Glossary

acrostic poem

a poem where the first letter of each line forms a word

animate

to make something appear to move

appearance

the way something looks

artificial light

light that imitates natural light such as electric lighting

artist’s intention

the artist’s goal

artist statement

a brief text that tells about the aims, influences and background of an artist’s work

atmosphere

a mood or impression

background

the part of an image that is at the back

body percussion

the striking or tapping of body parts eg clapping, stamping, clicking of fingers

clue

something that guides or directs in the solution of a problem or mystery

coincidental

the chance occurrence of events happening at the one time

collaborative

produced by working together

collage

a composition of various materials, such as photographs, fabric, newspaper and objects, combined and stuck to a surface

communicate

to convey feelings or thoughts to another

compose

to arrange the parts or elements of a picture

composition

organisation of elements (sounds) to create a product (music)

convey

communicate

define

to explain or describe the qualities or nature of something

direct sound

music, noise, and speech recorded as it occurs while filming

duration

aspects of organised sound in relation to time, particularly rhythm and tempo

dynamics

volume of sound—the softness or loudness

emotion

a feeling such as joy, fear, love, hate, surprise

emphasise

to add importance

eraser

a rubber or other implement that will remove pencil, pen or other marks

experiments

trials or testing of something

fixative

a liquid sprayed on a drawing to prevent blurring and preserve the work. Fixatives are commercially available and hairspray can act as a fixative

frame

within a border such as the view finder of a camera

habit

to act in a certain way

improvise

to make it up as you go along

improvisation

something that is created spontaneously as it is being performed

interaction

things acting upon each other

invisible

cannot be seen

install

to place in position

manipulate

to adapt or change to achieve a desired effect

melody

a series of musical sounds of varying pitch, a tune

mood

feeling, tone or atmosphere

moving image

a sequence of images that give the illusion of continuous movement e.g. film, video

mural

a large artwork fixed to a wall

ostinato

a repeated pattern of rhythm and/or pitch

overlap

to cover part of something

pitch

highness or lowness of sounds

preference

to favour one thing over another

promote

to encourage

repeat

to say or do something again

represent

express or stand for

review

a commentary about a visual or literary text that summarises and assesses its appeal and value

rhythm

patterns of long and short sounds and silences in music

screen grab

a screen shot is an image taken by the computer to record something seen on the monitor

still image

non-moving visual image such as a drawing, painting or photograph

slow motion

a filmmaking technique where time appears be slowed down. When played at normal speed, time seems to be moving slowly

soundscape

a variety of sounds including voice, instrumental and/or environmental sounds, arranged to express a mood, idea or feeling

specification

a detailed description of requirements, dimensions and/or materials

symbol

something that stands for or represents something else

tone colour

quality of sound. This varies according to the source of the sound (eg a voice sound has a different tone colour to a tin whistle) and the way the sound is produced (e.g. a tin whistle which is blown will produce a different tone colour to a guitar which is plucked)

translucent

almost see-through, like frosted glass

unify

to make into one

unobtrusive

not obvious