Glossary

Question 1

Action Code

Answer 1

Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow, for example in a scene from a soap opera, a couple are intimate in a bedroom and the camera shows the audience the husband’s car pulling up at the front of the house

Question 2

Active Audience

Answer 2

Audiences actively engage in selecting media products to consume and interpreting their meanings

Question 3

Anchorage

Answer 3

The words that accompany an image (still or moving) contribute to the meaning associated with that image. If the caption or voice-over is changed then so may the way in which the audience interprets the image. An image with an anchor is a closed text; the audience are given a preferred reading. A text without an anchor is an open text as the audience can interpret it as they wish.
The same image of a school in a local newspaper could include a negative or a positive headline, which may change the way in which the same image is viewed by the reader.

Question 4

Appeal

Answer 4

The way in which products attract and interest an audience

Question 5

Arc of Transformation

Answer 5

The way in which products attract and interest an audience e.g. through the use of stars, familiar genre conventions etc.

Question 6

Aspirational

Answer 6

In terms of a media text, one that encourages the audience to want more money, up-market consumer items and a higher social position

Question 7

Attract

Answer 7

How media producers create appeal to audiences to encourage them to consume the product

Question 8

Audience Categorisation

Answer 8

How media producers group audiences (e.g. by age, gender, ethnicity) to target their products

Question 9

Audience Consumption

Answer 9

The way in which audiences engage with media products (e.g. viewing a TV programme, playing a video game, reading a blog or magazine). Methods of consumption have changed significantly due to the development of digital technologies.

Question 10

Audience Interpretation

Answer 10

The way in which audiences ‘read’ the meanings in, and make sense of, media products

Question 11

Audience Positioning

Answer 11

The way in which media products place audiences (literally or metaphorically) in relation to a particular point of view. For example, audiences may be positioned with a particular character or positioned to adopt a specific ideological perspective

Question 12

Audience Response

Answer 12

How audiences react to media products e.g. by accepting the intended meanings (preferred reading)

Question 13

Audience Segmentation

Answer 13

Where a target audience is divided up due to the diversity and range of programmes and channels. This makes it difficult for one programme to attract a large target audience.

Question 14

Audio

Answer 14

How sound is used to communicate meaning - voice-over, dialogue, music, SFX, etc.

Question 15

Avatar

Answer 15

A player’s representation of themselves within a game

Question 16

Back Story

Answer 16

Part of a narrative which may be the experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a media text. It is a device that gives the audience more information and makes the main story more credible.

Question 17

Binary Opposites

Answer 17

Where texts incorporate examples of opposite values e.g. good vs evil, villain vs hero. These can be apparent in the characters, narrative or themes.

Question 18

Brand Identity

Answer 18

The association the audience make with the brand e.g. Chanel or Nike, built up over time and reinforced by the advertising campaigns and their placement.

Question 19

Broadsheet

Answer 19

A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news, e.g. The Daily Telegraph has maintained its broadsheet format.

Question 20

Camera Angles

Answer 20

The angle of the camera in relation to the subject e.g. High angle shot may make them appear more vulnerable

Question 21

Camera Shots

Answer 21

The type of shot and framing in relation to the subject e.g. close-up shots are often used to express emotion

Question 22

Caption

Answer 22

Words that accompany an image that help to explain its meaning

Question 23

Channel Identity

Answer 23

That which makes the channel recognisable to audiences and different from any other channel. Presenters, stars, programme genres and specific programmes all contribute to a channel’s identity.

Question 24

Circulation

Answer 24

The dissemination of media products to audiences/users - the method will depend on the media form e.g. Circulation of print magazines, broadcast of television programmes etc.

Question 25

Connotation

Answer 25

The suggested meanings attached to a sign, e.g. the red car in the advert suggests speed and power.

Question 26

Conventions

Answer 26

What the audience expects to see in a particular media text, for example the conventions of science fiction films may include: aliens, scientists, other worlds, gadgets, representations of good and evil, etc. Useful headings to discuss conventions are: characters, setting, iconography, narrative, technical codes and representation.

Question 27

Convergence

Answer 27

The coming together of previously separate media industries and/or platforms; often the result of advances in technology whereby one device or platform contains a range of different features. The mobile phone, for example, allows the user to download and listen to music, view videos, tweet artists etc. All this can be done through one portable device.

