Key Terms: Media language Flashcards
Action Code
Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow.
Anchorage
The words that accompany an image (still or moving) and contribute to the meaning of that image.
Arc of transformation
The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of the narrative. The events in the story mean they will ‘transform’/ have changed by the end of the narrative.
Audio
How sound is used to communicate meaning.
E.g - voice-over, dialogue, music etc
Avatar
A players representation of themselves within a game.
Back Story
The experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event ( of which happened before the narrative) explained in/ as part of the narrative.
Binary Oppositions
Where texts incorporate examples of opposite values to move forward the narrative.
E.g - good versus evil
Broadsheet
A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news.
Camera angles
The angle of the camera in relation to the subject.
Camera shots
The type of shot and framing used in relation to the subject.
Caption
Words that accompany an image that help to explain its meaning.
Connotation
The suggest meanings attached to a sign.
Conventions (in media not generally)
What the audience expects to see in a particular media text.
Cover lines
These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions.
Denotation
The literal meaning of a sign.
Diegetic sound
Sound that comes from the fictional world/ from within the diegesis.
E.g - the sound of a gun firing, cereal being poured into a bowl.
Discourse
The topics, language and meanings or values behind them within a media text/ the thread of the conversation, text etc and how it changes.
Editing
The way in which the shots move from one to the other.
Encoding and Decoding
Media producers encode messages and meanings in products, that are decoded, or interpreted by audiences.
Enigma Code
A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information.
Equilibrium
In relation to narrative, a state of balance or stability.
Ethos
The beliefs, values and customs of media organisations (in this case).
E.g - In television, what a channel believes in and what it sees as its role.
BBC = role is to educate etc
Feature
In magazine terms, the main/ one of the main articles in the magazine.
Flexi - Narrative
A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving storylines.
