I had initially created a video blog, however due to technical difficulties, I’ll have to just type up an altered version of the manuscript and upload the video at a later date.  

Image source: http://media8.connectedsocialmedia.com/07/PID_013684/Podtech_Joe_Rorke_interview.jpg

As their name suggests, Visual Media Forms are modes of media expressed in a manner that sparks a creative nerve. They give an insightful and succinct portrayal of information. Ranging from still images, to films, 3D models, graphs, charts and so on; they allow the viewer to visualise what was once too broad, or perhaps to complicated to understand with mere figures.

Visual media forms appeal to people’s emotions in the simplest way. They strike our emotions; play on our feelings and reservations. Striking images are more likely to be retained, as opposed to a lengthy report that delivers the same information.

By conveying information in a clever, and simplistic manner, one can convey even the most obtuse of topics, cleverly.

Image source: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/147937-struggling-polar-bears-put-on-endangered-list

As an example, the movement to save polar bears from extinction has proved most successful with the image of the polar bear struggling to stay sitting on a progressively melting ice-burg.

The message pertained in this image is clear and simple: the bear is in a precarious situation. With one look the image cries: ‘This creature needs our help’. Similarly, this image arouses certain emotions of sympathy, and a nurturing resolve to help the polar bear in its predicament. The oddity of the image is also effective in that it remains in people’s minds. For how often does one see a polar bear, let alone a polar bear balancing on a small iceberg? 

Similar can be said for statistical data. Whilst it might not prey on emotions like the polar bear does, by using vast comparisons, statistical data, conveyed in graphs can prove effective. 

Image source:http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/climate-change-deniers-vs-the-consensus/

Alongside still images is the power of the audio-visual film. If behind every picture lies a thousand words, then behind a film lies a labyrinth of knowledge. More powerfully gripping people’s emotions, with a synthesis of image and sound, film can convey messages in the most effective ways. Whilst static graphs and images can convey and allow one to ‘visualise’ certain progressions of events, film allows a real-time element. It is engaging in that it can both educate and entertain.

Image source: http://www.dchillier.com/expoextra/czech_media_show.jpg

Overall, Visual Media Forms create an engaging and interactive realm for the viewer. These modes effectively provide a field of visualisation to many dull and dreary concepts.