Media and Information Languages

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering media languages, codes, technical camera techniques, and industry roles based on the lecture notes.

Media Languages

Codes, conventions, formats, symbols and narrative structures that indicate the meaning of media messages to an audience.

Codes

Systems of signs that when put together create meaning.

Semiotics

The study of signs.

Symbolic Codes

Codes that show what is beneath the surface of what we see, such as objects, setting, body language, clothing, and color, or iconic symbols that are easily understood.

Red Rose Symbolism

A symbol that may convey Romance or Love.

Clenched Fist Symbolism

A symbol that may convey Anger.

Traffic Light (Red, Green, Yellow)

A symbolic code where Red means Stop, Green means Go, and Yellow means Ready.

Written Codes

The use of language style and textual layout, including headlines, captions, speech bubbles, and language style.

Technical Codes

Ways in which equipment is used to tell the story, including sound, camera angles, types of shots, lighting, camera techniques, framing, depth of field, exposure, and juxtaposition.

Extreme Long Shot

Also called extreme wide shots; used for large crowd scenes or views of scenery as far as the horizon.

Long Shot

A view of a situation or setting from a distance, used to show the full body of characters plus their surroundings.

Medium Long Shot

Shows a group of people in interaction with each other, such as a fight scene, with part of their surroundings in the picture.

Full Shot

A view of a figure’s entire body in order to show action or a constellation group of characters.

Medium Close Shot

A shot that shows a subject down to his or her chest or waist.

Close Up Shot

A full-screen shot of a subject's face showing the finest nuances of expression.

Extreme Close Up Shot

A shot focusing on a hand, eye, mouth, or any object in detail.

Establishing Shot

A shot often used at the beginning of a scene to indicate the location or setting, usually taken as a long shot from a neutral position.

Point-of-View Shot

Shows a scene from the perspective of a character or one person.

Over-the-Shoulder Shot

Used in dialogue scenes, it shows a frontal view of a dialogue partner from the perspective of someone standing behind and slightly to the side of the other partner.

Reaction Shot

A short shot showing a character's response to an action.

Insert Shot

A detail shot which quickly gives visual information necessary to understand the meaning of a scene.

Reverse-Angle Shot

A shot taken from the opposite perspective.

Hand-held Camera Shot

A shot where the camera is held by the cameraperson instead of being mounted on a tripod, resulting in less stable shots.

Aerial Shot

Also called an Overhead Shot or Bird’s Eye Shot; it is a long or extreme long shot of the ground from the air.

High-Angle Shot

A shot that shows people or objects from above, higher than eye level.

Low-Angle Shot

Also called a Below Shot; it shows people or objects from below, lower than eye level.

Eye-Level Shot

Also called a Straight-on Angle; it views a subject from the level of a person's eye.

Pan Shot

The camera moves horizontally from left to right or vice versa across the picture.

Tilt Shot

The camera moves upwards or downwards around a vertical line.

Tracking Shot

The camera follows along next to or behind a moving object or person.

Zoom

A technique where a stationary camera approaches a subject by 'zooming in' or moves farther away by 'zooming out'.

Conventions

Standards or norms that act as rules governing behavior; generally established and accepted ways of doing something.

Message

The information sent to a receiver from a source.

Audience

The group of consumers for whom the media message was constructed, as well as anyone else exposed to the message.

Producers

People engaged in the process of creating and putting together media content to make a finished media product.

Stakeholders

Libraries, archives, museums, internet and other relevant information providers.