1. Visual Literacy
Crossing the Bridge Towards a New Form of 21 st Century Learning
Kari Carriere  Marcie Perdue  Kevin Baird

2. “When asked what students need to be
learning that they are not, George Lucas
replied that they need to understand a
new language of expression. They need
visual literacy.”
Bleed,R. (2005)

3. Why Visual Literacy?
“It’s not just about reading and writing it’s about incorporating
visual elements into a new definition of what it means to be literate.”
The question presented to 21st Century Educators is whether
students can interpret and use visual texts in ways that
advance thinking, decision making, communication and
learning.

4. Understanding Film

5. Aspect Ratio

6. Proxemics
The distance between the camera and the
subject.
Proxemics are used to place emphasis on
important characters and symbols within a
visual frame.

7. Framing

8. Extreme Long Shot

9. Long Shot

10. The Full Shot

11. Medium Shot

12. The Close Up

13. Extreme Close Up

14. Negative Space

15. Deep Focus Shot

16. Shallow Focus

17. Angle Shots
The angle is determined by where the camera is placed, not
the subject being photographed.
The angle from which an object is photographed can often
serve as a commentary on the subject matter. If the angle is
slight, it can serve as a subtle form of emotional coloration.
An extreme angle is often used to place significance on an
object. More importantly, it emotionally connects the viewer
to a character’s feelings or emotions.

18. Worm’s Eye View

19. Low Angle

20. High Angle

21. Bird’s Eye View

22. Angle of Destiny

23. Wide Angle

24. Directionality

25. Lighting
There are a number of different styles of
lighting. Usually the style is geared towards the
theme and mood of the film, as well as its genre.

26. High Key

27. High Contrast

28. Low Key

29. Backlighting

30. Side Lighting

31. Now it is Your Turn!
Identify the following camera shots and angles.

38. Character Development
Using Visual Literacy

39. A New Way of Teaching
While it is true that as teachers we are required to
study film in our English classes, we need to move
our pedagogy further than simply discussing film
like a written text.
Instead, we need to push our students and
ourselves to see film as a form of visual literacy that
has its own terminology and techniques that are
used to develop character and themes in new and
exciting ways.

40. Neo
(a.k.a Tom Anderson)

41. THE ONE
An anagram of Neo is One.
The number 1 represents
"the prime mover from which all manifest
creation flows, the single principle from which
diversity is born. In dreams it may represent
the source of all life, the ground of being...”

42. A Christ Figure

43. Neo's full name in the matrix is Thomas A. Anderson.
The last name means "Son of Man" or "Man's Son.
(both refer also to the Biblical Messiah. In Christian
theology, Jesus Christ is the Messiah (Son of God,
Son of Man, "Light of The World") who saves
mankind from its sins.
Neo is not meant to actually represent Christ, but
these suggested connections elevate his status in the
films and underscore the important role he plays in
the battle to save the human race.

44. NEO
Filmed in Negative Space to demonstrate his alienation from
society and the truth.
Negative space often indicates an internal conflict within a
character.
Film techniques can often be used to replicate an allusion for
viewers to interpret.

45. Neo

46. TRINITY

47. The Unity
Trinity stands for the number three.
The word "trinity" is often used to represent the union of
three people or things, such as: “body, mind and spirit”
“birth, life and death” “past, present and future”
The Matrix trilogy is in many ways united by the relationship
that develops between Morpheus, Trinity and Neo. In the
Matrix trilogy, Trinity serves as a uniting force, the one who
gives us access to Neo.

48. Along with Neo, the character of Trinity is also
filmed in negative space, but in contrast with that
of Neo. Quite often the two of them are filmed in
opposition, until they are finally joined in the end
of the movie.
She is often filmed with lights and other characters
to symbolically represent a trinity.

49. Trinity

50. Agents

51. Agent Defined:
"A person or thing that acts or has the power to act.”
"A drug or chemical capable of eliciting a biological
response." By definition, the agents injected Morpheus
with an agent.
An organism that is a cause of disease. (Note that Agent
Smith called the human race a virus and he called the
machines the cure.)”
A person who acts in an official capacity for a
government agency.”

52. The Enemy of Man
The word "agent" in this movie refers to the machine
police of the matrix simulated world and are the human
race's enemy.
Agents are, in the words of Morpheus, "Sentient
programs. They can move in and out of any software
still hard wired to their system. That means that anyone
we haven't unplugged is potentially an agent. They
could be everyone, they could be no one. Note that the
three agent names (Brown, Jones, and Smith) are all
common last names

53. AGENT SMITH
The Agents are filmed
using primarily side
lighting. This technique is
typically used to show the
separation between good
and evil in the self.
Side lighting is often used
in two opposing
characters to illustrate
conflict between good
and who evil.

54. Agents

55. Symbolism

56. Telephones

57. Telephones are often seen as a communication symbol and the
directors emphasize their importance through the use of close ups and
extreme close ups throughout the movie.
In the Matrix the directors show an opposition between old and new
forms of communication.
Often the new “cell phones” used by the characters are shown as
something that serves a minor purpose and are unreliable and therefore
are quickly discarded (windows, garbage).
Where the analog rotary phones of the past serve a primary purpose
the only reliable trusted escape out of the matrix.

59. Bibliography
http://www.thematrix101.com
http://www.matrix-
explained.com/symbolism_in_the_matrix.htmhttp
www.sparksnotes.com