Computer programs such as Photoshop and Smoke allow media developers to adjust images of reality in order to fit their purposes. This results in audiences not always being able to know if what they are seeing is an accurate reproduction of reality. Rather, they are being manipulated to feel or think a certain way.
First, students will watch this great short video from the New York Times about magazine retouching.
Next, students will examine the following examples, and answer these questions:
How has this image been altered?
What is the purpose of this image (to sell a product, a service, a business, to frighten, to entertain, etc)? What are the motives of its creator? Why was it altered?
Why WOULDN'T the creator of the image want to show the real image?
What does the creator of this image want me to do? How are they trying to position the viewer?
1. Iran's altered missile photo(which ran in several American newspapers before the altering was discovered)
2. Fox News alters photos of NY Times reporters - students will watch the video to determine the producer's motives.
3. Videos of aliens/flying saucers
4. Photoshop and Magazine covers - this website lets you see the before and after of various changes to the image.
5. Computer transforms into spaceship that flies away:
This activity will help students to look critically at the images they are presented, and consider if and how they may have been altered. In addition, it gives students the opportunity to consider WHY these images might have been altered.
One could take this activity in a number of directions from this point. Here are a few ideas:
A) Students will find an image (still or video) that they suspect has likely been altered in some way. They analyze it using the same questions listed above.
B) Exposé of their own school newspaper. They will interview the editor for if/how/when/why Photoshop is used.
C) If your school has access to Photoshop, you could have students create a News article, or Persuasive piece that involves a doctored image.
This is a great lesson. If your school had access to photoshop there are a lot of things students could create with it. In a digital photo class I took here at the U, I had an assignment where we were to combine the features of 3 different people to create a new person...trying to make them realistic as possible and were then to post them on HotorNot.com. Is was an interesting project!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great assignment. Even if your student's didn't have access to photoshop this assignment would work on so many levels. The worn out expression "a picture is worth a thousand words" usually holds true, so slightly altered pics could persuade people more than you'd think. Many of your assignment's key questions center on an important question: motivation. Why are certain images altered, for what purpose? Student's could most certainly come up with many responses to that question.
ReplyDeleteI’m impressed with this assignment because it is very relevant to kids’ everyday lives, and I think students would be interested in answering the questions you pose about the doctored images. I really like the idea of having kids create a persuasive piece using a doctored image. Kids would have fun using Photoshop and could still be held accountable for explaining their reasons for changing the image the way they did. This would show their understanding of the use of persuasive images.
ReplyDeleteCenter!
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I love this assignment!!! I never even thought to do something with photoshop or retouching of photos, but seriously, how relevant for students! I think this is critically analyzing media in it's perhaps most obvious, but certainly most prevalent form. In all aspects, from print to television, images are altered and changed, and you can definitely investigate the idea of media bias by looking at the way images are altered.
I'm sure you've seen this, you film guru you, but just in case.... proves the point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U