Media Terminology Flashcards
What is an action code?
Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience action will follow.
E.g) Someone has broken into a house and a car pulls up outside.. the car is the action code
What is an active audience?
When audiences actively engage in selecting media products to consume and interpreting their meanings
What is meant by anchorage?
The words that accompany an image contributing to the meaning
What is meant by the term ‘appeal’?
The way in which products attract and interest an audience
What is an arc of transformation?
The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of the narrative. The events in the story mean that they will ‘transform’ by the end of the story
What is meant by an aspirational media text?
One that encourages the audience to want more money, up-market consumer items and a higher social position
What is audience categorisation?
How media producers group audiences to target their products (age, gender etc.)
What is meant by audience consumption?
The way in which audiences engage with media products (TV, News, Magazine)
What is audience positioning?
The way in which media products place audiences in relation to a particular point of view. E.g) audiences may be positioned to adopt a specific ideological perspective
What is audience segmentation?
When the target audience is decided up due to diversity and a range of channels. This makes it difficult for one programme to attract a large target audience
What is an avatar?
A player’s representation of themselves within a game
What are binary opposites?
When texts incorporate examples of opposite values
What is brand identity?
The association the audience make with the brand. it is built up over time and reinforced by the advertising campaigns and their placement
What is a broadsheet?
A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news
What is a channel identity?
That which makes a channel recognisable to audiences and different from the others. Presenters, programme genres and programmes all contribute to a channels identity
What is meant by a convention?
What the audience would expect to see from a particular media text
What is convergence?
The coming together of previously separated media industries. E.g) Mobile phone also allowing music playing and video streaming through one device
What is cross platform marketing?
Distributing promotion over a range of media platforms (film, television, print, radio)
What is the cultural capital?
The main media tastes and preferences of an audience, traditionally linked to social class and background
What is meant by discourse?
The topics and values behind a media text. The discourse of lifestyles magazine tends to revolve around body image
What is encoding and decoding?
Media producers encode messages and meanings in products that are interpreted (decoded) by audiences
What is an enigma code?
A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information at a time. The enigma is usually resolved in the end
What is meant by equilibrium? (Todorov)
Balance and stability in a narrative
What does it mean to be ethnocentric?
To belief that your own culture and ethnic belief is superior to others
What is meant by ethos in the media?
The beliefs, values and customs of media organisations
What is a Flexi narrative?
A more complex narrative structure with layers of interconnecting storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them engaged
What are gate keepers and what do they do?
Gate keepers are the people responsible for deciding the most appropriate stories to feature in a newspaper. They will only let the stories most consistent with the ideologies of the paper ‘through the gate’
What is hegemony?
The dominance of one group over another
What is horizontal integration?
Where a media conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products
What is house style?
The aspects of a magazine that make it recognisable. This is created through its design, layout and the general appliance of the publication
What is a hybrid genre?
Media texts that incorporate elements from more then one genre and are more difficult to classify into one category
What is the main idea behind the hypodermic needle theory?
The idea that the media product will ‘inject’ an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive and they will all respond in the same way
What is meant by iconography?
The props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre or scene
What are ideologies?
A set of messages, values and beliefs that may be encoded into media products
What does intertextual mean?
Where one media text makes reference to aspects of another text within it
What is a linear narrative?
Where the narrative unfolds in chronological order from beginning to end
What is ludology?
The study of games and those who play them
What is a media conglomerate?
A company that owns other companies across a range of media platforms. This increases their domination of the market and their ability to distribute and promote their product
What is mediation?
The way media text is put together
What does MMORPG stand for?
Massive multi-player online role playing game
What is meant by mode of address?
The way in which a media text speaks to its target audience
What is a niche audience?
A relatively small audience with specialised interests, tastes and backgrounds
What is a passive audience?
The idea that audiences do not actively engage with media products, but passively consume and accept the messages that are communicated
What is a patriarchal culture?
A society or culture that is male dominated
What is political bias?
Where a newspaper may show support for a political party through its choice of stories and coverage
What is a privileged spectator position?
Where the camera places the audience in a superior position within the narrative. The audience can then anticipate what will follow
What is realism?
A style of presentation that claims to portray real life accurately and authentically
What is meant by circulation?
The dissemination of media products to audiences - the method depends on the media form. e.g) circulation of print magazines compared to broadcasting of television programmes
What is cross platform marketing?
A text that is distributed and exhibited across a range of media platforms.
What is a demographic category?
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
What is meant by ethos?
The beliefs and values of a media organisation
What is a Flexi narrative?
A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them watching
What is the hypodermic needle theory?
A media effects theory which suggests that an audience will have a mass response to a media text. The idea is that media products inject an idea into the minds of the audience who are assumed to be passive and as a result will all respond in the same way
What is meant by ludology?
The study of games and those who play them, relevant to video games
What is a media conglomerate?
A company that owns other companies across a range of media platforms. This increases their domination of the market and their ability to distribute their products
What is meant by media language?
The specific elements of media product that communicate meanings to audiences.. e.g) visual codes, audio codes, technical codes, language
What is a privileged spectator position?
Where the camera places the audience in a superior position within the narrative. The audience can then anticipate what will follow
What is meant by the term ‘simulcast’?
Simulataneously broadcasting live radio programmes. The streaming from the website at the same time they are broadcast on the radio
What is a specialised audience?
A non-mass, niche audience that may be defined by a particular social group or by a specific interest
What is synergy?
The combination of elements to maximise profits within a media organisation or product. For example, where a film soundtrack sells the film and the film sells the soundtrack
What is meant by distribution?
The methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign
What is diversification?
Where media organisations who have specialised in producing media products in one form move into producing content across a range of forms
What is vertical integration?
Vertically integrated companies own all or most of the chain of production and distribution for the product. For example, a film company that also owns a chain of cinemas to exhibit the film and merchandise outlets
