Aural and Visual Rhetoric

“Like any form of communication, whether spoken, written, painted, or photographed, documentary filmmaking involves the communicator in making choices. It’s therefore unavoidably subjective, no matter how balanced or neutral the presentation seeks to be. Which stories are being told, why, and by whom? What information or material is included or excluded? What choices are made concerning style, tone, point of view, and format?” (4).

Sheila Curran Bernard,

Documentary Storytelling

Definitions

• Rhetoric: According to Aristotle, renowned philosopher from ancient Greece, it is “the faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion.”

“Scholarly Definitions,”

American Rhetoric

Two of the many definitions of persuasion: “Communication intended to influence the acts, beliefs, attitudes, and values of others” (Freeley and Steinberg 3).

“The coproduction of meaning that results when an individual or a group of individuals uses language strategies and/or other symbols (such as images, music, or sounds) to make audiences identify with that individual or group” (Borchers 17).

Two Primary Rhetorical Theorists

• • •

Aristotle identified two categories of proof that could be used in persuasion: Inartistic, such as statistics Artistic: Ethos—using the credibility of the speaker Pathos—appealing to the emotions of the audience Logos—appealing to the intellect, using logical reasoning

Aristotle “thought that persuasion is most effective when based on the

common ground

, or the shared beliefs, values, and interests between persuaders and persuadees that could be established by all of the tactics” (Larson 21).

In the 20 th century, literary theorist Kenneth Burke “said that persuasion was really the artful use of the ‘resources of ambiguity’ usually revealed in an artistic, and frequently emotional format. Burke believed that if receivers feel they are being spoken to in their ‘own language’ and hear references to their own beliefs and values, they will develop a sense of

identification

with the persuader, believing that the persuader is like them—a concept close to Aristotle’s ‘common ground’ “(Larson21).

Sojourner Truth

• Born into slavery in 1797, Sojourner Truth traveled the United States in the mid 19 th century speaking forcefully against slavery and for women’s rights. Unable to read nor write, she nevertheless demonstrated many of those elements of persuasive speaking that rhetoricians over centuries have deemed important.

“Her rhetoric commanded the attention of audiences and the respect of her contemporaries, primarily because it was so accessible and simple, yet clever and insightful. Truth’s personal style was marked by an interweaving of small anecdotes, tales from her personal experiences, familiar biblical references, and homespun, commonsense arguments. These basic aspects of her rhetoric combined to form a substantial, persuasive framework” (Fitch & Mandziuk 51).

“ I have heard much about the sexes being equal; I can carry as much as any man, and can eat as much too, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man that is now. As for intellect, all I can say is, if woman have a pint and man a quart—why can’t she have her little pint full? You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much,--for we can’t take more than our pint’ll hold. The poor men seem to be all in confusion, and don’t know what to do. Why children, if you have woman’s rights give it to her and you will feel better. You will have your own rights, and they won’t be so much trouble. I can’t read, but I can hear. I have heard the bible and have learned that Eve caused man to sin. Well if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again.” From Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio, May 28, 1851 as reported in the

Anti-Slavery Bugle

, 21 June 1851 (Fitch & Mandziuk 107).

• •

Side Note on History and Sojourner Truth as Symbol

Historians Carleton Mabee and Nell Painter found the

Bugle

version of Sojourner Truth’s so-called “Ain’t I a Woman” speech in the previous slide a more credible report of what she said because it was published within months of Truth giving it, but the repetition of the famous phrase is not mentioned. It was feminist Frances Dana Gage’s version of the speech printed 12 years after it was given that included the repetition of the phrase “and ain’t I a woman?” In Professor Painter’s experience, many people she encountered refused to believe Truth did not say it. Painter concluded, “The symbol of Sojourner Truth is stronger and more essential in our culture than the complicated historic person; and the process that makes a black woman speaking firmly into a show-stopper has not come to an end” (Painter 287).

Kerry Washington performance of “Ain’t I a Woman” version of the Akron, Ohio 1851 speech (note audience laughter at humor)

Humor

• • “Truth often entertained her audiences by ribbing whites about their guilt in allowing slavery to exist and men for the lack of respect for the rights of women. Humor helped women speakers and writers in the 1800s to ingratiate themselves to their audiences, thus helping them to narrow the line between acceptance and rejection of their liberal ideas” (Fitch and Mandziuk 31).

Humor today, whether in political speeches or in fake news, is a way of connecting to audiences while making a point.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Enthymematic Humor

• An enthymeme is a kind of logical proof (or logos, in Aristotle’s terms) that is a syllogism (major premise, minor premise, conclusion) which leaves out one of its premises.

Sojourner Truth “often applied enthymematic humor to keep her audiences involved. This was especially true when referring to biblical stories. She knew her audiences were familiar with these stories, so she often left them partly told, expecting that her hearers’ values would complete the thought” (Fitch & Mandziuk 34).

