In an interview on ‘Edutopia’ Martin Scorsese explains the importance of visual literacy and the overall power of the image. Growing up he wasn’t exposed to traditional forms of literature as his family were constantly taking him to the cinemas. Scorsese was introduced to a world of visual tradition and literacy. As a result of this, Scorsese came to realise that there was ‘another kind of intelligence trying to tell a story through where the director, writer and cinematographer were focussing your eyes’.
Scorsese recognised that visual literacy occurred through the elements of the camera and how they were used to tell the story such as…
- extremely low angles
- the use of the lens
- the camera movements
Scorsese discovered the ways in which particular tools could be used and how they could become part of a vocabulary. He suggested that this vocabulary is just as ‘valid as that vocabulary that is used in literature and language’. He likened the traditional literature to visual literacy suggesting that in images there are also rules of vocabulary and grammar such as…
- panning left or right
- tracking in or out
- intercutting
- lighting
These elements are used in different ways to convey an ’emotional and psychological point to the audience’. Scorsese suggested that it is critical to look at images and what they mean. He demonstrates that there is a particular way that imagery can be interpreted and it is so important that young people understand how to interpret it.
What I found particularly fascinating is the power and strength that Scorsese sees in an image. He suggests that ideas and emotions are expressed through visual form to the audience. Throughout the process of making my scenes I have had to make particular decisions as to how I am going to convey my story to the audience. Scorsese explains that by taking the camera and filming I am having to ‘frame the image’. By framing the image I am deciding and interpreting exactly what I intend to say to the audience. As Scorsese suggests, I am choosing where the audience looks and I am deciding the emotional and psychological impact that has.
Here is the interview with Scorsese: