AICE AS Mediastudies Theories & Vocabulary

Focus in Film

Who created the theory of Semiotics?

Roland Barthes

This is the study of signs and meaning. Texts communicate ideas through signification, where signs function at both a literal level (denotation) and a figurative level (connotation). Through naturalization, symbolic constructions can become self-evident myths.

Semiotics

Who created the theory of Narratology?

Tzvetan Todorov

This is the study of narrative. All narratives follow a basic structure that moves from one equilibrium to another, separated by a disruption. The way these narratives resolve can carry ideological significance.

Narratology

Who created Genre Theory?

Steve Neale

This is the classification of media products. Genres are dominated by repetition but must also incorporate difference and variation. They change by overlapping with each other and exist within specific economic and industrial contexts.

Genre Theory

Who created the theory of Structuralism?

Claude Lévi-Strauss

This theory explores the underlying structures through which meanings are made. Texts are understood through analysis of these structures, where meaning is often produced through binary oppositions like good versus evil. The resolution of these pairs can have ideological significance.

Structuralism

Who created the theory of Postmodernism?

Jean Baudrillard

In this theory, the boundaries between the real and mediated worlds have collapsed. Signs no longer refer to anything literal or real, and mediated images can seem more real than reality itself, a state known as hyperreality.

Postmodernism

Who created the Theories of Representation?

Stuart Hall

This theory explores how representations are constructed. Representation produces meaning through a system of signs, and stereotyping reduces people to simple traits. Stereotyping typically occurs where there is a disparity of power.

Theories of Representation

Who created the Theories of Identity?

David Gauntlett

Media help us to construct our identities. Media provides "tools" and resources that we use to shape who we are. In a complicated mediated world, we have a "pick-and-mix" of different ideas and models to choose from.

Theories of Identity

Which theorist argued that gender is constructed through discourse in Feminist Theory?

Liesbet van Zoonen

Gender is a product of discourse that changes depending on historical and cultural contexts. The objectification of women's bodies is central to Western patriarchal culture. Media codes used to construct male bodies differ from those used for objectified female bodies.

Feminist Theory

Which theorist associated with Feminist Theory focuses on the intersection of race, class, and sex?

bell hooks

The goal is to smash the patriarchy. Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice. The extent to which individuals are oppressed is determined by the intersection of race, class, and sex.

Feminist Theory

Who created the Theories of Gender Performativity?

Judith Butler

Identity is a performance. It is performatively constructed by the very acts and expressions thought to be its results. There is no inherent gender identity, as performativity is a repetition or ritual rather than a singular act.

Theories of Gender Performativity

Who created Post-colonial Theory regarding ethnicity?

Paul Gilroy

This theory explores the legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes toward race and ethnicity. Racial hierarchies and binary oppositions are set up through "civilisationism."

Theories around ethnicity and Post-colonial Theory

Who created the Power and Media Industries Theory?

James Curran and Jean Seaton

Media is driven by the logic of power and profit. It is controlled by a small number of companies, which often limits variety and creativity. Diverse patterns of ownership are necessary to create adventurous and varied media products.

Power and Media Industries Theory

Who created the theory of Regulation?

Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt

This is an exploration of media policy. There is a struggle between protecting the interests of citizens and the interests of consumers who want choice and competition. Traditional regulation is at risk due to the rise of global digital media conglomerations.

Regulation Theory

Who created the Cultural Industries Theory?

David Hesmondhalgh

This is an exploration of media industries. Companies minimize risk and maximize audiences through vertical and horizontal integration and the use of stars or serial formats. Large profit-oriented companies have partially contained the radical potential of the internet.

Cultural Industries Theory

Who created Media Effects Theory?

Albert Bandura

This explores the effects media have on audiences. Media can implant ideas directly into the minds of audiences, who acquire new attitudes by modeling what they see. Representation of antisocial behavior can lead audience members to imitate those actions.

Media Effects Theory

Who created Cultivation Theory?

George Gerbner

This explores media effects on audiences. Repeated exposure to patterns of representation over long periods shapes how audiences perceive the world. This process reinforces mainstream or dominant values and ideologies.

Cultivation Theory

Who created Reception Theory?

Stuart Hall

This theory explores the encoding and decoding of meaning. Communication involves producers encoding messages and audiences decoding them from three positions: dominant-hegemonic, negotiated, or oppositional. Each position determines how much of the intended meaning is accepted or rejected.

