Media Studies Key Terms

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A level Media Studies Flashcards on Media Studies Key Terms, created by Alyssa Keene on 26/02/2018.
Alyssa Keene
Flashcards by Alyssa Keene, updated more than 1 year ago More Less
Ellie Khanna
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Alyssa Keene
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Resource summary

Question Answer
Action code A narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action, e.g a shoot out
Active audience An audience who responds to and interprets media texts in different ways and who actively engages with the messages
Americanisation The influence the US has on cultures in other countries, such as their popular culture, cuisine, technology, business practices and political techniques
Anchorage The fixing or limiting of a particular set of meanings to an image, e.g the use of a caption beneath an image
Anti-narrative Describes a text, which seeks deliberately to disrupt native flow in order to achieve a particular effect, such as the repetition of images or the disruption of a chronological sequence of events
Apparently impossible positions Where the camera gives the view a view in the action from an unusual position
Aspirers Psychographic group who need to live up to the standards of the media
Audio codes The diegetic and non diegetic sound e.g dialogue and soundtrack that help establish genre
Binary opposition Conflict that occurs in the narrative hat is caused by a series of opposing forces e.g good vs evil
Body facism Intolerance of those of whose bodies do not conform to a particular view of what is desirable
Body image The idea we have about our bodily-self that is constructed ad determined by a series of individual and socio-cultural factors
Brand Indentity The associations an audience makes with a brand
Broadsheet A large rectangular newspaper such as the Daily Telegraph. Visually associated with serious journalism reporting important events at home and abroad. TA is upmarket professionals
Camera angle The viewpoint chosen to photograph a subject
Camera movement An actual or simulated movement relative to the subject by the camera (zoom, pan, tilt, follow)
Censorship The practice of supressing a text or part of a text that is considered objectionable
Chiaroscuro lighting Low-key lighting used to create areas of light and dark to suggest unease/tension within the scene
Circular narrative Where the narrative starts at the end and then explores the action up to that point
Cliffhanger Narrative device used at the end of an episode where the narrative is left unresolved encouraging the audience to watch the next episode
Close-up Usually defined as a shot framing the head from the neck up, sometimes with parts of the shoulder
Codes Rules or conventions by which signs are put together to create meaning
Colloquialism A informal expression that is more often used in casual conversation that in formal speech or writing
Copy The writing on the media text
Construct or construction The process by which a medai text is shaped and given meaning through a process that is subject to a a variety of decisions and is designed to keep the audience interested in the text
Context Where the representation appears e.g the representation of young people may be different i a news bulletin compared to a comedy sitution
Continuity system/continuity editing A system of editing generally used within mainstream cinema to cut seamless from one shot to another without calling attention to the editing. The system uses invisible editing, eye-line matches and cutting on action
Connotation The meaning of a sign that is arrived though cultural experiences the reader brings to it
Content analysis A method of collecting, collating and analysing large amounts of information about the content of media products
Convention A generally accepted custom or an established rule
Cover lines Used on the cover of a magazine, these suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions
Crane shot A shot in which the camera is mounted on a crane, to achieve striking height or aerial movement
Critical acclaim Quotes from experts the audience will trust
Cultivation The way in which the media influences our perception of the real world
Cultural appropiration Refers to the adoption of specific elements of one culture by a different culture. Used to denote the use of cultural outsiders of a minority, oppressed cultures symbols or other cultural elements
Cultural competence The cultural competence of the audience is the shared knowledge, related to their cultural understanding of that audience, meaning they will take pleasure from that text
Cultural/media imperialism The role the western capitalist media play in dominating third-world developing countries. The dominance of the west around the globe
Cut A clean break between consecutive shots
Deconstruct To take apart, analyse or breakdown a media text into its component parts in order to understand ow its created
Demographics Measurable characteristics of media consumers such as age, race, gender, education and income level
Denotation What an image actually shows and which is immediately apparent as opposed to the assumptions an individual reader may make about it
Depth of field The distance between the objects nearest and furthest from the camera that will be in acceptably sharp focus
Desensitisation Some theorists argue that the constant media diet of violence makes audiences less sensitive to real human suffereing
