"Meaning of Composition" Review

Kress and Van Leeuwen's chapter "Meaning of Composition" strived to find what messages images are really trying to portray. The authors said that there are three systems that reveal what messages are trying to be portrayed through images:

1. Information Value - the placement of elements endows them with the specific informational values attached to the various 'zones' of the image: left and right, top and bottom, center and margin.
2. Salience - the elements are made to attract the viewer's attention to different degrees, as realized by such factors as placement in the foreground or background, relative size, contrasts in tonal value, differences in sharpness, etc.
3. Framing - The presence of absence of framing devices disconnects or connects elements of the image, signifying that they belong or do no belong together in some sense.

There are also two integration codes which the authors believe provide logic:

1. Spatial Composition - operates in texts in which all elements are spatially co-present. Paintings, streetscapes, magazine pages.
2. Temporal Composition (Rhythm) - operates in texts which unfold over time. Movies, speech, music, dance.

 Given and New: The Information Value of Left and Right
Some pages are aligned on a horizontal axis. So if something is Given, then the reader already knows what that something is. If something is New then whatever is presented is not yet known by the reader. The authors explain that information of the right side of a page is typically New information and information on the left side of a page is typically Given.

Ideal and Real: The Information Value of Top and Bottom
Some pages are aligned on a vertical axis. If something is Ideal it is at the top of the page and if something is considered as Real then it is typically at the bottom of the page. For something to be ideal means that it is presented as idealized or generalized essence of the information. Real is then opposed to this in that it presents more specific information.

Basically the way in which different cultures read information whether it be right to left, or up and down, they may interpret what is presented differently than other cultures.

The Information Value of Center and Margin
Composition can also be structured along the dimensions of centre and margin. If something is placed in the center then everything on the outside of that is considered a margin. People can refer back to the center after referencing the margins for better understanding. Center and Margin is able to combine with Given/New or Ideal/Real.

Salience
Salience can create a hierarchy of importance among the elements, selecting some as more important, more worthy of attention than others. Anything that can create an auditory contrast between successive sounds can serve to realize salience. Salience promotes visual weight and being able to judge the visual weight of the elements of a composition is being able to judge how they 'balance'.

Framing
Framing is brought about by rhythm. Visual framing is a matter of degree: elements of the composition may be strongly or weakly framed. The stronger the framing of an element, the more it is presented as a separate unit of information. The absence of framing stresses group identity, its presence signifies individuality and differentiation.

Discussion Questions
1. Do we naturally view the informational value of images?
2. Is it harder to determine the meaning of compositions from the past?