Humanities Unit 1

ELEMENTS OF DISCIPLINES IN THE

HUMANITIES 7 Elements of the Visual Arts

Line A moving dot; a line shows direction Perspective The illusion of depth Shape An enclosed line; shapes can be rounded (biomorphic attached to life

forms or geometric) Form Shapes that seem to have volume or three dimension and can be

geometric or fl at and not with height or with width

Color The absence or the presence of light; in paintings, color can give the

viewer a sense of a sad or happy feeling

Subject What it is about? It is like a topic? Texture The feeling of the surface Value The effect of lightness or darkness

Line The fi rst mark a child makes when she learns to draw or write is a line. It is the earliest type of expression. A line is a moving dot, and the basic tool used by visual artists. A line can be straight, curved, thick, or thin. It can be jagged or fl owing, smooth or bumpy. The visual artist utilizes line in her artwork to express certain feelings. For instance, if she wants to present chaos and disorder, she may use diagonal lines to create a feeling of tension. Line was used thousands of years ago by artists who painted on cave walls in Altamira, Spain, and Lascaux, France and is still the most basic tool used by artists today.

Shape A line that is enclosed becomes a shape. A shape can be a geometric shape like a rectangle, or it can be a rounded or oblong shape. When it is rounded and attaches itself to natural shapes, it is considered to be a biomorphic shape. A biomorphic shape is part of the biological world. If you take a look at biological organisms such as cells, you will recognize images and shapes that are biomorphic, or organic.

Many artists who like to use abstract organic shapes use biomorphic forms or shapes inspired from nature. Piet Mondrian’s late works did not look organic, but some of his early abstract forms were inspired from the branches of trees. Henry Moore, a sculptor from England, was inspired by pieces of bone and created sculp-

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tures from shapes that were similar to vertebrae. In Dallas, Texas, one of his large sculp- tures, Dallas Piece, was inspired from some pieces of bones that he had in his studio. The architect of the Dallas City Hall, I. M. Pei, selected Henry Moore’s work to be placed in front of it because it was completely opposite to the stark geometric shape of the city building. I.M. Pei, architect, created several iconic buildings located in Dallas. He was born in Suzhou, China in 1917 and died in 2019 at the age of 102. Sources: https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/architecture/2019/05/16/i-m-pei-architect-of-the-dal- las-skyline-has-died-at-102/, https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/i-m-pei-5590.php

Color Color is the absorption or reflection of light. Color is used by the visual artist to create a mood. The use of warm colors is useful to an artist for creating a happy scene. Artists and painters often use colors such as yellow or orange to create a bright or happy atmo- sphere. Various color combinations used by artists tend to create certain emotional re- sponses

. Many famous paintings are known because of how the colors and shapes were

put together and organized. Those paintings are identified and recognized as major works of art and are studied by students today.

Reds, yellows, and some oranges are considered to be warm colors. Blues and greens tend to create more subdued reactions and emotions; therefore, they are referred to as the cool colors.

In a well-known 1937 painting by Pablo Picasso about a bomb that fell upon civil- ians, Picasso purposely painted using gray scale (from black to white with gray in between). This is referred to as using value, or light and dark. Picasso may have used value instead of color as the predominant element to draw attention to the shapes rather than colors. By leaving out the warm colors of tints and shades of red, which could have been used to symbolize blood, the viewer is forced to notice the fragmented shapes instead. This was a very innovative and powerful move on the part of an artist in 1937.

Guernica Painting by Pablo Picasso Guernica, by Pablo Picasso, has a subject of war. When General Franco allowed Hit- ler’s military to bomb the town of Guernica, Picasso was working on a mural for the Paris Exhibition (1937) but was in a dry spell. When he heard about the bombing, he knew what he would paint.

Guernica is considered to be one of the best examples of a great work of art repre- senting the inhumanity to man.

Francisco de Goya also represented in his subject matter the innocent victim before a firing squad, an inhumane behavior of mankind. This also is an example of a major work of art that is about the subject of war.

Although these paintings are not pleasant as far as their subject matter, they are still considered to be great works of art.

