Term 2
It took me forever to get through term 1. Here's hoping that I can get through term 2 in a timely manner.
I started out by going through the two videos for week 1 and taking some notes. I've already been applying the lessons from those videos to my observations of both art and things I see in my day to day, especially videos I watch online.
From what I understand, the first two elements of art: Dots (points) and lines are about composition and directing the eye. Basically, dots are points of interest in a composition; where you want an audience to focus. This could take the form of a character's face, an interesting element of a building, or a facet of an environment. Lines are simply consistent places of contrast that direct the audience's eye towards those dots and away from the negative space in the composition.
Since watching the videos for this week, I've noticed that this extends to youtube videos and video games as well. If you want someone to focus on something, you make it a 'dot' and give 'lines' to lead towards it. The eye naturally follows the 'lines' to reach the 'dot' and if it's done correctly, it should be an unconscious process that happens automatically. That why interview videos typically place each speaker on opposite sides of the screen and video games highlight where the player is supposed to go in yellow paint.
At least that's my understanding of what I've learned. I'll be posting this week's assignments to this thread at the end of the week.