This is a device often used in advertising as well.

A definition that acknowledges the role of sender and receiver: “The enthymeme is a syllogism based on probabilities, signs, and examples, whose function is rhetorical persuasion. Its successful construction is accomplished through the joint efforts of speaker and audience, and this is its essential character” (Freeley & Steinberg 58).

“Major premise: It’s important to look good.

Minor premise: People who shop at Brand X look good.

Conclusion: I should shop at Brand X.

Advertising would not have to state the minor premise or the conclusion. All that is necessary is to show good-looking people wearing Brand X clothing. From this image, consumers fill in the missing premise and conclusion. The minor premise, in particular, is supplied by our exposure to popular culture. Because we the audience are constantly surrounded by cultural premises—both perceptual and value—we do not always process arguments in a rational manner” (Borchers 284).

Images often replace or accompany words in persuasive messages, thus the

visual enthymeme

is seen not only in advertising. “Major premise (unstated): Candidates who speak in front of flags are patriotic.

Minor premise (unstated, but depicted): I am speaking in front of a flag.

Conclusion (unstated): I am patriotic.

and Major premise (unstated): If I am patriotic, you will vote for me.

Minor premise (understood from previous syllogism): I am patriotic.

Conclusion (unstated): You will vote for me” (Borchers 284-285).

Song

• “Many reports of her [Sojourner Truth] speaking included notations that she began or ended an address to an audience with a song and that these performances deeply affected her hearers. Truth composed original sets of lyrics, often setting her versions to the tunes of familiar, popular songs” (Fitch & Mandziuk 58).

“I am pleading for my people— A poor, down-trodden race.

Who dwell in freedom’s boasted land With no abiding place” (to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne”)

In modern times songs are used persuasively in many contexts. For example: Drama, to set the tone or mood, establish character ( The Wire opening title credits ) Political campaigns ( Clinton ) Protests ( March on Washington )

Audience Analysis

• While ultimately the message might be the same, a good communicator will adjust her means of persuasion (examples, reasoning, language, etc.) based on the audience. While Sojourner Truth often addressed white audiences, in 1853 in New York City she addressed a black audience about race differences. “Her humor was used to promote a sense of pride and affiliation in her fellow blacks, as opposed to its function in distancing her from her white adversaries. Through vivid narratives illustrating the folly of whites, Truth gave her black audience a means to see themselves not only as superior to them in common sense but fundamentally more righteous in the eyes of God” (Fitch & Mandziuk 72).

Evaluating Evidence

• There are many ways to analyze rhetoric, including recognizing the use of audience connection, emotional appeals and humor, but evaluating evidence can take particular care. Some things to consider about sources used as evidence: – – – – – – – Reliability Expertise Objectivity Consistency Recency Relevance Access (of the source to the evidence) (Inch and Tudor 143-148)

Visual Rhetoric

Just as every word choice and how it is said contributes to the persuasiveness of a message, so do camera shots and other decisions by production personnel help shape how audiences interpret what they see.

Applied aesthetics: “the branch of aesthetics that deals with sense perceptions and how to influence these through the fundamental image elements of light and color, space, time/motion, and sound” (Zettl 415).

Camera Shots Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope in

Scandal

Long Shot: Somewhat objective, location visible Medium Shot: More intimate, location visible Close Up: Intimate, more emotional, little background

Extreme Close Up: Very personal Selective focus: Focus on Olivia in foreground, but background gives context High angle shot: Person appears vulnerable, insignificant Selective focus: Focus on background with Mellie; man out of focus but still important

Low angle: Person higher has more power. Quinn at Huck’s mercy Medium Two Shot: both equally important Low angle: Olivia meets Huck Over-the-Shoulder Shot: indicates the importance of the dynamic of the two characters, but one is more critical to see

Three shot—medium close up Medium shot—note what spatial distance indicates about characters Medium two shot— what does body language, distance, and location say?

Canted angles—can indicate a distorted view of the world, confusion, drunkenness

Chiaroscuro lighting— shadows, more dramatic

Light and Color

Flat lighting—brighter, more cheerful Olivia in color Olivia in Black & White— more dramatic; past tense?

Wardrobe, Hair, Make-Up

Olivia in her office Annalise Keating—law professor Olivia kidnapped Taking off her wig and make-up—the real woman?

Camera Movement and Shot Transitions

Camera Movement

Pan

—camera looks left/right

Tilt

—camera looks up/down

Zoom in or out

—camera lens looks closer or farther away

Dolly

—camera physically moves closer or farther away

Tracking

—camera physically follows subject

Hand-held camera movemen

t—camera and operator follow action, become part of scene; subjective Shot Transitions

Cut

—instant change from one shot to the other

Dissolve

—one shot fades out as the other fades in (usually a quick but unnoticeable overlap)

Digital transition

—one shot or part of shot pushes the other off screen

Editing

• • • • Continuity editing—seamless change from shot to shot and scene to scene; what audience expects to see next.

