This document provides instructions for an assignment to create a collage summarizing the iconography of a specific genre of western films. Students are asked to identify visual elements commonly associated with westerns, such as dusty roads, saloons, cowboys with distinctive clothing, horses and saddles, jails, sheriffs, and guns. The document defines iconography as the visual language and symbolic meanings attached to images within a genre. Students are instructed to include settings, plots, key scenes, character types and costumes, associated actors, and camera techniques in their collage and accompanying written summary. Examples of previous student work are provided, with a note that the quality can vary.

1. Assignment 9:
Collage of _________ Iconography
Set: Tues Jan 28
Due: today!

2. Identify ‘things’ in a western
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Dusty lonely roads
Saloons
Cowboys = hats, chaps, spurs,
Masculine men
Horses & saddles
Jails
Sherrifs
Guns
‘shoot off’ between baddie and goodie –
long/mid/close up…..sharing at
eachother…..tension!....dust bunny….

3. Iconography means…
• What do you think?
• Iconography is used in film to describe the visual language in films,
focused on genre.
• It’s a simple form to analyse (deconstruct / break down) the aspects
of genre before we even know what things mean.
• It’s the symbolic meaning we attach to images, the connotation
• We expect to see certain objects on screen with certain genres,
they are similar to conventions and are like ‘genre indicators’

4. Ingredients in your collage:
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Setting & staging
Plot/narrative (and/or themes and content)
Key scenes – what happens?
Character types
Character MES (costume/props/make up/body language/facial
expression)
• Celebrity/actors associated with genre?
• Distinctive camera shots/angles/movement
• Optional: music/sounds (no visuals – just words)
• Can have stills from films in your genre, but doesn’t have to be JUST
that.

5. Steps
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1. Who is doing what?
2. find and save images (jpgs)
3. make into 1 full collage (electronic)
4. save this collage as a JPEG
5. in word, type bullet points which summarize your
findings (could be a chart of each ‘ingredient
description)
• 6. Blog
– title: College of ________ iconography
– Picture: attach collage (jpeg)
– Text: copy and paste the bullet points from word

6. Examples…..
Btw – not all ‘good’!

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http://megi-asmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/iconography-collage.html