Symbolism seen in Guernica is disturbing, as it generates many feelings in the individuals who view it. When Picasso was asked to explain the symbolism behind Guernica, he remarked, “It isn’t up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words!”

Colors have their own value. The value of a color is its lightness or darkness, but the hue or name of the color is still the same. For example, yellow is a color or hue that is naturally light. If you take a black-and-white photograph of a painting that has the color yellow in it, the color yellow will appear in the black-and-white photograph as a very light gray.

In Guernica, a painting by Pablo Picasso, he purposely used gradations of gray tints and shades in the various shapes and patterns all over the huge canvas to create a repeti-

Elements of the Disciplines in the Humanities 25

tive and organized yet chaotic arrangement of horror. In this work, Picasso brings view- ers to a point where they cannot help but feel the pain even though there is a lack of color used by the painter.

Picasso’s Guernica is in the museum in Madrid, Spain. It is 11 feet tall and 25.6 feet wide. Picasso painted in grey scale because he, too, first heard of this horrific event by reading about it in a newspaper. Since the newspaper was not in color during the 1930s it may be the reason for his painting in black and white values. Others have said that it may be that since Francisco de Goya’s painting of the “Execution of the Citizens of Madrid” (also referred to as the “Execution of the Third of May”) was in color, he decided to do his with more powerful emphasis on shapes and leave out color. Artists that are innovative and want to reflect their own time will use other forms and elements of art to draw attention with another treatment. Great artists are able to express events in other ways and not copy other artists and other time periods.

This painting is considered a masterpiece. When some young students first look at the painting they may not understand why it is considered great. It may take some understanding on their part. It may take a few minutes of understanding how to judge and evaluate art. It may be that the individual looking at the work would want to stand in front of the actual work in Madrid, Spain. Of course, this is not always possible. The next best thing would be to go to a site and watch a film and see Picasso (he died in 1973 but there are actual films with footage of him) working in his studio. (Unlike Michel- angelo, who died before the age of film, we actually have Picasso on film in his studio.)

It’s a wonderful experience to travel to the museum or location where an artwork is on display. If you can go see the site of the building, sculpture, or painting, it is fan- tastic. It takes some planning but it is worth it. It is fun and life changing. Because of the information age, another neat way to see artwork is online, where we can see its location in the museum. Viewers can experience the size and shape, as if being there. It is easy to go to the computer and look up a painting or a great building or a sculpture and find out who did it and where it was located or where it is today. I suggest anyone who does not understand a work of art to go online and become acquainted with such great works of art. Then, someday, if you can visit the museum where some artwork is on display and see the size of the work and do a little research and actually see it you will get it. You will be amazed at how it looks in the context of the space. You will then become an “art lover.”

It takes a little time, a little research, a little patience, and open-mindedness. The interpretations of Guernica are varied because Picasso did not explain his work.

Most great artists don’t. Some art professors have told me that interpretations of Guer- nica are varied and that the bull and the horse are important images in Picasso’s work because he was Spanish. He used the bull to represent strength and sometimes to repre- sent himself in his work. The horse also represented some people and the innocence of the civilians who were victimized. Accounts vary depending upon your source. Picasso was against Fascism and wanted to represent his feelings about how he felt about the brutality of the bombing of the innocent people of the town of Guernica by the drop- ping of the bomb. Picasso was a deeply emotional person and he did make a statement publicly once about the painting and said that he wanted to show his feelings about how he felt about the people of the town of Guernica.

Source: http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp

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Warm Colors: Red, yellow, orange

Cool Colors: Blues and some greens

Value: Gray tones, from white to black

Notice that white and black are not on the color wheel and are not considered to be colors.

Tints, Shades, and Tone A tint is when a color has white added to it. A shade is when a color has black added to it. A tone is when brown is added to the color.

Texture The feeling of the surface is the definition of texture. It means whether the surface appears to be rough or smooth, but it is also the feel of the surface.

Vincent Van Gogh, a late-nineteenth-century Dutch artist, used thick paint in many of his paintings, especially when he was emotionally troubled. He is remembered as one of the leading post-impressionist painters who utilized texture and color in an unusual manner.