Complexity editing—manipulates viewer interpretation, intensifies scene; subjective Parallel editing—a type of complexity editing that jumps back and forth among scenes.

Example from Scandal where you will find

: – – – – – Parallel editing A mix of types of shots (long, medium, close-up) Cuts, pans, zooms Digital transitions and digital sound effects (camera clicks) Non-diegetic music (not part of the story; used to set mood)

Examples of Visual Rhetorical Criticism

Judith Lancioni, “The Rhetoric of The Frame Revisioning Archival Photographs in The Civil War,”

Western Journal of Communication

60.4 (1996): 397-414.

• “This essay illustrates the ways in which mobile framing and reframing, the techniques used to create an impression of motion and depth in the archival photographs used in

The Civil War,

can constitute visual argument” (397).

• •

Mobile framing

—”camera work (specifically the pan, the tilt or the tracking shot) that gives viewers the illusion of movement” (397).

Reframing

—dissecting an archival still “into several different shots, one of which shows the photograph in its original form and others which reframe portions of the original,” often using “close-ups of individuals barely noticeable in the original, thus inviting viewers to question why this is so” (398).

“The concept of visual rhythm is useful in explaining the ways in which

The Civil War

establishes patterns that guide viewer collaboration in the meaning-making process. The visual rhythms of

The Civil War

tend to be slow. Frequently the film uses a slow tilt shot that ends with either a long take or a cut to a close-up. For example, a shot in which the viewer’s line of vision, controlled by the camera, travels very slowly up the photographic subject’s torso will end with a long take of the subject’s face or else cut to a close-up of the subject’s face or eyes. Long takes, slow pans, and tight close-ups invite viewers to explore images, reflect on their possible meaning . . . “ (403).

Ken Burns’

The Civil War

, “All Night Forever” segment In addition to the mobile framing, note the use of music and voice-over that also frames interpretation.

“Prolonged pans and tilts encourage viewers to engage with visual images on both a cognitive and an emotional level. The rhetorical implications of this engagement are exemplified by a sequence of shots utilizing daguerreotypes of African-born slaves stripped to the waist” [in example in previous slide].

The words of the narrator “suggest the degradation” and the images show it. “[T]he camera, as it moves slowly upward, exploring every nuance of muscle and bone, intensifies that violation by prolonging it. The longer the camera explores the images, the longer viewers have to consider, not just the informational value of the photographs, but their manner of presentation. The camera is viewers’ only means of sight; it controls what and how they see. Thus as viewers’ eyes move slowly over the images, they symbolically participate in the violation” (405)

“[A] photograph of African American men, women and children gathered in front of a cabin is reframed to show a girl seated with three children. Her head rests on her clasped hands, in what might be a gesture of defeat or futility. . . .Another portion of the same archival photograph . . . is reframed as a close-up of a woman with her hand on her hip, her elbow jutting out. She looks directly into the camera; her pose seems to signify defiance, not the degradation and early death McCullough [the narrator] speaks of. But when the camera zooms back to reveal the whole photograph, the woman fades away into the group and so does the defiance” (410).

The Civil War, “ All Night Forever , “ cabin picture starts at 1:57 “[W]hen viewers realize that the primary way they see individual slaves is through reframing of group shots, they may come to question the ideology of the photographs” (408).

Shawn J. Parry-Giles, “Mediating Hillary Rodham Clinton: Television News Practices and Image-Making in the Postmodern Age,

Critical Studies in Media Communication

17.2 (June 2000): 205-226).

• • “Using First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton as a case study, the essay evidences the significance of stereotypes, visual deconstruction and reconstruction, close-up shots and spectator positioning, as well as news recycling and repetition in image-making. In the end, such television newsmaking strategies in the postmodern political context help reify a mediated collective memory of Hillary Rodham Clinton, which is reductionistic, iconic, hyperreal, and emblematic of television news coverage concerning political women” (205).

This essay uses three biographical narratives produced by CNN, ABC, and MSNBC in 1996 and 1998 as its primary evidence.

At the time of the scandal of President Clinton having sexual relations with intern Monica Lewinsky, the media spent much time seeking the reaction of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton [HRC]. “During a September 12, 1998 special broadcast by NBC News entitled, ‘The President and the People,’ NBC airs an extremely close facial shot of HRC’s profile. In the shot, she appears to be crying or to have recently stopped crying. . . . NBC creates the referent for this visual as we are led to believe that the close-up shots reflect HRC’s emotional reaction to her husband’s recent admonition. The video footage, though, is actually derived from the memorial service for those Americans killed in the Tanzania and Kenya Embassy bombings” (214).