Reception Theory

Who created the theory of Fandom?

Henry Jenkins

This theory explores fan participation in culture. Fans are active participants who "poach" texts and read them in unauthorized ways. They construct social identities by borrowing mass culture images and participating in a social community.

Fandom

Who created the 'End of Audience' Theory?

Clay Shirky

This explores the relationship between digital media production and consumption. In the internet age, audiences are no longer passive consumers; they now have the ability to "speak back" to media. Media consumers now actively create and share content with one another.

'End of Audience' Theory

Actant

A participant in documentary productions.

Active media consumption

The process of choosing and interacting with media in a deliberate and engaged way.

Analysis

The close examination and interpretation of the details or parts of something.

Antagonist

A character who opposes the protagonist.

Anti-racist

Actively challenging racial prejudice and discrimination at both an individual and institutional level.

Asynchronous sound

Sound that does not match what we see on screen.

Baseline assessment

An assessment of what knowledge, understanding, and/or skills students possess at the beginning of a course or unit of study.

Binary opposition

Two things that are related but opposite in meaning.

Binge watching

Watching multiple episodes of a TV show in succession.

Blog hub

A blog post or web page to which all student blogs can be hyperlinked for ease of access.

Bricolage

A text produced from a range of available materials.

Catfishing

Trying to fool someone by taking on an identity other than your own.

Collective identity

A person’s cognitive, ethical and emotional connection with a community that informs personal identity.

Consumption

The process of using or receiving something from another source.

Continuity systems

A system of editing where time and space are consistent.

Counter stereotype

Representation that challenges the initial and culturally accepted stereotype.

Cross-media convergence

The collaboration of different media forms to achieve a goal.

Crowdfunding

Projects pitched on web-based platforms where individuals pledge money to support them.

Cultural homogenisation

The process of culture becoming less unique and more like other cultures.

Diegesis

The story or fictional world that characters inhabit.

Diegetic sound

Sound within the diegesis which characters can hear.

Distribution

The process of making a product available for consumption.

Dominant group

The group in society with the most influence and power.

Dominant ideology

A commonly held belief within a specific society or culture.

DSLR

Digital single lens reflex camera.

Embed

Insert data and code from one digital document into another.

Enigma code

A question or mystery presented in the narrative.

Episodic

A series of instalments in which a series or story is divided.

Fake news

False stories or misleading information presented as news.

Flashback

Time is disrupted by cutting to a scene set earlier than the main story.

Flashforward

Time is disrupted by cutting to a scene in the future.

Foley

The artificial production of ambient sounds added to a soundtrack.

Gantt chart

A type of bar chart used to organise project schedules.

Gatekeeper

The editorial function of media companies, deciding what is published.

Genre

The categorisation of texts based on common stylistic and thematic traits.

Genre hybridity

Mixing genres together.

Globalisation

The spread of products, culture, and ideas across the world.

Grassroots journalism

News content created by the general public.

Horizontal integration

A media company acquiring or merging with firms at the same level.

Hyperreality

A reality created by media representations rather than our own experiences.

Iconography

Images that mean or represent something specific.

Ideological position

The social, cultural, and economic beliefs that an individual may hold.

Ideology

Beliefs and ideas.

Institutional bias

Practices by an institution that favour or disadvantage particular social groups.

Institutions

Large national or global corporations related to media development.

Intertextual reference

When a media text makes a reference to other media texts.

Irony

What is presented seems to mean one thing but has the opposite meaning.

Liberal

Celebrating individualism and being open to new and progressive ideas.

Linear narrative

A story provided in chronological order.

Long-form TV drama

High production value TV shows that span over six to ten episodes.

Macro analysis

Analysing how technical elements develop larger statements about representation.

Marketing

The process of promoting or selling a product.

Media conglomerate

A global institution owning multiple media companies.

Media form

The specific medium used to communicate meaning.

Media language

How a media text uses technical elements to convey meaning.

Media platform

The method of distribution for a media form.

Media text

Any media product that conveys meaning.

Mediation

The editing of media texts before they reach an audience.

Medium

The means of communicating a media text.

Meme

A behaviour, idea, or style passed from person to person.

Micro analysis

Analysing meaning through use of technical elements.

Micro-narrative

Literally, a small story.