He had an artistic style all his own and left many paintings behind because he only sold one during his lifetime, which was actually only exchanged in trade. Today Van Gogh is considered to be one of the most significant painters who ever lived.

Students sometimes ask why some artists were able to sell their work during their time while other artists had trouble making a living from their artworks. That may be a question to ponder. Artists who remain meaningful and unique seem to be those who have a style that stands out. It is not easy for a student in art school to find his or her artistic style. The assignments are often filled with having to do work similar to the mas- ters, and many times the work needs to look like the instructor’s. This process reflects whether students understand their assignments, and it also represents their ability to understand a master’s work.

But upper-level art students must also perfect a style of their own if they want to become an artist in their own right. In painting classes, some students are able to learn to copy the works of the masters and then go beyond the copy phase to develop their own style and truly become artists.

Artists reflect their own time and place. They have the talent, skill, and know-how to project the world around them in their art. An artist is able to see and perceive in ways that many people do not notice.

Perspective Perspective is the illusion of depth. This element does not have to be used if a work is not intended to be an illusion or appear to look three-dimensional. Some art uses over- lapping to create a sense of depth or to portray the illusion of time. This technique was perfected during the Italian Renaissance.

When perspective is used, the objects in the background are smaller and appear to be farther away in the distance. These objects also get this appearance from the use of thinner and lighter paint to give an appearance of dimness. An object in the distance

Elements of the Disciplines in the Humanities 27

or in the background near the horizon line is made to look very faint and light in color. The artist may use a tint of a color by adding white to it.

Form The form of a composition is the overall design and how the artist utilized the elements.

How did the artist use the elements together? The following is a quote about how form and content are related when looking at

a work of art. “Form is the total effect of the combined visual qualities within a work, including

such components as materials, color, shape, line, and design. Content refers to the mes- sage or meaning of the work of art – what the artist expresses or communicates to the viewer. Content determines form, but form expresses content; thus the two are insepa- rable. As form changes, content changes, and vice versa.”

Source: Patrick Frank, Art Forms, 9th ed.

Subject What was the work about?

Did the composition have a subject? Did you recognize an image? Was it a build- ing? Was it a person (or portrait)?

Did it have a plant or a table with flowers or a vase on it? (It would be considered a still life.)

Did it not have a subject, and was it simply colors or lines or shapes? Then the work would be considered nonobjective art.

Nonobjective art has no subject; it uses elements for the sake of form itself in an arrangement.

Value Value is the use of white, grey, and black and the absence of the pigments you see on the color wheel such as the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue).

What gradations from white to black do you notice in the artwork when you exam- ined it?

An example: In some artworks, artists may leave color out in order to better emphasize the use

of shapes. Some scholars say that Pablo Picasso did this with Guernica to reflect the fragmentary pieces left after the bomb and the devastation of the act of terror.

Elements of Music Melody Single succession of tones

28 What Are the Humanities?

Harmony Two or more tones sounding together

Rhythm The beat or the pulsation

Tempo Rate of speed

Dynamics Loud or soft, or the degrees of loudness or softness

Timbre The quality of sound or how one distinguishes between one instrument and another.

The elements of music need to be heard individually to recognize them and for the listener to learn to distinguish the styles of music that composers use in their work. If someone is singing all by oneself, that melody is considered to be a texture. A single sound is a thin texture that is referred to as monophonic texture. This is easy to remember because the word mono means “one” and phonic means “sound.” One instrument played by itself is also considered a monophonic texture.

When two instruments are played together and each one plays a separate melody, the two melodies together are a polyphonic texture. Two people singing two melodies together is also considered polyphonic texture. Poly means “many.”

When someone plays or sings a melody that is accompanied by blocks of sound (chords), this is homophonic texture. A hymn or a piece such as “America the Beautiful” is homophonic texture. Homophonic texture is the sound that is heard when a folk singer sings while strumming the strings of a guitar. Many symphony orchestra compo- sitions are also written in homophonic texture.

