Moodle Post 1

 

I’ve found a picture that encompasses what was discussed in most of chapter 4. This is a picture, like many shown on television, of a child who is starving and needs our donation to survive. I feel that this represents shock value perfectly due to the fact that not many ‘normal’ people would be able to look at this photo and not instantly feel grief for the child and, in turn, be compelled to donate their money. However, I am not sure that we should necessarily take offense to shocking images such as this photo. In our Visual Communication book Oliviero Toscani said, “Advertising can be used to say something that is real about things that exist”. In many ways, Toscani is correct. By using shock value to get information out to the public and raise money to help others, we are making the world more aware of the very real, harsh conditions that some children grow up and live in. This photo shows the harsh reality that the child faces, which is also high-lighted in the text, lighting, and angle of the camera from the way that I view it. The color of text for Donate Now most likely would not stand out if it did not have the white, angelic color surrounding it. It stands out even more because the lighting in the photo seems as if it has not been tampered with at all so that the view we have of the child is harsh or grainy and very real like an everyday photo that we might take. We are also viewing the child from above as if he is looking up to us to help him. All of these things make the child seem more vulnerable and add to the shock value of the picture. While this photo may have been pulled from a commercial, it seems that from the still shot they could have made it more effective or shocking by adding in the boy’s name, story, or even location in which he lives. If all of this information was added in, the photo would be appealing to our pathos as well as our logos. Our book mentioned that if we are going to persuade someone to do something, such as donate money for the children, we must provide people with solid information or facts as well as show them something that will appeal to their emotions. I feel that this picture does a really good job of appealing to a persons pathos, however, without both pathos and logos, the picture is most likely not as effective as it could potentially be. (437/423 without quote)

URL : http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://media.worldvision.org/email/200601/prospect/premium_worship_child.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.shaunanicholson.com/blog-action-day-2008-what-can-online-communities-do-to-help-poverty/&usg=__dfmjeJBbLsJ8l78ZlSAUZ6G2z2A=&h=224&w=220&sz=16&hl=en&start=51&zoom=1&tbnid=686pKTiEC1BwMM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=137&ei=wT9FTZ3XDc6_gQffzrXPAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dadvertisements%2Babout%2Bstarving%2Bchildren%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1G1TSNA_ENUS414%26biw%3D1291%26bih%3D471%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C1542&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=507&vpy=172&dur=31&hovh=179&hovw=176&tx=130&ty=117&oei=nz9FTeLRPJPogQe70qzvAQ&esq=5&page=5&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:51&biw=1291&bih=471