Media Notes:
Chapter 1:
1.1:
4 elements of theoretical framework:
1. Media language
2. Media representations
3. Media audiences
4. Media industries
Key Terminology:
TEXTS-products (films, TV, Video games)
CSPs-Close Study Products (Targeted CSPs, In-depth CSPs)
Connotation-what it makes us think
Non-verbal communication
Semiotics-the study of signs in our cultures and how they communicate
Anchorage-text anchorages meaning
Denotation-literal meaning
Mass media-targets a large group of people
Media forms: Print media, Audiovisual media, Digital media
Producer encodes, audience decodes
Theorists:
1. Charles Pierce
Arbitrary/Symbolic signs
Iconic signs
Indexical signs
2. Ferdinand De Saussure
Swiss linguist
semiotics/semiology
3. Ronald Barthes
Order of signification
1st, 2nd, myth
1.2:
Technical codes in print media:
Codes-a group of conventions used to organize and create meaning.
1. Dress code-generic expectations
2. Color code-low key and high key lighting, saturated/desaturated, vibrant
3. Framing and cropping-producer has control of the subject, media distortion
4. Non-verbal code-communication between sender and receiver
5. Typographical code-brand recognition, fond, house style
6. Lexical code-wording/phrasing
7. Props. Decor and location-
8. Camera positioning and proxemics/para-proxemics-
9. Graphical elements-
,Technical codes in newspapers:
1. Different readership (right wing, center wing, left win)
2. Proportional variations
3. Regional/national
4. Tabloid/broadsheet
Skyline, headline, drop caps, pull quote, flag
Drop caps-big capital to hook reader's attention
AIDA process:
Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action
*Instant Gratification Era
o Montage = editing technique in which a series of short shots are sequenced to condense
space, time and information
o Advertorials = appear in the body of a magazine or newspaper. Changed to match the house
style. They have to be clearly labelled as adverts under law
o Composite images: composition made of multiple images (film, video games)
Styles of print adverts:
1. Conceptual = product depicted through an idea or concept feeling conveyed visually and
possibly in a hyperbolic way. Lexical code creates anchorage
2. Informative = product is shown in action
3. Pseudo-scientific or technical = combining graphics to construct the product as one that
makes the most of advanced technologies
4. Narrative = takes reader on a journey of some kind
1.3:
Narrative analysis:
Primary Causal Agents - characters
Narrative = Storylines
Narratives center on humans as primary causal agents drive the narrative forward
Narrative chronology = keep audience interested until the end
Producer -> text -> audience
Theorists:
Levi-Strauss– binary opposites
Todorov – Equilibrium theorem
Barthes – 5 Narrative codes
, 5 narratives:
Enclosed narrative = a narrative that is complete
Narrative closure/resolution = enclosed narrative with a satisfactory ending
Serial narrative = narrative that may be extended over a number of episodes or editions
Self-contained narrative = narrative that stands on its own
Open-ended narratives = story goes on, Fact-based narratives
o Hook = techniques to draw the audience's interest into the narrative
o Cultural tropes = plot elements, over-used devices
o Universal themes = themes to which many people across cultures can relate
Claude Levi-Strauss – binary oppositions
We understand the world in opposites
e.g. light vs dark, good vs evil, death vs life, old vs young
Tzvetan Todorov
1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption
3. Recognition
4. Attempt to repair
5. New equilibrium
Roland Barthes – 5 narrative codes
1. Hermeneutic code/enigma code = enigmas in a narrative-audience require answers
2. Symbolic code = binary opposites of the narrative
3. Proairetic code/action code = every action take in the narrative, drives the narrative
4. Semantic codes = going beyond the denotation
5. Cultural/referential code = frame of reference that is common human knowledge
1.4:
Understanding genre:
Definition of genre: A style or category of a media form
Terminology:
Iconography = typical images we associate with the genre
Product placement = emphasizing on a product in a certain text
Subgenre = smaller categories that fall under a larger genre
Hybridization = more than one genres combined (Stephen Neale)
Instant gratification era
Chapter 1:
1.1:
4 elements of theoretical framework:
1. Media language
2. Media representations
3. Media audiences
4. Media industries
Key Terminology:
TEXTS-products (films, TV, Video games)
CSPs-Close Study Products (Targeted CSPs, In-depth CSPs)
Connotation-what it makes us think
Non-verbal communication
Semiotics-the study of signs in our cultures and how they communicate
Anchorage-text anchorages meaning
Denotation-literal meaning
Mass media-targets a large group of people
Media forms: Print media, Audiovisual media, Digital media
Producer encodes, audience decodes
Theorists:
1. Charles Pierce
Arbitrary/Symbolic signs
Iconic signs
Indexical signs
2. Ferdinand De Saussure
Swiss linguist
semiotics/semiology
3. Ronald Barthes
Order of signification
1st, 2nd, myth
1.2:
Technical codes in print media:
Codes-a group of conventions used to organize and create meaning.