Three Textures Monophonic: One line of melody

Polyphonic: Two or more melodies together

Homophonic: One main melody with blocks of sound accompanying it

http://www.dallassymphony.com

Elements of Theater Knowing the elements of theater is helpful to students when they view a theatrical performance or read a play.

Script The language used by the actors playing the roles in a play. The parts in the written document written by the playwright. The written document, or script, is the first element of theater.

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Plot The structure of the play which consists of the exposition, the complication, and the denouement.

Exposition This portion of the play introduces the characters and their backgrounds and personalities.

Complication This element gives the audience a reason to be interested in the story and characters and keeps their attention. A conflict may be created to frustrate the audience and gain their interest in the plot.

Denouement This device is a period of adjustment at the end of the play that resolves the complication.

Elements of Architecture The visual elements of art are used by architects to plan and draw. Architecture is a three-dimensional art, which means that it consists of height, width, and depth.

Line The use of a moving dot to show direction. A line is a tool used by the architect to render the schematics.

Shape Lines are enclosed to create shapes that are used in architectural drawings.

Scale The relationship of the size of the building to the size of the human form.

Function The basic purpose of a building.

Context The environment surrounding a work of architecture.

Color The color can be from the natural color of organic materials or manmade such as synthetic or chemically mixed colors. The use of color in architectural structures depends on the location and weather conditions as well as the function and purpose of the structure.

30 What Are the Humanities?

Elements of Dance Movement A dancer moves the body in curved or straight angles. The movements create horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines.

Sound Dancers move to sound. The sound is usually a rhythm or beat. The sound can also be organized as music. Many types of traditional dance forms are performed to music.

Theme A theme, or dancing to a subject, is somewhat like a story in Western dance. In some parts of the world, people do not dance to themes. Some modern dancers avoid a theme (just like some modern painters avoid a subject in a style called nonobjectivism). Bal- let is a form of dance that has a theme or subject that is used to tell a story. Ballets that were written in the eighteenth century became very long. Two well-known ballets are Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.

Choreography and Staging Where to go on the stage and placement of where to dance.

Set Design What is built on the stage that sets the mood and that the dancer has to dance on and around.

Lighting The way the lights shine on the dancers and how they are lit.

Elements of Film Script Organization of the shots as well as the words and phrases spoken by the actors.

Sound and Audio Actual sounds captured by filming, as well as special sounds added in the editing phase.

Camera Angles and Camera Movements The way in which the camera moves in order to capture images to portray mood, expressions, and feelings.

(Bishop, Philip E., A Beginner’s Guide to the Humanities, Prentice Hall, 2003)

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Acting The actresses and actors portraying characters, making situations believable.

Lighting Use of light to capture mood, draw attention, and create suspense if needed.

Costumes and Makeup These add information and detail helpful to create believable situations. They also draw attention to the characters and provide hints to help tell the story or create suspense.

Editing Placing the pieces of film together in a fashion to create the story. This may also be the arrangement of scenes to create mood, explain characters, present points of view, and tell a story.

Music Used to Enhance Film and the Acting in Film An example of music used in a film that many students are familiar with is “Star Wars.” “Star Wars” was composed by the renowned John Williams. The instrumentation se- lected by the composer helped the scene become more believable and drew an emo- tional response from the audience. The strings were used to help the audience respond in conjunction with the actors to feel more sentimental and the brass instruments were used to create a presence of triumph and victory. The music helped convey romanti- cism and exhilaration. Williams won an Academy Award for his work as a composer and as a conductor. His work writing scores for films has certainly given other composers someone “to look up to” and transformed the film music industry. Even though “Star Wars” is not as old as films like Citizen Kane or North by Northwest, this film’s soundtrack has earned the title of being legendary.

