This course examines how contemporary images in photography, film, television, and the many forms of digital imagery construct narratives of identity, culture, and meaning. This course explores that question by approaching visual images as a language with a particular syntax, grammar, and set of articulations which enable an almost infinite variety of signifying practices. Topics include the shot as the basic unit of film structure; the effects of lighting and composition; editing; mise-en-scene and montage; sound; and overall practices in photography, digital design, and film.