Diegetic/non diegetic Diegetic sound comes from within the scene, Non diegetic sound is typically music or sound effects not generated in the filimic world but added to indicate characters state or mind or to generate an audience response
Demonisation A negative representation often sensatonalised or reductionist which can create moral panics
Discourse A way of talking about things within a particular group, culture or society which shapes how we percieve the world
Disequilibrium A disruption that occurs in the narrative to change/endanger the equilibrium (Todorov)
Dissolve Film term for the transition between two images where one 'dissolves' into the next
Dutch angle (canted angle) Camera angle in which the camera is tipped sideways so that the world of the film seems to have tipped over, and horizontal and vertical lines run diagonally within the frame
Editing The process by which shots are put together into sequences or scenes
Elipsis Where the sentences are incomplete and finish with a set of dots; the words need to be finished by the reader
Encoding A process by which the media constructs messages
Enigma codes A narrative device that teasers the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved - leaves the audience with unanswered questions
Establishing shot A shot which shows the environment in which the action will take place, usually early in the sequence
Ethinicity Defined by your cultural identity customs, dress food, etc. Ethnicity is based on a sense of place, ideology or religion
Ethnocentric Where a media text is concerned with issues that are close to home
Extreme close-up A shot filled by part of someones face
Extreme long-shot A shot showing a scene from a great distance
Eye-line The direction of the characters gaze
Feminism Movements and ideas which advocate the rights of women to have equal opportunities to those possessed by men
Film Noir A style rather than a genre of films made in the 1940's and 50's that had common cinematic features e.g low-key lighting, recogniseable character types and settings
Femme fatale The female character in Film Noir who was beautiful but deadly. Usually destroyed at the end of the film
Flashbacks The narrative jumps backwards in time giving the audience additional information, involving the audience with a character by seeing aspects of their past that may contribute to an understanding of the narrative
Flexi-narrative Layers of interweaving narratives which challenges audiences and keeps them intrigued
Formulaic structure Where the text has a clear structure that is recognisable within the genre and rarely changes
Gatekeepers The people who determine what will be printed, broadcast, produced or consumed in the mass media
Genre The classifying of media texts into groups with similar characteristics
Graphics The precise type of design e.g titles and credits
Hand-held camera Type of camera movement where the camera is manually operated without fixed mounting. Produces irregular movement which often signify point of view
Hard Sell 'In your face' advertising - usually short, loud and clearly tell you the price of the product and where you can get it
Hegemony The concept used to describe how people are influenced into accepting the dominance of a power elite who imposes their will and worldview. Argued that the role of the media is to persuade it is in our best interests to accept the dominance
Homogenous Consisting of parts or people which are similar to each other or are of the same type
House style Recognisable layout and design established through colour, font style, and the general look of the text
High-angle A shot looking down on the action
Hybrid Media texts that incorporate features of more than one genre
Hyperbole Over-exaggerated language or action to create a dramatic effect
Hypodermic needle This suggests that the media 'inject' ideas into a passive audience
Hypermasculinity An extreme version of masculinity where stereotypical traits of masculinity are shown in an exaggerated form
Icon A sign that works by resemblence
Iconography Those particular signs that we associate with particular genres, such as physical attributes, dress of actors and the settings
Ideology A system of beliefs, which determine how power relations are organised within society. A shared set of ideas and values reinforced or challenged by the media
Imperative Words or phrases that contain a command word or order. The usually end with n exclamation mark
Index A sign that works by a relationship to the object or concept it refers to e.g smoke is the index of fire
Intertextuality The way in which texts refer to other media texts that producers assume audiences will recognise
Jump cut A cut between two shots of the same object, characters or scene where the angle of the camera is less than 45 degrees
Lexis The specific language used to engage an audience
Linear narrative A plot that moves forward in a straight line without flashbacks or digressions
Low-angle shot A shot looking up at the action - can establish power relations
Masthead The name of the magazine, along with font style, may give clues to the genre
Mark of quality To convince an audience that the product is credible
Master shot A shot that allows all the action of a scene, usually cut together with other shots
Media platform This is a range of different ways of communicating e.g television, newspapers, internet
Medium long shot Normally shows the human figure from the knees up
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