1. Dress code-generic expectations
2. Color code-low key and high key lighting, saturated/desaturated, vibrant
3. Framing and cropping-producer has control of the subject, media distortion
4. Non-verbal code-communication between sender and receiver
5. Typographical code-brand recognition, fond, house style
6. Lexical code-wording/phrasing
7. Props. Decor and location-
8. Camera positioning and proxemics/para-proxemics-
9. Graphical elements-
,Technical codes in newspapers:
1. Different readership (right wing, center wing, left win)
2. Proportional variations
3. Regional/national
4. Tabloid/broadsheet
Skyline, headline, drop caps, pull quote, flag
Drop caps-big capital to hook reader's attention
AIDA process:
Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action
*Instant Gratification Era
o Montage = editing technique in which a series of short shots are sequenced to condense
space, time and information
o Advertorials = appear in the body of a magazine or newspaper. Changed to match the house
style. They have to be clearly labelled as adverts under law
o Composite images: composition made of multiple images (film, video games)
Styles of print adverts:
1. Conceptual = product depicted through an idea or concept feeling conveyed visually and
possibly in a hyperbolic way. Lexical code creates anchorage
2. Informative = product is shown in action
3. Pseudo-scientific or technical = combining graphics to construct the product as one that
makes the most of advanced technologies
4. Narrative = takes reader on a journey of some kind
1.3:
Narrative analysis:
Primary Causal Agents - characters
Narrative = Storylines
Narratives center on humans as primary causal agents drive the narrative forward
Narrative chronology = keep audience interested until the end
Producer -> text -> audience
Theorists:
Levi-Strauss– binary opposites
Todorov – Equilibrium theorem
Barthes – 5 Narrative codes
, 5 narratives:
Enclosed narrative = a narrative that is complete
Narrative closure/resolution = enclosed narrative with a satisfactory ending
Serial narrative = narrative that may be extended over a number of episodes or editions
Self-contained narrative = narrative that stands on its own
Open-ended narratives = story goes on, Fact-based narratives
o Hook = techniques to draw the audience's interest into the narrative
o Cultural tropes = plot elements, over-used devices
o Universal themes = themes to which many people across cultures can relate
Claude Levi-Strauss – binary oppositions
We understand the world in opposites
e.g. light vs dark, good vs evil, death vs life, old vs young
Tzvetan Todorov
1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption
3. Recognition
4. Attempt to repair
5. New equilibrium
Roland Barthes – 5 narrative codes
1. Hermeneutic code/enigma code = enigmas in a narrative-audience require answers
2. Symbolic code = binary opposites of the narrative
3. Proairetic code/action code = every action take in the narrative, drives the narrative
4. Semantic codes = going beyond the denotation
5. Cultural/referential code = frame of reference that is common human knowledge
1.4:
Understanding genre:
Definition of genre: A style or category of a media form
Terminology:
Iconography = typical images we associate with the genre
Product placement = emphasizing on a product in a certain text
Subgenre = smaller categories that fall under a larger genre
Hybridization = more than one genres combined (Stephen Neale)
Instant gratification era
