Terminology Flashcards
Technical codes
technical elements of a media product that create meaning e.g. sound, camera
Symbolic codes
symbolic elements of a media product that create meaning e.g. costume, body language
conventions
widely recognised and expected elements of a genre / media form
symbol
a sign / image that symbolises an idea
Index
- a sign that works by a relationship to the object / concept it is referring to e.g. skull is indexical of death
syntagm
combination of signs that are linked together in a particular way to convey meaning e.g. a sentence is a syntagm because the words are placed in a certain sequence to convey meaning
anchorage
text which anchors an image to its meaning
house style
overall design style of a media text
mode of address
relationship between text and audience established through language, tone, text etc.
Masthead
name of magazine / newspaper
tag line / cover line
text around a magazine cover, usually short phrases
Headline
- larger that tag lines but smaller than masthead usually
- indicate what the content is
Copy
the writing of an article (journalists write copy)
Standfirst
an introductory paragraph in an article which summarises the article
feature
an article that deals in depth with a particular subject / topic
editorial
article that expresses opinion / topical issue
Call to action
provokes a immediate response from audience e.g. subscribe now
Establishing shot
indicates to the audience the area/place/time that the scene is about to take place in
long shot
the whole of the subject can be viewed
medium shot
about half of the subject can be viewed (head to waist)
close up
close to the subject (just the face)
extreme close up
really close to the subject (just the eyes maybe)
worms eye view
an extreme low angle
birds eye view
an extreme high angle
canted angle / dutch tilt
camera is filming from a diagonal
Pan
when a camera swivels from a fixed point (left to right)
Tilt
when a camera swivels from a fixed point (up to down)
Crab
when a camera travels in a sideways direction
Track
when a camera travels away / towards / with a subject
pedestal (ped) shot
moving the camera vertically (up or down) in respect to the subject
Diegetic sound
sound within the world of the scene e.g. street noise
Non-diegetic sound
sound added in post production which the characters cant hear e.g. music
Ambient / amos
sounds which are present in the scene / location e.g. office noises, traffic, phone ringing for office
incidental music
music that enhances the atmosphere of the scene
Contrapuntal sound
sound that doesn’t match the action on screen
Foley sound
sound effects added in post production to enhance audio quality
cut
one shot ends and another begins
transition
within the end and beginning of scene e.g. cross fade, dissolve, wipe
cross-cut
used to establish that action is occurring at the same time
Shot-reverse-shot
when two characters are opposite and the camera cuts from two over the shoulder shots
mise en scene
everything that is in the shot
iconography
the visual aspects within the media product
Hook
image or tag line which entices the audience
connotation
the deeper meaning
denotation
the literal meaning
intertextuality
when a media text refers to another text / references pop culture to interest and engage the audience
diegesis
the time and space of the audio-visual narrative world
Juxtaposition
placing two things close together to create a contrasting effect
closed narrative
a story where the main threads of the narrative are neatly resolved
inter-weaving plot narratives
the media product will include several narratives e.g. love actually
linear narrative
plot that moves forward in straight order from beginning to end
non-linear narrative
jumps between different times of the story
