class.
    The rest of the group will be, at any moment, under her/his command.
    The director of a particular piece will be responsible for the concept, style, aesthetic, format... of the piece. She/he will have the final word and decission in every step of production.
    Every piece will be accompanied by a brief report including relevant production data: technical team, roles, responsabilities, difficulties....

    PERSONAL READING AND WRITTING

    Every Chapter will have assigned an article for reading and discussion. These texts will be an essential part of the final exam. The students will read them thoroughly, selecting the most fundamental parts, and will write their own conclussions according to standard referencial and citation methods. Students will write these summaries/ essays either in English or Spanish taking into consideration that texts should be summited without any syntactical or orthographical error.

    FILM FORUM.

    Most of the chapters will include the visualization of audiovisual material with the purpose of complementing theoretical and technical matters. these films are a fundamental part of this course.

    ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
    % end-of-term-examination: 60
    % of continuous assessment (assigments, laboratory, practicals...): 40

Course Disclaimer

Please note that there are no beginning level Spanish courses offered in this program.

Courses and course hours of instruction are subject to change.

Eligibility for courses may be subject to a placement exam and/or pre-requisites.

Credits earned vary according to the policies of the students' home institutions. According to ISA policy and possible visa requirements, students must maintain full-time enrollment status, as determined by their home institutions, for the duration of the program.

ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits are converted to semester credits/quarter units differently among U.S. universities. Students should confirm the conversion scale used at their home university when determining credit transfer.

Please reference fall and spring course lists as not all courses are taught during both semesters.

Availability of courses is based on enrollment numbers. All students should seek pre-approval for alternate courses in the event of last minute class cancellations

Please note that some courses with locals have recommended prerequisite courses. It is the student's responsibility to consult any recommended prerequisites prior to enrolling in their course.

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