Source: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6812919/star-wars-main-title-theme- deconstructed

John Williams was born in New York and moved to Los Angeles. He studied at the Juliard School of Music, attended UCLA, served in the Air Force, and worked in his early career in the film industry with Bernard Herrmann who was the composer of “North by Northwest.” Williams was the conductor of the Boston Pops and composed many soundtracks for famous films such as Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Seven Years in Tibet, The Lost World, Rosewood, Sleepers, Nixon, Sabrina, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Far and Away, JFK, Hook, Presumed Innocent, Always, Born on the Fourth of July, the Indiana Jones trilogy, The Accidental Tourist, Empire of the Sun, The Witches of Eastwick, the Star Wars trilogy, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Empire Strikes Back, Super- man, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, and Goodbye Mr. Chips.

Source: http://www.johnwilliams.org/reference/biography.html

32 What Are the Humanities?

Music Is Used in Film Scenes to Help Create Mood Scene from film: The King’s Speech, Director Tom Hooper

Musical Score Alexandre Desplat Use of the musical composition, “The Symphony No. 7 in A Major” by Beethoven.

Director Hooper’s achievement was his use of film elements enabling viewers to feel as if they were there alongside the stuttering King George VI. The camera zoomed in on the king’s twitching mouth awaiting his words while in the background, an anxious speech coach played Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.

The music used in the film The King’s Speech during the first wartime speech given by the king was Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7 in A Major: Allegretto.” As King George VI concluded his first wartime speech, the film audience heard the “Piano Concerto No. 5 Op. 73 (Emperor) in E-Flat Major: II. Adagio un poco mosso” by Beethoven. During the first therapy session when the king’s voice is being recorded, the music heard in the background is “The Overture to La Nozze di Figaro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

One reason the audience was so interested in the film was that viewers could relate to the main characters: King George VI and his speech therapist. Subjective shots were successfully used in order to draw the audience into the emotions of the characters.

The success of the film comes from the achievement of the director and the direc- tor of photography to ensure that the audience felt that they were right there alongside the king. Emotionally, the audience invests an enormous amount in the character, and they empathize with his problem of stuttering. (The seriousness of the time and the importance of his role as the king and the role of his country in the war is also brought out in the film and his ability to speak clearly is important.) The use of cutaway shots and camera movements add to the tension inside the sound room as the king speaks in front of the microphone which shows his mouth forming the words and almost making incorrect sounds, but the camera cuts back and forth between the close-up of the king’s mouth and the reassuring speech therapist, who moves his hand assuredly and the king’s voice sounds loud and clear over the loudspeaker. The camera pans the room where his wife and family are seated and then to the technical assistant who looks very restless and uptight. The music of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony plays in the background and the volume of the music goes up and down in dynamic levels. When the king’s words are dramatic and he asks his countrymen and women to support him and his country, the music swells to a loud sound and large chords are heard with the entire symphony play- ing. The use of close-up and wide-angle lenses were intentional to create suspense for the audience, and the top of the king’s face was cut off to create an even greater close-up image. Closing in on the actors’ faces helps viewers to really get under the actors’ skin, and use of good camera movement and lighting makes it compelling and keeps viewers engaged with the anxious monarch.

In the last speech in the film The King’s Speech, the actor who plays King George VI, Colin Firth, gives his speech in the sound room with his speech therapist who says to him, “Just say it to me as a friend.” The speech therapist looks directly at King George VI through a close-up camera shot of the large round microphone, looking reassuringly into the eyes of the king. The camera then cuts to an extreme close-up of the king who blinks his eyes and makes nervous twitches in this quick cutaway to the king. The king looks uneasy, agitated, and nervous. The extreme lighting contrast goes from dark bluish grey to black to light white to grey tints. The size of the sound room is accentuated by the lighting and the placement of the microphone directly in the center of the room. The closeness and tightness of the room and the low, slow, dark sounds of the music all add to

Elements of the Disciplines in the Humanities 33

the intensity of the mood. The camera closes in on the king’s face for a partial view, and most of his face is shot in a shadow with his profile in the lit area with a light glow on his face. Then the camera shows the microphone in the middle of the shot again and moves around in motion. The speech therapist (Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist in real life, played in the film by Geoffrey Rush, actor) continues to conduct the king who stands nearby. The speech therapist stands in front of the king, acting as if he were a sym- phony conductor. As Lionel Logue stands in front of the king, giving him hand signals and position facial expressions, the sound of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 continues to build and swell during the scene. The king’s dynamic level of voice also follows the swell, up and down in volume when his message gets louder, and more compelling and more serious. The king asks his British people to stand beside him and to help him with his cause and to be faithful and that then with the help of God they will prevail. The scene begins with a close-up of the king’s mouth and a nervous facial expression with his eyes blinking, and ends with his eyes open and his full face and form looking confident.

