HOW TO REVIEW AN ART WORK/ FILM STUDY GUIDE

What is Art?

It is on the walls, the clothes you are wearing; it affects every aspect of your life. It is sometimes over looked.

Note.

Not everything applies to every book of art, nor is it useful to consider things in the order given. In any analysis, keep in mind the following: HOW and WHY is this a significant work of art?

A. General Information.

This may be found on a label or in a gallery guidebook. If so indicate in your work, where you got information.

1) Subject Matter (Who or what is represented).

2) Artist or Architect (What group or person made it? Often this is not known. Refer to this person as the artist or architect, not author. Refer to them by their last name.

3) Date (When was it made? Is a copy of sitting older? Was it made before or after other similar works?)

4) Provenance (Where was it made? For whom? Is it typical of the art of a geographical area? Source and Ownership.

5) Location (Where and the work of art now? Where was it originally located?).

6) Technique and Medium (What material is it made of? How was it executed? How big or small is it)

Part II.

B. Brief Description.

In a few sentences, describe the work. What does it look like? Is it an abstraction of something? Tell what the subject is and what aspect is emphasized.

Note that it is not the analysis of work yet!

This section is primarily a few sentences to give the reader of a sense of what the work looks like.

C. Part III. Form.

This is the key part of your paper. It should the longest section of the paper.

Be sure to know whether the work of art selected is a 2 or 3 dimensional work.

2: Is a work of art that exists on a flat surface.

3: Art forms such as sculpture that has depth or creating illusion of depth behind a flat surface.

Art Elements. Path of movement, bold-delicate, active-passive, broken-continuous.

1) Line (Straight, Curved, Angular, Flowing, Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal, Contour, Thick, Thin, Implied, Actual e.t.c)

2) Shape (What Shapes are created and how)

3) Light and Value (Source, Flat, Strong, Contrasting, Even, Values, Emphasis, Tint, Shade, and Chiaroscuro Intensity: bright-dull.

4) Colour (Primary, Secondary, Mixed Complimentary, Warm, Cool, Decorative, Values)

5) Texture and Pattern (real, implied repeating)

6) Space (depth, overlapping, kinds of perspective)

7) Time and Motion.

Principles of Design.

1) Unity and variety

2) Balance (Symmetry, Asymmetric)

3) Emphasis and Subordination

4) Scale and Proportion (Weight, how objects or figures relate to each other and the setting)

5) Mass/Volume/3-D art

6) Rhythm

7) Setting (architecture)

8) Interior/Exterior (Relationship)

Part IV.

Opinions and Conclusions.

This is the part where you go beyond description and offer a conclusion and your own information opinion about the work. Any statement you make about the work should be based on the analysis in Part II above.

General Rules.

Italicize or underline titles of works of art.

Use the present tense in

www://web.ubc.ca/okanajan/creative/links/arthistory.html.

Interpreting Poetry Tips.

1) Read the title

2) Read the poem. Look for the setting, topic and voice.

3) Divide the poem into parts: Intro, Rising Action, Climax, Declining Action, and Conclusion.

4) What tone does the poem have? Pay attention to intonation, nuance and words used.

Now that the general structures and relationship of the poem is revealed, it is time to look at the elements of analysis: Genre, Voice, Thesis, Structure, Setting, Imagery, Key Statements, Sound, Language Use, and Allusion, Qualities that evoke the reader, historical and Cultural Ideology.

Genre: What type of poem is it: Cinquain, Hai ku, Lyric, Narrative, Elegy, Sonnet, Epic, and Epistle? Different Genres have separate attribute, purposes and emphases.

Voice: Who is the speaker? What print of vision is the speaker? Is the speaker involved in the action or reflection of the poem?

(Examples of Poems include)

Title: Resume

Poem by Dorothy Parker.

Razors pain you

Rivers are damp

Acids stain you

And drugs cause cramp

Gun aren’t lawful

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful

You might as well live.

Gary R.Hess

I hate the world we live in

Nothing seemed so true

The culture differences, The religions

Beliefs, The murders, rape, and beatings

Nothing good came to this nor will

It ever The Tyranny of This world

Is great, and hurtful to every neutral

What perspective (Social, intellectual, political) does the speaker show? What world is the poem in?

Themes: What is the poem about?

Structure: What is the poems formal structure (number of Stanza, Meters, and Rhyme Scheme)?

Setting: What type of world is the poem set in? The time place- is it connotative, allegorical, symbolic, and concrete.

Imagery: What images does the poem use: The physical setting or metaphors used?

Key statements: Repetition actions, alliteration? What direct or indirect statements are made?

Key Use: What kinds of words are used? Do the words have double meaning? What about ambiguities?

Qualities that evoke the reader: What are the values and bank ideals of the world that are expressed?

Ideology: What are the values and basic ideals of the world that are expressed?

www.poemofquotes.com/articles/analyzing-poetry-tips.php

Film Criticism.

When we watch movies, we tend to concentrate on the actors and the story. It is useful to make of the film “arts” and consider the role each plays in what we are considering.

Film Study Guide.

Before students can begin to study film, they must be provided with a focus.

LITERARY ASPECTS	DRAMATIC ASPECTS	CINEMATIC ASPECTS	LANGUAGE WORK
Narrative	Acting	Camera Works/Angles
Characters	Costumes	Sound and Vision
Setting	Make-up	Lighting
Theme
Signs
Genre

Narrative: (the story, story line, what the story is based on; binary oppositions; description of equilibrium and how a new equilibrium sets in).

Characters: (heroes, villains, helpers, main characters, supporting characters and how characters function and contribute to our understanding of the story)

Setting: (physical environment in which occurs, indoor and outdoor setting, its significance)

Theme: (General statement about the subject)

Signs: (Anything perceptible that has significance beyond its usual function or meaning; an object, a sound, a person, an act, a color)

Genre: (Comedy, Romance, Suspense, a combination of different Genres.

Costumes: (Formal clothes, informal clothes, their color and their contributions to the film).

Make-up: (Style, color, who then it is exaggerated or planning, the effects it creates, colors.

Camera Angles: Movements and position. (Low Camera Angle, High Camera Angle, Close-Up, Extreme Close-Up, Tilted Camera and how this affects our understanding).

Sound and Vision: (Sound effects, Soundtrack Music, Visual effects lighting (illumination in each scene)

(www.frankwbaker.com/filmframework.html)