AICE Mediastudies Part 2

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

The practices by an institution that favour or disadvantage particular social groups.

Institutions

Large national or global corporations that are related to media development and/or distribution.

Intertextual reference

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

Irony

What is presented in a text seems to mean one thing but in fact 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 and increasingly filmic TV shows that typically span over six to ten episodes.

Macro analysis

Analysing how technical elements and content work together to develop larger statements about representation and themes.

Marketing

The process of promoting or selling a product.

Media conglomerate

A global institution that owns multiple companies that operate across different areas of the mass media industries.

Media form

The specific medium used to communicate meaning.

Media language

How a media text uses technical elements, forms and conventions to convey meaning to an audience.

Media platform

The method of distribution for a media form – digital, online or physical.

Media text

Any media product (such as a film, TV show, song, photograph, meme, website) that conveys meaning.

Mediation

The editing of media texts before they reach an audience.

Medium

The means of communicating a media text, such as a book, TV or cinema.

Meme

A culturally determined behaviour, idea or style passed from person to person either through contact or via the internet.

Micro analysis

Analysing the production of meaning through the use of the technical elements: sound, cinematography, editing and mise-en-scène.

Micro-narrative

Literally, a small story.

Narrative

The structure and development of a story.

Narrative conflict

A struggle between two things that need to be resolved or overcome for the story to progress.

Narrative resolution

The ending of a story which results in conflict being resolved.

Narrative themes

Ideas and topics explored throughout the narrative.

Non-continuity systems

A system of editing where time and space is disrupted.

Non-diegetic sound

Sound outside the diegesis, which the characters cannot hear.

Non-linear narrative

A story where time is disrupted.

Parody

A text that mocks the style of another media text by imitating individual elements of it or its entirety.

Passive media consumption

The use of media with little to no intention of engagement.

Pastiche

A text that celebrates the style of another media text by imitating individual elements of it or its entirety.

Plot

The events that happen in a story.

Preferred/dominant reading

The way media producers want the audience to interpret the text. This type of reading is culturally dependent.

Premise

The overarching meaning behind a story.

Primary research

Research and collection of data that you carry out yourself, for example a survey, questionnaire, focus groups.

Production

The process of making a media product.

Prosumer

An audience who not only consumes media products but also produces and distributes them.

Protagonist

The main character with whom the audience are encouraged to identify.

QR code

Quick Response (QR) codes are small squares of pixelated information which can contain unique data. Most smartphones can scan QR codes to access the information they contain.

Regulation

The monitoring and control of the output of media institutions.

Representation

The portrayal of an individual, place or event.

Rhetoric

The art of employing effective or persuasive speaking or writing.

Rule of thirds

A way of composing visual images.

Secondary research

Research into the work of others, for example, academic theory, collations of viewing figures, readership profiles.

Selective construction

Deliberately choosing some aspects of representation and leaving out others.

Self-referentiality/Self-reflexivity

When a media text makes a reference to itself.

Semiotic analysis

The study of signs (anything can be a sign in a media text, for example a word, an image, a colour).