Key Concepts – Media Language
20 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Theory A2
What is meant by media language?
The way that meaning is made using the conventions of the particular medium and type of media product. A broader category allowing candidates to write about elements of semiotics, genre, narrative, design, structure, codes and conventions, aesthetics, spoken, written and visual language.
Elements of semiotics
The study of sign processes, or signification and communication, signs and symbols. It is usually divided into the three following branches:
Semantics: Relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata
Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures
Pragmatics: Relation between signs and their effects on the people who use them
Codes and conventions
The codes and conventions in media can be separated into 3 distinct groups -
- Technical (camera techniques & shots),
- Symbolic (ie clothing, colours)
- Written and audio (music etc).
These give the text meaning and determine the response of the viewer. They can be used as a basis for simple text analysis.
Aesthetics
Effective understanding and use of media aesthetics can determine whether images and sounds presented on a media display screen will be recognized and understood in the manner and with the emphasis intended.
Key Concepts – Audience
20 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Theory A2
What is meant by audience?
An audience is a gathering of spectators or listeners at a performance. It is usually because they are interested in the information or entertainment that is about to be shown.
The hypodermic needle
The hypodermic needle model is a model of communications also referred to as the perspective, or the transmission-belt model. Essentially, this model holds that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.
The hypodermic needle theory implied that mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change. The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response.
Conceptual model -
Two-step flow theory
This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. The term ‘personal influence’ was coined to refer to the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction to that message.
The two-step flow theory gave way to the multi-step flow theory of mass communication or diffusion of innovation theory.
Key Concepts – Representation
20 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Theory A2
What is meant by representation?
Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures.
The term refers to the processes involved as well as to its products. For instance, in relation to the key markers of identity – Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity – representation involves not only how identities are represented within the text but also how they are constructed in the processes of production and reception by people whose identities are also differentially marked in relation to such demographic factors.
Trailer showing represenation -
Trailer that challenges representation -
Key Concepts – Genre
20 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Theory A2
What is meant by genre?
In film theory, genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism. As with genre in a literary context, there is a great deal of debate over how to define or categorize genres.
Fictional films are usually categorized according to their setting, theme topic, mood, or format. The setting is the milieu or environment where the story and action takes place. The theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around. The mood is the emotional tone of the film. Format refers to the way the film was shot (e.g., anamorphic widescreen) or the manner of presentation. An additional way of categorizing film genres is by the target audience. Some film theorists argue that neither format nor target audience are film genres.
Add powerpoint of gangster genre
Traiers of different film genres –
Horror
Comedy
Rom-com
Fantasy
Audience Theory and Trailers
04 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Theory A2
Uses and Gratification Theory
Uses and Gratifications Theory is a popular approach to understanding mass communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people.” It emphasizes on how people use text and why they consume texts in the first place.
This theory is associated with Katz.
You could apply this to trailers by:
Increasingly, audiences actively seek out trailers. They don’t just consume them passively, but actively pursue them on the internet. They use them to:
- to help us make choices about going to see a film
- to prepare ourselves before going to see something
- as a form of entertainment / distraction in their own rights which may in turn lead to viral marketing
Two Step (flow) Theory
The two step model can usefully be applied to trailers. Audiences are sometimes directly effected by trailers but equally they can be influenced by the opinion of others whose ideas they respect. One person can see a trailer and enthuse to others about it.
This is associated with Katz and Lazafeld.
Key Concepts – Narrative
30 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in Theory A2
What pattern did Todorov identify for the structure of narrative sequences?
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
1. a state of equilibrium at the outset;
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action;
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption;
4. an attempt to repair the disruption;
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium
This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many
‘mainstream’ film narratives.
What are the common features of folk tales (and potentially other narratives) established in Propp’s Morphology of the Folk Tales (1928)?
He identified that “Five categories of elements define not only the construction of a tale, but the tale as a whole.”:
1. Functions of dramatis personae (see below)
2. Conjuctive elements (ex machina, announcement of misfortune, chance disclosure – mother calls hero loudly, etc.)
3. Motivations (reasons and aims of personages)
4. Forms of appearance of dramatis personae (the flying arrival of dragon, chance meeting with donor)
5. Attributive elements or accessories (witch’s hut or her clay leg)
Can you find out how Will Wright has applied Proppean analysis to Westerns in Six Guns and Society.
(1) The hero enters a social group.
(2) The hero is unknown to the society.
(3) The hero is revealed to have an exceptional ability.
(4) The society recognizes a difference between themselves and the hero; the hero is given a special status.
(5) The society does not completely accept the hero.
(6) There is a conflict of interests between the villains and the society.
(7) The villains are stronger than the society; the society is weak.
(8) There is a strong friendship or respect between the hero and a villain.
(9) The villains threaten the society.
(10) The hero avoids involvement in the conflict.
(11) The villains endanger a friend of the hero.
(12) The hero fights the villains.
(13) The hero defeats the villains.
(14) The society is safe.
(15) The society accepts the hero.
(16) The hero loses or gives up his special status.
Christopher Booker – has recently published a book called The Seven Basic Plots. What are they?
• Overcoming the Monster A terrifying, all-powerful, life-threatening monster whom the hero must confront in a fight to the death. An example of this plot is seen in Beowulf, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Dracula.
• Rags to Riches Someone who has seemed to the world quite commonplace is shown to have been hiding a second, more exceptional self within. Think the ugly duckling, Jane Eyre and Clark Kent.
• The Quest From the moment the hero learns of the priceless goal, he sets out on a hazardous journey to reach it. Examples are seen in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• Voyage and Return The hero or heroine and a few companions travel out of the familiar surroundings into another world completely cut off from the first. While it is at first marvellous, there is a sense of increasing peril. After a dramatic escape, they return to the familiar world where they began. Alice in Wonderland and The Time Machine are obvious examples; but Brideshead Revisited and Gone with the Wind also embody this basic plotline.
• Comedy Following a general chaos of misunderstanding, the characters tie themselves and each other into a knot that seems almost unbearable; however, to universal relief, everyone and everything gets sorted out, bringing about the happy ending. Shakespeare’s comedies come to mind, as do Jane Austen’s perfect novels.
• Tragedy A character through some flaw or lack of self-understanding is increasingly drawn into a fatal course of action which leads inexorably to disaster. King Lear, Madame Bovary, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Bonnie and Clyde—all flagrantly tragic.
• Rebirth There is a mounting sense of threat as a dark force approaches the hero until it emerges completely, holding the hero in its deadly grip. Only after a time, when it seems that the dark force has triumphed, does the reversal take place. The hero is redeemed, usually through the life-giving power of love. Many fairy tales take this shape; also, works like Silas Marner and It’s a Wonderful Life.
William Labov’s ‘Six part narrative structure’
The link below gives the six part narrative structure in which William Labov thought of.
http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/0415281059/about/pdf/Stylistics_C5.pdf