Close-ups create intimacy and “also position us within the conversation as the camera’s subjects look at us as if we were the recipients of their messages . . . .For many of HRC’s close-up shots, the spectator positioning can exacerbate a recoiling response as we seemingly become the recipient of her more pointed remarks” (216).

Hillary Clinton on “Baking Cookies” 1992 In addition to the shots used, please note her southern accent, which fades away over the years. Significance?

“While HRC’s image is polysemic and always ‘contentious’ . . . , journalists arguably wield more power in HRC’s image making process because they are the ones who tell her story, evidence their contentions, contextualize her visual images, and position her within the larger socio-political context” (221).

Since this article was written, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been a U.S. Senator representing New York, the Secretary of State, and is now running for President of the United States. Is her representation different since she was First Lady?

ABC News 2014

Kevin McNeilly, “Dislocating America: Agnieszka Holland Directs ‘Moral Midgetry,”

The Wire: Urban Decay and American Television

. Eds. Tiffany Potter and C.W. Marshall. New York: Continuum, 2009. 203-216.

• • •

The Wire

(HBO 2002-2008) is a highly critically acclaimed drama which was made, according to creator David Simon, to depict the failure of the War on Drugs as it also depicts systemic failures of government, labor, education, and the media in Baltimore, Maryland.

Agnieszka Holland is a "renowned Polish expatriate filmmaker" who directed three episodes of

The Wire

(203), but whose visual style has a point of view.

"A distinctive sense of dislocation, with its attendant textures of alienation and discomfort, imprints itself on her work both for film and for television" (203).

Scene in “Moral Midgetry” between Detective Jimmy McNulty and Brianna, the mother of D’Angelo Barksdale who was murdered in prison.

In relationship to McNulty saying he was honestly "looking for somebody who cared about the kid," McNeilly writes that "Holland is also honestly looking for somebody who cares, and wants to enact a particular way of looking as a form of care, of ethical engagement. The angled and disruptive visuals of the scene, while certainly subtle and brief, invite a form of seeing as reading, as a mode of disclosure that doesn't lay claim to truth in appearances or ideologies but rather in the tactical debunking of those false fronts, those put-ons. McNulty, compromised though he may be, asserts--by having Brianna reread herself and what she has told her son to do--the possibility that care may not be merely a rhetorical ploy, a ruse to bring down the Barksdales" (214 ).

Also note the use of tracking shots, selective focus, close-ups, reaction shots

Scene in “Moral Midgetry ” between Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell of the Barksdale drug-selling gang and long-time friends.

"Through Holland's dislocated visuals, we witness the complicity of Avon and Stringer in their own undoing, and the dismantling of any vestiges of care. The camera pulls back slightly from Avon, now in the middle distance, and pans left, so that we now see Stringer's form in the left foreground, blurry and slightly shadowed. . . . The episode finishes not with resolution, but in wounded separation. We leave the men apart, and the camera tracks right, off the window and onto the dark wall beside it, leaving watchers finally excluded and barred, even from light. Still, Holland doesn't close 'Moral Midgetry' by rendering judgment on the untenable and compromised situation of Avon and Stringer. Instead, that undefined darkness helps to keep open and unsettled her visual interrogation of the fictions and of the necessities that dislocate her America" (216).

Also note tracking shots, over-the- shoulder shots, close-ups, chiaroscuro lighting

Resources

• • • • • • Bernard, Sheila Curran.

Documentary Storytelling

. 2nd ed. Burlington, MA: Focal Press/Elsevier, 2007.

Borchers, Timothy A.

Persuasion in the Media Age

. 3rd ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2013.

Fitch, Suzanne Pullon, and Roseann M. Mandziuk.

Sojourner Truth as Orator: Wit, Story, and Song

. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.

Freeley, Austin J. and David L. Steinberg.

Argumentation and Debate: Critical Thinking for Reasoned Decision Making

. 13th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2014.

Inch, Edward S. and Kristen H. Tudor.

Critical Thinking and Communication: The Use of Reason in Argument

. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014.

Jacobs, Jason, and Steven Peacock, eds.

Television Aesthetics and Style

. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.

Resources, cont.

• • • • • Larson, Charles U.

Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility

. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2010.

Olson, Lester C., Cara A. Finnegan, and Diane S. Hope.

Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture

. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2008.

Potter, Tiffany and C.W. Marshall, eds.

The Wire: Urban Decay and American Television

. New York: Continuum, 2009.

"Scholarly Definitions of Rhetoric."

American Rhetoric

. Web. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricdefinitions.htm

Zettl, Herbert.

Sight Sound Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics

. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2014.