BackgroundThe word compelling suggests the idea is forceful or requiring urgent attention. Compelling invites the audience to engage at a cognitive and emotional level with the content. Compelling could translate into "educational". Compelling portrayals provokes thought, stimulates us to think differently, promotes learning or challenges our ideas.
Select your portrayals wisely. There is no recipe for creating compelling portrayals. For instance, humorous messages can be educational. In fact sometimes, humor is the best way to communicate important ideas - consider the political cartoons and their power to activate knowledge.
Compelling portrayals move us to action either physically, cognitively, or emotionally. Meaning is NegotiatedIt is difficult to make a judgement call as to wether something is compelling because we can't view a person's experiences and perceptions. However, we know that there are shared experiences and knowledge and we can take advantage of that.
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PurposeCompelling images stimulate thought, challenge our thinking, create an intense emotional response, or cause us to think differently.
Making it Compelling
There will be times when a portrayal in and of itself is compelling - it tells an interesting or engaging story. Examples of this are good photographs. Sometimes it is an angle or a special affect that draws out the meaning of the message. Visual or auditory surprise in the representation can cause the viewer to pay attention. However, other times, a portrayal is not that compelling on its own. Compelling representations are often those that juxtapose ideas or concepts that were normally not seen as having a relationship and that is what makes it compelling.
Be creative and design to provoke thought, engage critical thinking, or stimulate further questions. It is knowing your audience - and asking; what is compelling for those who will view this representation? See also relevant information in the following section: Sense of Audience |