In-Depth Notes on Film and Media Theories

Reception Theory

  • Stuart Hall's Reception Theory: Communication involves encoding by producers and decoding by the audience.
    • Three hypothetical decoding positions:
    1. Dominant-Hegemonic Position: The encoded meaning is fully understood and accepted by the audience.
    2. Negotiated Position: The decoder acknowledges the legitimacy of the encoder's message but adapts it to fit personal experiences or contexts.
    3. Oppositional Position: The audience disagrees with the encoder's intended message and interprets it in a contrary way.

Fandom Theory

  • Henry Jenkins' Fan Theory:
    • Fans play an active role in creating and circulating textual meanings.
    • Fans appropriate texts in ways that are not authorized by the original media producers.
    • Fans construct identities and social connections through media engagement, emphasizing its social nature.

Internet Impact on Media Relations

  • Glay Sharkey: Digital technology reshapes the relationship between media and individuals, where audiences are no longer passive consumers but active participants who can engage directly with media.

Media Effect Theory

  • Albert Bandura: Suggests media can implant ideas and influence attitudes and behaviors.
  • Cultivation Theory (George Gerbner):
    • Long-term exposure to media shapes audience perceptions, reiterating dominant values and ideologies.

Feminist Theory

  • Liesbet Van Zoonen:
    • Gender is constructed through discourse and is context-dependent.
    • Male and female bodies are represented differently in media, with women often objectified.

Media Industries Theory

  • James Curran and Jean Seaton:
    • Media is driven by profit and power, leading to concentrated control by a few companies that affects media diversity, creativity, and quality.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

  • Tzvetan Todorov: Narratives consist of a structure moving from equilibrium to disruption and back to a new equilibrium.

Genre Theory

  • Steve Neale:
    • Genres are defined by conventions but also incorporate variations and changes.
    • They are influenced by socio-economic and institutional contexts.

Structuralism

  • Claude Lévi-Strauss:
    • Texts can be analyzed by examining underlying structures, focusing on binary oppositions which shape meaning.

Postmodernism

  • Jean Baudrillard:
    • Distinguishes between the real and simulated worlds, claiming symbols can represent hyperreality without direct connection to reality.
    • Media often challenges traditional narratives, emphasizing style over substance.

Media Language Theories

  • Semiotics:
    • Ferdinand de Saussure & Roland Barthes: The study of signs involves both denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (associated meanings).

Camera Techniques and Shots

  • Camera Angles:
    • Establishing Shots: Set the scene and establish the environment.
    • Close-ups: Provide detail, often showing emotions.
    • Aerial Shots: Reveal the setting from above, giving a broader contextual understanding.
  • Camera Movements:
    • Dolly Shots: Move towards or away from a subject.
    • Tilt and Pan: Follow or reveal characters and actions within a scene.

Lighting in Film

  • 3-Point Lighting: A technique used to illuminate the subject while creating depth and dimension.
  • High Key vs. Low Key Lighting: High key creates a bright, cheerful scene, while low key enhances mystery and drama.

Sound in Film

  • Diegetic vs. Non-diegetic Sound: Diegetic sound originates within the film world, while non-diegetic sound is added for effect (e.g., background score).
  • Sound Techniques:
    • Sound Bridges: Transition effects that carry sound over into the next shot.