Question 28

Cover Lines

Answer 28

These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions. These relate to the genre of the magazine.

Question 29

Cross-Platform Marketing

Answer 29

In media terms, a text that is distributed and exhibited across a range of media formats or platforms. This may include film, television, print, radio and the Internet.

Question 30

Cultural Capital

Answer 30

The media tastes and preferences of an audience, traditionally linked to social class/background.

Question 31

Demographic Category

Answer 31

A group in which consumers are placed according to their age, sex, income, profession, etc. The categories range from A to E where categories A and B are the wealthiest and most influential members of society.

Question 32

Denotation

Answer 32

The literal meaning of a sign, e.g. the car in the advert is red.

Question 33

Diegetic Sound

Answer 33

Sound that comes from the fictional world, e.g. the sound of a gun firing, the cereal being poured into the bowl in an advert etc.

Question 34

Discourse

Answer 34

The topics, language and meanings or values behind them within a media text. The discourse of lifestyle magazines, for example, tends to revolve around body image and narcissism.

Question 35

Distribution

Answer 35

The methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign. These methods will depend upon the product (e.g. distribution companies in the film industry organise the release of the films, as well as their promotion)

Question 36

Diversification

Answer 36

Where media organisations who have specialised in producing media products in one form move into producing content across a range of forms.

Question 37

Editing

Answer 37

The way in which the shots move from one to the other (transitions), e.g. fade, cut, etc. Fast cutting may increase the pace and therefore the tension of the text.

Question 38

Encoding and Decoding

Answer 38

Media producers encode messages and meanings in products that are decoded, or interpreted by audiences.

Question 39

Enigma Code

Answer 39

A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information, e.g. teasers in a film trailer or narrative strands that are set up at the beginning of a drama/film that makes the audience ask questions; part of a restricted narrative.

Question 40

Equilibrium

Answer 40

In relation to narrative, a state of balance or stability (in Todorov’s theory the equilibrium is disrupted and ultimately restored)

Question 41

Ethnocentric

Answer 41

A belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture. E.g. a newspaper will be more concerned to cover stories that are closely related to the reader and their concerns. Tabloid and local papers only tend to cover international news stories if they can relate them specifically to their readers.

Question 42

Ethos

Answer 42

The beliefs, values and customs of, for example, media organisations. In TV, for example, what the channel believes in and what it sees as its role. The ethos is usually set out in the channel’s charter.

Question 43

Fan

Answer 43

An enthusiast or aficionado of a particular media form or product.

Question 44

Feature

Answer 44

In magazine terms, the main, or one of the main, stories in an edition. Features are generally located in the middle of the magazine, and cover more than one or two pages.

Question 45

Flexi Narrative

Answer 45

A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them watching.

Question 46

Four C’s

Answer 46

Stands for Cross Cultural Consumer Characteristics and was a way of categorising consumers into groups through their motivational needs. The main groups were Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Explorers, Succeeders and Reformers.

Question 47

Franchise

Answer 47

An entire series of, for example, a film including the original film and all those that follow.

Question 48

Gate Keepers

Answer 48

The people responsible for deciding the most appropriate stories to appear in newspapers. They may be the owner, editor or senior journalists. They will only let the stories most appropriate for the ideology of the paper ‘through the gate’.

Question 49

Genre

Answer 49

Media texts can often be grouped into genres that all share similar conventions. Science fiction is a genre, as are teenage magazines, etc.

Question 50

Global

Answer 50

Worldwide - e.g. a media product with global reach is a product that is distributed around the world.

Question 51

Hegemony

Answer 51

This derives from the theory of cultural hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. Hegemony is the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas, e.g. the dominant social position in society is taken by men and the subordinate one by women.

Question 52

Horizontal Integration

Answer 52

Where a media conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products, often as a result of mergers, e.g. a company with interests in film, TV, magazines, newspaper.

Question 53

House Style

Answer 53

The aspects that make a magazine recognisable to its readers every issue. The house style is established through the choice of colour, the layout and design, the font style, the content and the general ‘look’ of the publication.