Viewers first feel the king’s nervousness and tension from the way the camera draws them into the sound room, looking into the dark room, hearing the somber sound of Beethoven’s No. 7 Symphony, and seeing the lighting used by the director of photogra- phy and the film director. The use of these elements helps enhance the scene and influ- ence the audience to better understand the meaning of the film.

It makes a difference to look at how the elements of film help tell the story—for example, how low light was used on the king, with a touch of highlights, to create suspense. The director of photography chose to show only portions of the king’s face and only partial lighting to give the viewer a sense of tension and a feeling of anticipation and uneasiness. This subjective shot by the camera helps viewers feel the tension that the king was feeling. The shot of the speech therapist when his expression was calm and he smiled directly at the king and nodded at him to give him positive strokes and assurance was important to the story and helped the king speak much more clearly into the microphone. King VI continued to speak as a cutaway shot drew the audience to a room of individuals, including his wife and daughter who were sit- ting in the front row listening intently to his speech. His wife’s expression helped the audience feel the same extreme nervousness as she felt when she closed her eyes as if meditating or praying. The camera zoomed in on the main technician in the sound room who also looked tense and had a very serious facial expression, then the cam- era panned around the entire room to show how the room was filled with technical tools and serious-minded employees working at the equipment. The music continued to play in the background as the king’s speech improved and the audience began to think he would make it through; and his speech pattern began to sound confident as he spoke, asking his British citizens to please stay calm and remain united even if the days ahead were going to be dark and challenging.

MUSIC HAS AN INFLUENCE ON OUR MOOD WHEN WE WATCH FILMS When we watch a film we are influenced by sounds and that is why the first film mak- ers that only had the option of adding sound such as a piano realized that the audience became more exited if they heard something.

Very quickly, the film makers realized that sound was also important for audiences to understand the breadth of the story if they could see as well as hear at the same time. After a while some of the theaters had live performance with small orchestras; however, that became quite expensive. Eventually, technology improved and sound became a pos- sibility and everything changed for the film industry.

34 What Are the Humanities?

Music in film establishes the setting and draws attention to the characters. Music can help create the atmosphere and mood.

Music in film can help the audience understand what is about to happen.

Source: http://www.veryshortintroductions.com/view/10.1093/actrade/978019537 0874.001.0001/actrade-9780195370874-chapter-1

Music can invoke feelings of inspiration or despair, happiness or sadness. It can help the audience understand what is approaching, and about impending doom.

Music can create fear, without the listeners’ knowledge. Music touches listeners quicker than visual. It causes a very quick response rate and seems to have a universal sound that translates to people from around the globe, which is quite extraordinary and remarkable. Music has been called a universal language for several reasons and some say it is because it crosses boundaries of age, ethnicities, and localities. Would you agree or not? If one asks good directors and film editors, they know that music will make or break their film. If you study the greatest films ever made it is interesting to note that great music was created for the film. Great music was used in great films.

Great films will have utilized music that allowed the audience to have connected with the music to help enhance the main actor’s character or to help understand the message of the film or to help understand the main story line.

Great films will not use music that is tiring or overdone. Music that is used over and over or that is heard and then becomes so obvious that one hears it over the dialogue is not considered wise. Music in film is used to enhance, not to drown out the conversation.

In Jaws, the theme music by the great movie composer, John Williams, was very suspenseful and the sound track (music) was rather simple in its melody; but it was very effective. Director Steven Spielberg knew how to utilize music in an effective manner and he created a powerful film. Jaws is still considered a film that is a good example of music used effectively.

Source: http://www.centerdigitaled.com/artsandhumanities/Music-Makes-Movies.html