Media Language

Question 1

Action Code

Answer 1

Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow

Question 2

Anchorage

Answer 2

• The words that accompany an image that contribute to the meaning associated with the image
• An image with an anchor is a closed text

Question 3

Arc of transformation

Answer 3

• The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of a narrative
• They will ‘transform’ by the end of the story

Question 4

Audio codes

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Camera angles

Answer 5

The angle of the camera in relation to the subject

Question 6

Camera shots

Answer 6

The type of shot and framing in relation to the subject

Question 7

Connotation

Answer 7

The suggestive meanings attached to a sign

Question 8

Denotation

Answer 8

The literal meaning of a sign

Question 9

Diegetic sound

Answer 9

Sound that comes from the fictional world

Question 10

Editing

Answer 10

The way in which the shots move from one to another (transitions)

Question 11

Encoding and decoding

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Enigma code

Answer 12

A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information

Question 13

Genre

Answer 13

Media texts can often be grouped into genres that all share similar conventions

Question 14

Hypodermic needle model

Answer 14

Idea that the media injected an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive and as a result will all respond in the same way

Question 15

Iconography

Answer 15

The props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre

Question 16

Independent film

Answer 16

Film made outside of the financial and artistic control of a large mainstream film company

Question 17

Intertextual

Answer 17

Where one media text makes referencer of aspects of another text

Question 18

Media language

Answer 18

The specific elements of a media product that communicate meaning to audiences, such as visual codes, audio codes, technical codes, language etc.

Question 19

Mise-en-scene

Answer 19

How the combination of images in a frame creates meaning

Question 20

Non-diegetic sound

Answer 20

Sound that comes from outside the fictional world that characters in that world cannot hear

Question 21

Privileged/Spectator position

Answer 21

Camera places the audiences in a superior position

Question 22

Realism

Answer 22

A style of presentation that claims to portray ‘real life’ accurately and authentically

Question 23

Sign/code

Answer 23

Something which communicates meaning

Question 24

Visual codes

Answer 24

Visual aspects of the product that construct meaning

Question 25

Technical codes

Answer 25

All the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text