CONVENTIONS Flashcards
Explain media conventions.
Media conventions are rules or generally accepted ways of constructing meaning or organising media products. Conventions may refer to:
* Conventions of media forms and products: the rules and common practices for constructing and organising media forms and products
* Genre conventions: the rules that define genres are subject to debate and change, revealing cultural assumptions about the significance of media products; the type of audiences who consume media products; and practices of the media industries
* Narrative conventions: common narrative structures, such as character, character arcs and three-act structures.
Explain narrative conventions.
Narrative conventions: common narrative structures, such as character, character arcs and three-act structures.
- Three-act structure
- Character development and arcs
Not specified in SD but a common narrative conventions:
- Cause and effect
- Multiple storylines
- Structuring of time
- Point of view
Explain the conventions of media forms and products.
Conventions of media forms and products: the rules and common practices for constructing and organising media forms and products
(SD p11) Media forms refer to technological means and channels by which the media is created, produced, distributed, consumed and read.
Film/TV
- Aspect ratio
- Duration
- Film stock and resolution
Photography/print/digital media
- Elements of page layout
- Paper stock for print
- Hyperlinking
- Mounting and framing of images
Explain conventions of genre.
Conventions of genre: the rules that define genres are subject to debate and change, revealing cultural assumptions about the significance of media products; the type of audiences who consume media products; and practices of the media industries.
(SD p15) All media products are made for target audiences, defined by their cultural, social and historical contexts and demographics, as well as individual traits such as age, gender and values.
- Audience expectations
- Generic use of codes
- Genre-specific tropes
- Subverting or re-enforcing genre conventions?
Explain character.
ESTABLISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
- Character traits
- Character arc
- Character motivation
- Character trigger
- Character reaction
- Character establishment
- Character development
- Character tropes & genre-specific arcs
- Relationships between characters
- How codes convey ideas about characters
Explain narrative structure.
CLASSIC: THREE -ACT STRUCTURE
OPENING, DEVELOPMENT AND RESOLUTION
NB/ Not all narratives follow this convention
Explain the three-act structure.
THREE-ACT STRUCTURE
ACT ONE- The Opening.
Establishes setting, characters theme and engages audience. Ends with event which causes character to take action.
ACT TWO- The Development.
Characters attempt to solve the problem from the first act. Rising action- characters are forced to change and develop as they grapple with conflict (character arc).
ACT THREE- The Resolution.
The action reaches its climax and the problem is resolved. Characters have changed or transformed as a result of their journey/character arcs.
Explain multiple storylines.
STORY ARCS & SHAPES
MULTIPLE STORYLINES
In films there are often multiple storylines
- Character backstories
- Internal and external conflicts
- Related and intertwined stories
- Parallel universes
Explain the generic structure.
Genre conventions shape story, character archetypes & arcs, narrative structures, codes, aesthetics and audience expectations.
eg Hero’s journey.
Explain genre conventions.
Genre conventions (cont’d)
eg. Setting
- The location where the story unfolds/happens
- Settings tell us a great deal about genre.
- Most films have multiple settings
- Settings can become characters in the film
- Settings can motivate the characters and drive the action
- Settings can be symbolic and genre-specific/defining
Explain cause and effect.
- These can be multiple in a film text
- Characters trigger and react to events
- Point when relationships are established between characters
- Beginning of a new chapter or “act” in a story
- A Crisis or Obstacle in a story
Explain point of view.
The audience is encouraged to identify
with the point of view of one or more
characters
When discussing point of view, consider:
- Character
- Other
- Narrator
- Purpose
Explain structuring of time.
Films rarely occur in real time
Filmmakers often expand and contract
time to tell stories and keep the audience
engaged.
Linear and non linear narratives
Montage, fast forward, flash forward or
backwards, slow motion, reversed footage,
freeze frame, split screen, smash cut,
speed ramping, super imposition,
whip pan, wipe by cut, audio match cut,
visual match cut.
Explain titles and credits.
- Genre-specific conventions may influence how titles/credits/trailers/promos are constructed and read.
List the conventions.
- Character/arcs
- Narrative structure - three-act structure
- Story arcs and shapes
- Multiple storylines
- Generic structure
- Genre conventions
- Cause and effect
- Point of view
- Structuring of time
- Time and credits
