AICE Media

Archetypes

Universal character or story patterns that recur across cultures.

Causality

The cause-and-effect chain in a story.

Generic regime of verisimilitude

Genre's own rules of believability.

Genre of order

Conflict between good and evil resolved by restoring order.

Genre of integration

Stories about relationships, community, and harmony.

Interpellation

How media positions audiences to adopt identities or beliefs.

Master plot

Basic story skeleton repeated across narratives.

Mytheme

The smallest structural unit of a myth.

Bricolage

Reuse and recombination of cultural materials.

Hyperreality

Representations that feel more real than reality.

Implosion

Collapse of boundaries between reality and representation.

Pastiche

Imitation of styles without parody or critique.

Cultural regime of verisimilitude

Shared cultural sense of what seems realistic.

Simulacrum

A copy without an original.

Jean Baudrillard

Theorist of simulacra and hyperreality.

Connotation

Cultural or emotional meaning beyond the literal.

Master shot

Wide shot of a whole scene used to maintain continuity.

Over-the-shoulder shot

Shot framed behind a character's shoulder, often in dialogue.

Diegetic sound

Sound originating inside the story world.

Non-diegetic sound

Sound added for the audience only.

Mise-en-scène

Everything placed in front of the camera.

Denotation

Literal meaning of a sign.

Myth

Cultural story explaining values or beliefs.

Charles Peirce

Semiotic theorist; icon, index, symbol model.

Ferdinand de Saussure

Linguist; signifier and signified model.

Tracking shot

Camera moves through space following the subject.

Cropping

Cutting parts of the frame to change emphasis.

Proxemics

Use of space and distance to communicate meaning.

Cultural tropes

Common storytelling patterns or clichés.

Attempt to repair

Narrative stage where disruption is addressed.

Binary opposition

Pairs of contrasting concepts structuring meaning.

Disruption

Event that breaks the story's initial equilibrium.

Equilibrium

Balanced starting or ending state of a story.

Narrative resolution/closure

Storylines wrapped up and conflicts resolved.

Universal themes

Core human ideas repeated across cultures.

Recognition

Moment of crucial realization in a narrative.

Symbolic code

Deeper meanings carried by signs and images.