What I would like to understand is what is it that makes an image violent?

http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/117048/loving-touch.html
In this entry a comment said "I only see murder and violence."
Yet on the same contest an image of a pin being pulled out of a hand grenade won the contest and no one thought that could be violent. Again today and image of someone pointing a shot gun won the contest and that too did not provoke any violent related thoughts. Now I do not want to take anything away from these two images, i thought they were great and both deserved to win. What puzzles me is what do people see as violent? Love to hear what you all think. By the way I'm all for comments and constructive criticism, and prefer them to a vote any time.

eueueueuehm...how can i help you understand if i don't understand what you are trying to understand...understand ?

saluting army style I would guess, the screen however did freeze whan I opened this, and for a few seconds, I thought we had the rather offensive nazi salute as an emoticon

well..thank you for starters
and your chop was not violent...or hinting at murder...but the hands ARE kinda strangly around the girls neck...

No violence in your chop, i only think that the deep darkening around the hands brought Crowned to misunderstand your intentions.

There are two focal points to this image. The first is the hands and the second is the woman's eyes. The hands are slightly large in comparison to the girl's face and coming out of the darkness. The woman's eye's are wide open, but she is unable to see past the hands. So that suggests the hands belong to a stranger. The woman's posture suggests she is being thrown backward... why would somebody she can't identify be throwing her backwards? The hands look perpendicular to the face and neck, suggesting that the person with the hands is standing straight up and the woman is close to a horizontal position. The large hands around the neck and mouth suggest power and strangulation... even though the hands aren't clenched tight, it appears that the woman has already sufficated to death due to the blank stare at just the moment the murderer eases his grip to lay her down to the ground. By titling this "Loving Touch"... I picture this as being the peaceful moment of silence right after a furious struggle, the moment when struggle stops and life slips away.

In order to help you understand perhaps an anchor would help...

(The text anchors the image to the theme. The connotations of the image are many, but with an anchor you can restrict the genre. Movies do it by their titles, music and well placed sounds. Taking horror for example uses red and black, fast cuts, sharp noises to make you jump and silent music to make you pay more attention and also to accent the loud noises... more recent horror has also included the adrenaline mixer (fast paced music to go with a run away scene... this can be demonstrated in movies such as saw, dawn of the dead (new) and 28 days later.)

To demonstrate one of the possible connotations I'll use the text as an anchor.



Here we go




Anchors add Direction to the creators intended connotations of an image. This is why parody works so well because some things genre can be changed by altering the anchors.
However no matter what your intended connotations are, people draw their own conclusions... (Anchors are only a direction as you cannot make a subjective material objective in any way you can only prove it to be based on objective material and to do so would be objectivity.

Anchors do NOT have to be based in fact they just focus connotations towards a theme... and the more easily you accept anchors the less likely you are to form your own opinions.

Connotation in written form:
I was walking down the corridor when all of a sudden I notice a pair of long slender legs moving up to a short red skirt and tight fitting white tank top draped with straight brunette hair and a pair of glistening brown eyes accompanied with a dazzling smile, everything slowed as we passed each other. Nobody else mattered it was just the two of us and I couldn’t help but think

(Anchor time...)

Romance: I want her I carried on further but I couldn’t resist looking back but she was gone. This would not be the last time we crossed paths. I carried on but was halted by a knock to the shoulder it was a jock (Who later May make a tit of himself, may break up with her or die. The possibilities are limitless.) “Hey Man that’s my girlfriend you’re eyeing up you better watch yourself.”
I quickly retorted with. “Hey man no trouble.” (Movie style; well pick any chick flick really)

Comedy: How huge is that mole on her face. The toilet paper trailing from her shoes as I looked back was a real put off. I carried on but was halted by a knock to the shoulder it a jock with a rather notable lisp (who later make a tit himself by coming on to strong giving the main protagonist a chance) “Hey Man thascch my girlfriend you’re eyeeeing up you better wasch yourscchelf.”
Wash my self??? I quickly retorted. (Movie style; American pie)

Horror: Is that a spot of blood on her top. I carried on but was halted by a knock to the shoulder it a jock [accompanied by a sharp loud noise] (who later gets cut up there’s always one) “Hey Man that’s my girlfriend you’re eyeing up you better watch yourself.”
“No trouble…” I quickly retorted. (Movie style; scream, possibly zombie movies if you add she gets tacked to the ground by a ravenous child )

See the clear similarities and also the clear differences… using connotation to anchor other connotations as well as the “denotable” labels I put on each category…

Conflicting connotations they make a cross over genre. Romantic comedy (although it could be argued the comedy one is a romantic comedy think scrubs)


Connotations... An image conveys 1000 words. The subjective side would be your connotations and the objective side your denotation.

