DEFINITIONS

14/09/2018


Definitions:

Media Language- means the way in which a text is constructed to create meaning for a reader or viewer of the text.

Mise en Scene- the arrangement of the scenery, props, etc. on the stage of a theatrical production or on the set of a film.

Narrative- a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.

Editing- prepare (written material) for publication by correcting, condensing, or otherwise modifying it.

Camera work- the definition of camerawork is the technical work that a photographer does to take pictures. An example of camerawork is choosing a special lens to capture an image in a particular light.

Stereotype- a widely held but fixed idea, opinion and image of a particular thing or person. 

Caricature- picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.

Anchorage- Anchorage is when a piece of media uses another piece of media to reduce the amount of connotations in the first, therefore allowing the audience to interpret it much more easily. For instance, in a newspaper, pictures are accompanied by a caption that allows us to understand what the picture is showing us.

Constructive media- this is an approach to communications which is designed for enhancing the understanding of its participants with the minimum of effort and errors.

Representation- Representation is how media texts deal with and present gender, age, ethnicity, national and regional identity, social issues and events to an audience.

Identity- is a socially and historically constructed concept. ... Social and cultural identity is inextricably linked to issues of power, value systems, and ideology . The media uses representations—images, words, and characters or personae—to convey specific ideas and values related to culture and identity in society.

Mediation- Every time we encounter a media text, we are not seeing reality, but someone’s version of it.

Ideology- These are ideas and beliefs, held by media producers, which are often represented in their media texts. 

Social power- In social science and politics, power is the ability to influence or outright control the behaviour of people. The term ''authority'' is often used for power perceived as legitimate by the social structure. 

Hegemony- It is the dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others. Just like the way USA dominates over other nations. 

Halls Theory of encoding and decoding 

The theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages. The text is then decoded by the audience.

Different spectators will decode the text in different ways, not always in the way the producer intended. A text can be received in one of three ways;

Dominant or Preferred Reading

-This is when the text is read in the way the producer intended the text to be read.

- The audience agree with the messages and ideology that the producer has placed behind the text.

Negotiated Reading

- This is a compromise between the dominant reading and the oppositional reading of the text.

- The audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding of the text.

Oppositional Reading

- The audience rejects the producers preferred reading and creates their own reading of the text, usually this is the opposite of what the producer intended.

- The reader rejects the meaning completely as they do not agree with the message that is being presented to the audience.

Anchorage - Fixing of meaning e.g. the copy text anchors (i.e. fixes to one spot) the meaning of an image.


Banners – Typically found at the top or bottom of a print media text.

Broadsheet - Large format newspapers that report news in depth, often with a serious tone and higher level language. News is dominated by national and international events, politics, business, with less emphasis on celebrities and gossip. Examples: The Independent, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph.


Byline - A journalist's name at the beginning of a story.


Captions – Text below an image that describes the image or informs the audience who took the image.


Copy - Main text of a story.


Coverlines – Captions on a magazine front cover.


Emotive Language – the use of language to generate specific emotional reactions in the target audience.


Headlines – The text highlighting the main story being given priority by the producers of the print media text. Often designed to be eye-catching.


Inverted pyramid structure - Newspaper stories start with the main events. Then they give more details and eyewitness comments in short paragraphs. The paragraphs at the end of the story are less important than those at the beginning. This allows sub-editors to shorten stories by cutting paragraphs from the end.


Layout – How the print media text has been designed and formatted.


Masthead - The top section of a newspaper which gives the paper’s title, price and date.


Sans Serif font – Font type which does not have lines perpendicular to the ends of letters e.g. Comic Sans – often seen as more contemporary. Think of Apple’s advertising

Serif font – Font type which does have lines perpendicular to the ends of letters e.g. Times New Roman – generally seen as more traditional or higher class.

Splash – The front page story


Sub-headings – Smaller, typically one line headlines for other stories.


Tabloid - Smaller newspapers aimed at a large audience. News is reported in less depth and emphasises human interest stories. The language level is lower, paragraphs and stories shorter, with more use of images. Content often includes more celebrities, media news and gossip. Examples: The Sun, The Mail, The Mirror, The Express



Text to image ratio – This involves considering how weighted the print media text is with regards to text and image – you need to ask yourself why the ratio exists.


Typography – The collective term when considering elements of print media relating to the style of the text such as the font, colour, serif, sans serif etc. 

Header- a common text that is printed on the top of every page. Includes page number and heading above each collumn or paragraph. 

Denotation- literally what we are seeing, reading

Connotation- the implied meaning 

Saturated colours- refers to the intensity of a colour, it is a colour in its purest form. Bright colours which stand out , especially when set against ''complimentary colours''

Muted colours/unsaturated colours- Darker and dull colours, no light and brightness into them. Less eye catching but still work effectively. 

Tag- a keyword or phrase used to group a collection of content together or to assign a piece of content to a specific person. Goes underneath the coverlines.