Spain 1º Bachillerato Audiovisual Culture
Chapters: 4
1. Milestones of photography and audiovisual media; audiovisual formats
History of photography and film language · Main movements in photography and film · Diversity in audiovisual media · Audiovisual formats
- Film Studies: How Films Tell Stories – A film is a fast series of still images (frames) that our brain sees as motion. Filmmakers speak a visual language: shot size, camera angle, camera movement, lighting, mise-en-scène, sound and editing. Each choice changes what we feel. Cinema began in the 1890s, gained sound in the late 1920s and colour later, and grew through movements like Soviet montage, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave and Indian parallel cinema. Film criticism means describing, analysing, interpreting and judging a film with evidence.
- Media Literacy – Media literacy is the skill of reading, questioning and creating media: news, ads, videos, posts, films and games. Every media text is made by someone, for a purpose, for an audience, using forms, conventions and techniques that shape how we feel. A media-literate person checks the source, evidence, other coverage and the original before believing or sharing, notices bias and filter bubbles, and makes their own media responsibly.
2. Formal elements and expressive power of image and audiovisual language
Shots and camera movement · Exposure, focus and framing · Lighting basics · Composition for still and moving images · Colour symbolism and psychology · Digital retouching · Functions of audiovisual images
- Film Studies: How Films Tell Stories – A film is a fast series of still images (frames) that our brain sees as motion. Filmmakers speak a visual language: shot size, camera angle, camera movement, lighting, mise-en-scène, sound and editing. Each choice changes what we feel. Cinema began in the 1890s, gained sound in the late 1920s and colour later, and grew through movements like Soviet montage, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave and Indian parallel cinema. Film criticism means describing, analysing, interpreting and judging a film with evidence.
- Photography: Light, Exposure and Composition – A camera is a dark box that catches light. The lens bends light to make a sharp, upside-down image on a sensor (or film). Three settings control how much light makes the picture: the aperture (size of the lens opening, written as f-numbers), the shutter speed (how long light falls on the sensor) and the ISO (how sensitive the sensor is). Together they form the exposure triangle. Composition — where you place things in the frame — and the quality of light turn a correct photo into a good one. Photographers also tell stories with pictures, edit them and learn to read and critique images.
- Elements of Art and Principles of Design – The elements of art are the building blocks an artist uses: line, shape, form, colour, value, texture and space (many teachers also add the point). The principles of design are the rules for arranging those blocks: balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, rhythm and pattern, proportion and scale, and unity with variety. Knowing both helps you make art on purpose and talk about any artwork clearly.
- Colour Theory: The Colour Wheel, Harmonies, Mixing and Meaning – Colour theory is a set of simple rules for mixing and combining colours. In paint, red, yellow and blue are the primary colours; two primaries make a secondary (orange, green, violet); a primary plus its neighbouring secondary makes a tertiary, giving a 12-part colour wheel. Every colour has three dimensions: hue (its name), value (light or dark: tints, shades, tones) and saturation (bright or dull). Harmonies such as complementary, analogous, triadic and monochrome help colours work together. Warm colours seem to come forward and cool ones go back. Light mixes by adding (RGB makes white); paint and ink mix by taking light away (CMY makes near-black). Colour also carries feeling and cultural meaning.
- Digital Media: How Pictures, Sound and Video Become Numbers – Digital media is any picture, sound, video or animation stored as numbers on a computer. A raster image is a grid of pixels, each stored as red, green and blue values from 0 to 255. Vector graphics store shapes as maths, so they stay sharp at any size. Video and animation are many frames shown quickly. File size grows with resolution and colour depth, so we use compression. When we make or share media we must respect copyright, licences and people's image rights, and work safely and critically.
3. Audiovisual narrative
Literary screenplay · Technical script and storyboard · Mise-en-scène · Soundtrack · Editing and post-production · Language of TV and advertising
- Filmmaking Basics – Making a film happens in three phases: pre-production (idea, script, storyboard, planning), production (shooting with camera, sound and light) and post-production (editing, sound, music, colour and titles). The camera tells the story through shot size (wide, medium, close-up), angle (high, eye level, low) and movement (pan, tilt, tracking). A crew shares the work: director, producer, camera operator, sound recordist, lighting, actors and editor. Editing chooses, cuts and orders clips so the story flows. Animation, such as stop motion, makes still pictures move by showing many frames each second.
- Film Studies: How Films Tell Stories – A film is a fast series of still images (frames) that our brain sees as motion. Filmmakers speak a visual language: shot size, camera angle, camera movement, lighting, mise-en-scène, sound and editing. Each choice changes what we feel. Cinema began in the 1890s, gained sound in the late 1920s and colour later, and grew through movements like Soviet montage, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave and Indian parallel cinema. Film criticism means describing, analysing, interpreting and judging a film with evidence.
4. Audiovisual production: techniques and procedures
Production crew roles · Assigning production tasks · Production phases · Choosing techniques and conventions · Technical equipment · Sound recording · Non-linear editing software · Distributing audiovisual content · Evaluating productions
- Filmmaking Basics – Making a film happens in three phases: pre-production (idea, script, storyboard, planning), production (shooting with camera, sound and light) and post-production (editing, sound, music, colour and titles). The camera tells the story through shot size (wide, medium, close-up), angle (high, eye level, low) and movement (pan, tilt, tracking). A crew shares the work: director, producer, camera operator, sound recordist, lighting, actors and editor. Editing chooses, cuts and orders clips so the story flows. Animation, such as stop motion, makes still pictures move by showing many frames each second.
- Project Management – A project is a one-time piece of work with a clear goal, a start and an end. Project management means planning and controlling it so it meets its scope on time and within cost. The life cycle runs initiate, plan, execute, monitor and close. Planners break the work into tasks (WBS), place them on a Gantt chart, find the critical path, manage risks and review lessons learned at the end.
- Media Industries – Media industries are the businesses and organisations that make, sell and deliver films, TV, music, news, games and online content. A product passes through production, distribution and exhibition. A few big conglomerates own many companies, joined by vertical and horizontal integration. Technology has caused convergence, so one phone now does what many devices did. Media are paid for by public money, advertising or subscriptions. Regulators set rules such as age ratings. Digital distribution and streaming have made the industry global and changed release windows.