NQ Media Studies Intermediate 1

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1 NQ Media Studies Intermediate 1 Kate Henderson January 2005 SFEU/COLEG

3 Acknowledgements SFEU (Scottish Further Education Unit) and COLEG (Colleges Open Learning Exchange Group) gratefully acknowledge the contribution made to this publication by Avril Smillie, Falkirk College, who reviewed the material. First published May 2004 Revised version published January 2005 SFEU/COLEG 2005

5 This glossary could be used for testing candidates on terminology or for student reference. For Media Specific Technical Glossaries see Production NABs. At Intermediate 1 candidates would not be expected to use words like anchorage or intertextuality but it is helpful to understrand the concept. They should be familiar with all words marked * actuality analyse * anchorage audience * balance bias blockbuster brief * broadsheet categories * classic narrative or classic Hollywood narrative * cliff-hanger sounds and images that are obtained on location rather than created in a studio to work out how a media product is constructed and what it means a way of tying down meaning eg a caption anchors meaning to a photo, music anchors mood in a film a key aspect of Media Studies who the audience is and how they react to the media product to give all sides of a story (not biased) the idea that news stories deliberately or unwittingly favour a point of view high profile films with big budgets and tie-in, spin off and theme park potential made by major studios a summary of instructions for the production a large size newspaper such as The Herald or The Guardian a key aspect of Media Studies how producers and audiences categorise texts in terms of medium, purpose, form, genre, style etc when the narrative follows a pattern called classic narrative this is the usual pattern of a Hollywood movie (normality, disruption, return to normality) an ending that creates suspense, often used in a soap to make the audience watch the next episode 1

6 climax closure codes * commercial media connotation * construct * consumption convention * cropping culture decoding denotation * describe * de-selection the point in the narrative where stories reach a high point eg when the baddies get caught the completion of a narrative in a classic narrative, eg the happy ending in which the hero defeats the villain systems of signs which can be analysed in terms of denotation and connotation media which is self financing as opposed to the BBC which is funded by government the meaning associated with a sign, eg a red rose could be associated with love the idea that a media text is not reality but is something people in production companies have decided to let you see or hear, in other words we see what they want us to see. Even in reality television we only see or hear what the producers want us to how audiences see or hear media texts, eg films may be viewed in cinemas, on video, on DVD, on cable, on satellite etc established ways of treating genre, codes, narrative or representations eg an interview is a convention used in news and current affairs cutting parts from an image, eg if a person is standing in a crowd, only showing a close-up of the person and therefore cutting out the crowd the shared ideas and practices of any social group the way which media audiences interpret meaning in a media text the description of a sign, eg the dictionary definition to identify individual elements, name these and indicate how they work together in a text when the maker deliberately leaves something out of text 2

7 direct address docudrama dubbed sound dumbing-down explain fiction text flashback fly-on-the-wall font * format * genre * hard news hooks identify impartiality making the audience feel they are participating in what is happening, eg newscasters use direct address as if they are speaking directly to the viewer a text based on real events which uses elements of drama, eg a documentary with some dramatized reconstructions sound added after the original recording the idea that media is becoming more trivial, eg entertainment has replaced information, soft news is replacing hard news to describe how the elements of a text work together and give reasons for the way in which the text has been constructed in Media Studies, a fiction text is one that uses performance and imagination, eg actors taking the part of real people or performers singing about real events when the story goes back to events that have already happened documentary form which gives the impression that the film crew are not there the design/style of characters in the typeface the recipe for producing a media product in a particular genre, eg hard news at the beginning, sport at the end of a newspaper or news programme a set of conventions that are easily recognisable, eg cowboy film, tabloid newspaper, soap serious news stories ways of getting the attention of the viewer so they will watch or continue to watch, eg trailers, cliff hangers when a viewer becomes emotionally involved with a character or what is happening the idea that broadcasters should be fair in their treatment of stories and not take sides 3

8 institutions * integration * intertextuality language * legal controls mainstream market research mediation merchandising mise-en-scène mode of address montage motivation multi-plotted/storyline narrative * news value key aspect of Media Studies the people involved in making and financing a media product the links between each key aspect links between texts, eg genre, stars, subject matter, spinoffs key aspect of Media Studies how the media create meanings through the use of codes (technical/cultural codes) media companies must not break the law eg they must not discriminate against anyone because of their race popular texts research into possible audiences ways in which the media select, interpret and represent events products which are based on films, eg T-shirts, toys etc whatever happens in the frame, ie characters, set, props etc how the text speaks to its audience eg direct or indirect. A newscaster speaks directly to the camera and therefore directly to the audience. A soap speaks indirectly because we are watching people talking and acting to each other an editing technique combining several shots, these shots are not necessarily related the reason for the use of a specific code eg. to aid understanding, to tell the story, for realism. A headline is used to grab our attention and give us an idea of what the story is about a narrative containing several plots, eg soaps key aspect of Media Studies how texts are organized what journalists and news editors think is newsworthy. a bomb attack would have a lot of news value 4

9 non-fiction text paparazzi plot preferred reading production schedule * product placement quality press regulations representations * resolution running story sans serif font scheduling selection self-regulatory controls serial in Media Studies, a non-fiction text is one that uses actual people in the real events. For example, a documentary, even if it has parts of reconstruction using actors, is considered non-fiction, but you should describe the fiction parts. Reality TV is also non-fiction but you should describe how it is not totally real life photographers who specialize in taking intrusive pictures of celebrities the order of events as they took place in the text (see story) what the maker wants the audience to think the organisation and deadlines to be met when creating a production the use of brand name products in a film or programme; companies pay for this sort of advertising broadsheet newspapers which have high standards of reporting and analysis the rules under which media institutions and media producers work key aspect of Media Studies how media texts represent people, places, and events the outcome/ending a story which develops over a number of days typeface whose characters do not have strokes at the end, eg Arial (modern) the organisation of programmes over the day and week the idea that producers and audiences are both selective, eg editors select the news from that day s events and audiences select what to watch and remember The media industry have made rules for themselves eg Press Complaints Commission continuing storylines over a number of episodes soaps are unending serials 5

10 series serif font sign * soap soft news stereotype * story storyline tabloid press target audience * technology * term text * tie-ins vox-pop a set of episodes with the same characters and settings but with a complete story every episode typeface whose characters have short strokes at the ends, eg Times (old-fashioned) word, object, image or sound which communicate meaning a serial that focuses on the lives of ordinary people in realistic settings and uses multiple storylines and cliffhangers light news representations of people, places or events in an instantly recognizable way, eg Scots with red hair wearing kilts the actual order events took place, ie the reader s reconstruction of events one story in a narrative, eg soaps usually have several storylines at any one time newspapers printed on smaller sheets of paper than broadsheets, eg The Sun the main group or groups of individuals at whom the product is aimed key aspect of Media Studies how media products are created and distributed to the audience definition the film, programme, piece of popular music, newspaper, magazine etc promotional campaigns tied to specific texts, eg food chains who tie-in to a blockbuster film street interview with members of the public ( voice of the people) 6

NQ Media Studies Higher

NQ Media Studies Higher Kate Henderson January 2005 SFEU/COLEG Acknowledgements SFEU (Scottish Further Education Unit) and COLEG (Colleges Open Learning Exchange Group) gratefully acknowledge the contribution