so in this video today we're really going to be looking at the visual text in detail so in previous videos we've already taken a look at the idea of movies specifically but in this video we're going to be extending that knowledge to look at a whole range of images so firstly what is a visual text and how is it different to written texts secondly we'll be looking at how do i analyze a visual text so some of the key techniques that you can use thirdly we'll be looking at some specific techniques which you can apply to a visual text so let's start by answering the most important question what are visual texts so a visual text is anything that uses pictures as well as or instead of words so we might be thinking about things like photos advertisements movies and television shows cartoons artworks books and magazine covers so once you approach this new genre of visual text it's really important that you know you're not scared by the fact that none of the techniques that you know to do with language can be applied to the visual text because it's just as easy and interesting to analyze a visual text as well so remember that analyzing a text can be overwhelming especially if you're doing this in an exam condition however what you can do is use this checklist to ensure that you have a really methodical approach and ensure that you include all the elements in your analysis and don't miss anything out so when you're analyzing a new text firstly you're asking yourself what is it so this is the most basic step you're asking yourself what the text type is so is it a photo is it a film etc just literally identifying what the genre is you can then use your knowledge of different text types and other examples to understand the nature of this text so maybe you've never seen this particular photo before but you've obviously seen other photos i can and you can use your knowledge and apply that to the different texts secondly you can look at what the elements of structure are so you'll be thinking about the title pictures that are used the structure of the text accompanying it like paragraphs stanzas rhyme or rhythm pattern so remember that a visual text doesn't have to just be an image it could be for example an image with a poem over the top of it and that's where language does again come in shapes are also really important and we'll be looking at how to analyze these sort of things specifically a bit later in this video size is obviously also a really important thing because um the things that stand out in a picture are going to be the largest things and the less significant things are the smaller things and the composers can play with that assumption to suggest things about texts so again we'll be looking at that concept later in the video thirdly you must ask yourself what stands out about this text so does it have bold or large font what is the focus of the image so if we look at this image for example we see that color has been used in order to make that particular duck stand out from all the rest of them so color is just one technique to make something stand out so contrasting areas of color is obviously something that you'll become familiar with surprising or shocking content can also make you know the image really stand out to you so if the image is perhaps particularly graphic or include something very unusual that's really going to make you sit up and notice the image you