Studied by 2 people
Action code
Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow
Active Audience
Audiences who actively engage in selecting media products to consume and interpret their meanings.
Anchorage
The words that accompany an image contribute to the meaning associated with that image.
Appeal
the way in which products attract and interest an audience
Arc of transformation
The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of the narrative.
Aspirational
a text that encourages the audience to want more money, up market consumer items and a higher social position.
Attract
how media producers create appeal to audiences to encourage them to consume the product
Audience categorisation
How media producers group audiences (e.g. by age, gender, ethnicity) to target their products.
Audience consumption
The way in which audiences engage with media products
Audience Interpretation
The way in which audiences 'read' the meanings in, and make sense of, media products.
Audience positioning
The way in which media products place audiences in relation to a particular point of view. For example, audiences may be positioned with a particular character or positioned to adopt a specific ideological perspective.
Audience response
How audiences react to media products
Audience segmentation
Where a target audience is divided up due to the diversity and range of programmes and channels. This makes it difficult for one programme to attract a large target audience.
Audio
How sound is used to communicate meaning
Avatar
A player's representation of themselves within a game.
Back story
Part of a narrative which may be the experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a media text.
Binary opposites
Where texts incorporate examples of opposite values; for example, good versus evil, villain versus hero.
Brand identity
The association the audience make with the brand, built up over time and reinforced by advertising campaigns.
Broadsheet
A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news, for example The Daily Telegraph
Camera angles
The angle of the camera in relation to the subject.
Camera shots
The type of shot and framing in relation to the subject
Caption
Words that accompany an image that help to explain its meaning.
Channel identity
That which makes the channel recognisable to audiences and different from any other channel.
Circulation
the dissemination of media products to audience/users
Connotation
suggested meanings attached to a sign
Conventions
what the audience expects to see in a particular media text
Convergence
the coming together of previously separate media industries/platforms; often the result of advances in technology
Cover lines
These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions. These relate to the genre of the magazine.
Cross-platform marketing
a text that is distributed and exhibited across a range of media formats or platforms. This may include film, television, print, radio and the Internet.
cultural capital
The media tastes and preferences of an audience, traditionally linked to social class/background.
demographic catergory
a group in which consumers are placed according to their age, sex, income, profession etc.
denotation
the literal meaning of a sign
diegetic sound
sound that comes from the fictional world e.g. sound of a gun firing
discourse
the topics, language and meanings or values behind them within a media text
distribution
the methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign
diversification
where media organisations who have specialised in producing media products in one form move into producing content across a range of forms
editing
the way in which the shots move from one to the other
encoding and decoding
media producers encode messages and meanings in products that are decoded or interpreted by audiences
enigma code
A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information, for example teasers in a film trailer
Equilibrium
a state of balance or stability in relation to narrative
ethnocentric
belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture, for example, a newspaper will be more concerned to cover stories that are closely related to the reader and their concerns
ethos
The beliefs, values and customs of, for example, media organisations
fan
An enthusiast of a particular media form or product.
feature
in magazine terms, the main, or one of the main, stories in an edition.
flexi narrative
A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them watching.
franchise
an entire series of a media product e.g. an original film and all those that follow
gate keepers
he people responsible for deciding the most appropriate stories to appear in newspapers. They may be the owner, editor or senior journalists. They will only let the stories most appropriate for the ideology of the paper in
genre
a group that shares similar conventions
hegemony
the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas.
horizontal integration
Where amedia conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products, often as a result of mergers.
house style
The aspects that make amagazine recognisable to its readers every issue. established through the choice of colour, the layout and design, the font style, the content and the general 'look' of the publication.
hybrid genre
Media texts that incorporate elements of more than one genre
hypodermic needle model
out of date media effects theory which suggests that an audiece will have a mass response to a media text - idea that a media product injects an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive
iconography
props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre
ideology
A set of messages, values and beliefs that maybe encoded into media products.
independent film
a film made outside of the financial and artistic control of a large mainstream film company
interactive audience
The ways in which audiences can become actively involved with a product
intertextual
Where one media text makes reference to aspects of another text within it
mass audience
traditional idea of the audience as one large homogenous group
media conglomerate
a company that owns other companies across a range of media platforms
media language
specific elements of a media product that communicate meanings to audiences
mediation
the way in which a media text is constructed in order to represent a version of reality
mise-en-scene
in analysis of moving image products, how the combination of images in the frame creates meaning, how individual shots have been composed
misrepresentation
certain social groups may be represented in a way that is not based on reality
mode of address
the way in which media text speaks to its target audience e.g formal or informal
narrative
the story that is told by the media text
niche audience
a relatively small audience with specialised interests, tastes and backgrounds
non-digetic sound
sound that comes from outside the fictional world
opinion leaders
people in society who affect the way in which others interpret a particular media text
passive audience
outdated idea that audiences dont actively engage in media products, but passively consume and accept the messages that producers communicate
Pick & Mix Theory (David Gauntlett)
audiences do not passively accepted everything they are told in media products, they select aspects that suit them best and ignore the rest
plurality
in a media context, this refers to a range of content to suit many people
privileged spectator position
Where the camera places the audience in a superior position within the narrative
political bias
Where a newspaper may show support for a political party through its choice of stories, style of coverage, cartoons, etc. It may be subtle and implicit or explicit as in the case of the tabloid newspapers on election day.
production
the process by which media products are constructed
realism
a style of presentation that claims to portray 'real life' accurately and authentically
regulator
A person or body that supervises a particular industry.
repertoire of elements
key features that distinguish one genre from another
representation
the way in which key groups or aspects of society are represented by the media
selection and combination
media producers actively choose elements of media language and place them alongside others to create specific representations or versions of reality
sexual objectification
The practice of regarding a person as an object to be viewed only in terms of their sexual appeal and with no consideration of any other aspect of their character or personality
sign/code
Something that communicates meaning, e.g., colours, sounds. The meaning of the sign changes according to the context
specialised audience
a non-mass, or niche audience that may be defined by a particular social group or by a specific interest
stereotype
an exaggerated representation of someone or something, where a small group are associated with a certain set of characteristics - can be quick ways of communicating information in media as they are easily recognisable to audiences
sub-genre
Where a genre is sub-divided into smaller categories, each of which has their own set of conventions
synergy
The combination of elements to maximise profits within a media organisation or product. For example, where a film soundtrack sells the film and the film sells the soundtrack.
tabloid
refers to a newspaper that focuses on lighter news, e.g. celebrity gossip/sport
target audience
the people at whom the media text is aimed
technical codes
underrepresentation
Certain social groups (usually minority groups) may be rarely represented or be completely absent from media products.
uses and gratifications
theory that suggests that active audiences seek out and use different media texts in order to satisfy a need and experience different pleasures.
vertical integration
Vertically integrated companies own all or most of the chain of production and distribution for the product
viewpoints
different perspectives in relation to values, attitudes, beliefs or ideologies
visual codes
the visual aspects of the product that construct meaning and are part of media language
