Media revision

Question 1

Semiotics

Answer 1

Study of signs and how they make meaning

Question 2

Signifier

Answer 2

The physical form - Name of the object

Signified - The object

Question 3

Denotation and Connotion

Answer 3

Denotation - Literal meaning

Connotation - Extra,linked meaning

Question 4

Mise en scène

Answer 4

‘Put in the scene’

‘On stage’

Costumes

Question 5

Cinematography

Answer 5

Setting up camera and lighting.

Includes editing

Question 6

Editing

Answer 6

Montage - Series of shots which summarise an action or build a mood.

Cross cutting - Action at the same time and an editing technique used in films.

180 degree rule - 2 characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another.

Rule of Thirds - Frame divided into 9 sections.

Focus Pull - Change focus during a shot.

Question 7

Sound

Answer 7

Diegetic - e.g ( traffic,telephone,dialogue)

Non diegetic - Postproduction

Parallel - Children playing and laughing,happy voices,sounds of play

Contrapuntal - People laughing on a beach,sinister music sounds suggesting fear - Jaws

Sound Bridge - Continued sound to next scene

Synchronous and Asynchronous - Sound that is visible/not visible on screen

Question 8

Camera shots

Answer 8

Distance - Extreme Close Up,Mid Shot,Long Shot,Wide Shot

Angle - High Angle,Low Angle,Canted

Effect - Two shot,Point of View,Bird’s eye

Movement - Pan,Zoom,Track

Question 9

Lighting Sources

Answer 9

Key Light

Filler Light - Lightens up shadow areas

Back Light - Separate subject from background

High Key Lighting - This type of lighting constructs a fairly natural, everyday form of lighting, free from dark shadows.

Low Key Lighting - This type of lighting highlights the contours on objects, creating dark shadows onscreen.This type of lighting is seen in horror genre.

Question 10

Magazines

Answer 10

Masthead - The largest typeface for the title of the magazine and iconic recognisable font creates brand identity for the magazine.

Main Image - Dominates the cover.The captions are used to anchor or direct meaning.

Strap lines - The next largest typeface for the most important articles.

Date/Barcode/Price - Essential details about the issue.

Cover lines - Tease for contents and features.

Puffs or Blurbs - Blocks of text or images to attract readers to offers inside the magazine.

Question 11

Laura Mulvey

Answer 11

Suggested that women in films are represented as objects with visual impact.

This gives the (male) audience an active role in looking at the female as (passive) object and gaining pleasure from doing so

This look, from audience to actress, is called ‘the gaze’.

Question 12

Different types of gaze

Answer 12

The spectator’s gaze - the gaze of the viewer at a character in the scene

The intra-diegetic gaze - the gaze of one character at another.

The direct gaze - a character looking out at the viewer.

The look of the camera - the way the camera itself looks at a character.

Question 13

Genre Theory

Answer 13

a way of categorising a particular media text according to its content and style.

Sub genre - Combining two genres together.

Hybridisation - Three or more genres mixed together.

Subversion - It’s the act of telling a familiar story but making subtle changes and introducing new themes

Intertextuality - When one media text references another.

Question 14

Audience Effect Theories

George Gerbner: Cultivation Theory

Answer 14

Idea that exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can shape and influence the way people perceive the world around them

Idea that cultivation reinforces mainstream values

The more important impact of this is the development of a view of the world that sees it as a mean and scary place: Mean World Syndrome

Question 15

Albert Bandura: Social Learning Theory (Hypodermic Model)

Answer 15

the idea that the media can implant ideas in the mind of the audience directly

the idea that audiences acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new styles of conduct through modelling

idea that media representations of transgressive behaviour, such as violence or physical aggression, can lead audience members to imitate those forms of behaviour.

Question 16

Regulatory bodies - IPSO

Answer 16

Regulates all press in the UK

Responds to any complaints made about the press and monitors the conduct of journalists and hold editors into account.

Focuses on the editorial content of newspapers and magazines.

Strives to protect the rights of individuals, while preserving appropriate freedom of expression for the press.

Question 17

Regulatory Bodies - ASA

Answer 17

Regulates all adverts in the UK.

Responds to any complaints made about adverts and it’s role is to regulate advertisements,sales,promotions and direct marketing.

Its ‘code of advertising practice’ ensures no one is likely to be mislead by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, or omission.

Not funded by the UK government and cannot interpret legalisation.

Question 18

Regulatory Bodies - BBFC

Answer 18

Regulates all classification and censoring of films released in the UK and responds to any complaints made about films.

Funded by the film industry and has statutory requirements to regulate DVD’s, video’s, and some computer games.

Distributes age certificates and consumer advice on the age suitability of the film.

Question 19

Narrative

Answer 19

The timing and manner in which events are revealed to the audience.

Question 20

Pastiche

Answer 20

A copy of a genre;blurring genre boundaries.

Question 21

Subversion

Answer 21

Genre expectations set up and then not fulfilled

Question 22

Hybrid/cross genre

Answer 22

A mix of several genres

Question 23

Subgenre

Answer 23

Category within a genre

Question 24

Typeface

Answer 24

The shape of the letters,numbers and symbols that make up a design of type.

Question 25

Manipulation

Answer 25

The photo maybe enhanced from the original or additional elements added.

Question 26

Objectification

Answer 26

Treating someone as an object rather than a person,with no thoughts,feelings or rights.

Question 27

Immersion

Answer 27

The player fully enters the gaming world by adopting its rules and conventions.

Question 28

Diegetic UI elements

Answer 28

Items that help to immerse the player in the game’s world,such as a gun,character or setting.

Question 29

Non - diegetic UI elements

Answer 29

Items from outside the game’s world that help the player to play the game,such as text showing points earned of health ;or volume control icons.

Question 30

Interaction

Answer 30

Two way communication between the players and the game that leads to something happening in the game.

Question 31

User interface

Answer 31

The means by which a player controls the software and hardware to interact with the game or app.It can also be what the user sees on screen.

Question 32

Classical continuity editing

Answer 32

Using agreed conventions to cut and join shots to tell the story smoothly and clearly. Creates the least challenging and most structured narrative style for the audience.

Question 33

Effects of editing

Answer 33

Establishing shot - A long or extreme long shot showing the spatial relationship between,or location of characters,objects and setting. Shot/reverse shot - During dialogue,the camera cuts back and forth along the central line from one character to another,pushing action onwards. 30 degree rule - The camera angle between two consecutive shots should move by less than 30 degrees for continuity. Cross cut/parallel edit - This is cutting between actions in different locations to convey the impression that two or more events are occurring simultaneously. Cutaway - A shot of something related to but outside the main action of a scene.It cuts away from the main action to a separate or secondary action,for example to show the response of another character. Match on action/action match - Two shots are linked by two farmings of the same action,for example a character begins to move or speak in one shot and their movement or dialogue continues in the next shot.Can show time passing. Eyeline match - A cut between two shots.A character looks at something and in the next shot we see what they see,such as the person they are talking to,looking at them. Re-establishing shot - This is another long shot to reinforce the setting or show how it has changed. 180 degree rule - This maintains continuity by ensuring that the action in a sequence of shots takes place in the half circle in front of the camera,so that characters’ positions aren’t reversed.Crossing the line creates a disorienting change in perspective.