And so this concludes the seminar on use of imagery with anchors.

You all have a paper to be handed in never...


Extra notes…

This is a metaphor of what you did but using the scenario above…

I was walking down the corridor when all of a sudden I notice a pair of long slender legs moving up to a short red skirt and tight fitting white tank top draped with straight brunette hair and a pair of glistening brown eyes accompanied with a dazzling smile, everything slowed as we passed each other. Nobody else mattered it was just the two of us and I couldn’t help but think how much I wanted…
I was interrupted by a large crash as the building trembled. And started to collapse I looked over at the girl I just passed. Right at that moment a crazed man jumped through the window and took a chunk out of her arm screaming in pain she shouted “I love you” as she fell to the ground. I grabbed a fire extinguisher in my haste tripped over my shoelaces and landed in a custard pie… Finlar was leaning on a wall and started laughing… as he walked off he exclaimed past the chuckles. “I crapped in that“

I got to my feet and rushed to the aid of the girl batting the man aside with the fire extinguisher I held her in my arms… she wasn’t going to last long… she whispered
“Closer… clos…”
I lent in…

ARE YOU DAY DREAMING PRIVATE PILE, ILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AN SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK!!! NOW DROP AND GIVE ME FIFTY.

The sergeant wasn’t to pleased, I was day dreaming in camp and got out his kinky whip and started whaling on me…

“THE tests over hand in your papers” exclaimed the teacher…
I hadn’t had much sleep I must have passed out during the test. I noticed the title it read “Breaking the fourth wall by Marx-Man" An essay on why the fourth wall and connotative imagery must be anchored in order to give an audience a sense of an internal reality in which to get enthralled. At which point I realised I was not only naked but I hadn’t written anything!

“HUH” I looked around my room. “Whew it was just a nightmare how convoluted.”
I got up and walked to my computer.

And went online to talk to some friends…

I started reading what they had to say…

One notable line read.

““Fairies everywhere in your yard in your face”

Yes you did just read that line… now your in the story… yes I am talking to you and by you it means your self... if your reading this out loud that makes you a crazy person… can you say crazy person who talks to them self “

I thought what an odd post and left for work…

The End.

Yup that about is the gist of it… anchor your genre

basically all that just to say... your image has sinister connotations and the anchor is not overiding enough to break them

I was gonna say something...but I made the mistake of reading Marx's post...and now I can't even remember my name.

You think thats bad you should feel sorry for my teachers when they say you could have written more
Tenner says stfu...

SHUT UP! NO ONE CARES FOR YOUR DAMN LONG LECTURE EXPLANATIONS? COULDN'T YOU TRIM IT DOWN EVEN A BIT , HMM?

Marx... quit it!!! These booklike replies are getting annoying!!!! You were annoying without them, but with them you're SUPER annoying!!!!!

SHUT UP! NO ONE CARES FOR YOUR DAMN LONG LECTURE EXPLANATIONS? COULDN'T YOU TRIM IT DOWN EVEN A BIT , HMM? Wink

Marx... quit it!!! These booklike replies are getting annoying!!!! You were annoying without them, but with them you're SUPER annoying!!!!!


Glad i touched a few hearts

This is why I like pictures. If Loving Touch says all of that...(enter Marx Novel here) then Mir has truly created an amazing image.

I bet Marx is HELL on his Lit professor.

Anyhoo...short & sweet:
I don't see violence...I see...well...it's an interesting composition...but not violent...had his fingers been diggin' into her throat...and blood was spurting out...but violence is not the first thing that came to mind.

fools... that's obviously a plastic sex doll... maybe silicon... but definetely a sex doll. That's why there's no violence, crime, passion or whatever in the chop...