The Key Concepts are the single most important framework for the whole Media Studies course- they have evolved as a means of understanding a text by using a critical framework rather than just make unconnected and meaningless observations. The key concepts work in unison.
RAILING is a mnemonic used to remember these key concepts...
- Representations
- Audiences
- Institutions
- Language
- Ideology
- Narrative
- Genre
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Media Language
The Importance of Media Language
Every medium has its own 'language' - or combination of languages - that it uses to communicate meaning. Television, for example, uses verbal and written language as well as the languages of moving images and sound. We call these 'languages' because they use familiar codes and conventions that are generally understood.
Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. Each form of communication -- whether newspapers, TV game shows or horror movies -- has its own creative language: scary music heightens fear, camera close-ups convey intimacy, big headlines signal significance.
Understanding the grammar, syntax and metaphor system of media language, especially the language of sounds and visuals which can reach beyond the rational to our deepest emotional core, increases our appreciation and enjoyment of media experiences as well as helps us to be less susceptible to manipulation.
The word 'text' is used to describe any media product such as television programmes, photographs, adverts, film, newspaper adverts, radio programmes etc.
'Texts' are therefore the main point of our study in understanding how media languages create meaning. One of the keys to understanding the meanings in text is the use of codes; codes are the rules/conventions by which signs are put together to create meaning.
The codes used to construct meaning are varied and frequently depend upon the form of the media text- usually the text will use a variety of codes; visual, audio and written; which fit together in a certain way to create a particular meaning.
Media Language- Image Analysis
Denotation the level of analysis where you look at images and describing what you see. It is what an image actually shows and is immediately apparent, rather than the assumption the individual reader may make about it; the everyday or common sense meaning of a sign.
EXAMPLE...
Framing
Framing defines the position from which the image was created (i.e. it is the border betwen the space we are allowed to see and that which is out of our sight). In terms of framing a still image, you can vary:
- Angle: the angle of vision refers to the camera's angle in relation to the vertical. The most common is the 'straight on' position. Other commonly used angles are low angle (which is often used to indicate a position of power as the audience is forced to look up to the character) and high angle (which means the audience has to look down on the character so often suggests subservience)
- Height: this is the height at which the shot is taken, usually eye level.
- Level: this refers to the camera's horizontal angle. As with the vertical angle, usually it is 'straight on' but the camera can also be tilted on its side to the left or right to change the level.
- Distance: this refers to the distance of the object from the camera. there are seven categories: extreme long shot, long shot, medium shot, medium close-up, close-up, extreme close-up.
- Depth of Field: this refers to the distance between the nearest and furthest area from the camera which is in focus. Deep focus photography will have the whole scene in focus, whereas a conventional photograph will focus on the main object with the background out of focus. Soft focus can be created by using special lenses and layers.
- Lens type: wide angle lenses make the scene appear deeper than it is; an extreme wide-angle will give a 'fish-eye' effect while telephoto lens pulls objects closer together (eg. two atheletes may seem to be running close together but when the shot is cut you see the true distance between them)
- Film stock: this refers to the speed at which film responds to the light. A fast stock will produce grainy images while a slow stock will require lots of light. Slow stock is the norm in cinema while most television companies use video tapes.
Moving Image
There are 6 types of moving images:
- Pan: the camera moves horizontally from a static position
- Tracking/Dolly: the camera moves on tracks to give a smooth movement
- Tilt: the camera moves up or down vertically from a static position
- Crane: the camera is moved on a device that can move up and down laterally
- Handheld: gives the frame as shaky look, often used as point-of-view shot
- Zoom: technically not movement, but the change of the focal length bringing us closer or further away rom the object in the frame
Mise-En-Scene
Refers to anything that goes into a shot: set, props, actors, costumes, camera movements and performances. There are 3 main components of mise-en-scene analysis:
- The subject
- The lighting
- The setting
THE SUBJECT:
There may be more than one subject in an image and we bring our cultural knowledge to bear when looking at a subject. For example; if the subject is a person, we would consider all aspects of non-verbal communication as we did earlier.
THE LIGHTING:
This refers to how the image is lit.
- Where is the lighting coming from; front, side, back, above or below?
- Is the lighting of equal intensity? (unlikely)
- Where is this light coming (or supposed to be coming) from?
Three-point lighting is the most common set up, made up of a key, fill and backlight.
The key light is the main source of illumination and is directed on the subject, usually from 45 degrees above and to one side of the camera. It is a hard, direct light which produces sharply defined shadows.
The fill light is the soft or indirect light that "fills" in the shadows formed by the key light.
The back light shines from the behind the subject, usually to differentiate it from the background.
THE SETTING:
This is self explanatory; we have different expectations, eg, of a tropical setting when compared to an Arctic one.
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Connotation: the meaning of a sign which is arrived at through the cultural experiences a reader brings to it.
The way we interpret what we see is connotation, where we add our own pieces of information. We fill in what is missing from the denotation stage and attempt to identify what message is being communicated. IE. Denotation is identifying an aspect of the image, and connotation is analysing that denotation.
EG. The colour white, a clenched fist, a black dress = DENOTATION
White could represent cleanliness, honesty, purity, innocence = CONNOTATION
Barthes (1977) argued that in film, connotation can be analytically distinguished from denotation.
John Fiske (1982) says that "denotation is what is filmed, connotation is how it is filmed"
Barthes (1977) argued that in film, connotation can be analytically distinguished from denotation.
John Fiske (1982) says that "denotation is what is filmed, connotation is how it is filmed"
ANCHORAGE: fixing/limiting a particular set of meanings. One of the most common forms of anchorage is the caption beneath a photo.
CROPPING: The advent of digital photography means many people at home now have experience of cropping pictures on their home computers. Choosing to focus on one particular aspect of a picture, so by definition missing something out, will clearly have implications.
JUXTAPOSITION: Being placed side by side. By placing information near an image is likely to influence your reading of that image. EG. an image of a craggy, handsome man juxtaposed with a mansion on the cover of a novel would suggest it was a romantic story. The same man, juxtaposed with a gun and the mansion would suggest a murder mystery.
GENRE: Provides audience with a clear set of expectations which are used to interpret the text. EG. If we read a horror text, we'd be surprised if it didn't include elements such as a big, creepy house, thunder, lightning, death, monsters, supernatural etc. Iconography is the objects we recognise as belonging to a particular genre.
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SEMIOTICS
This is an attempt to create a science of the study of sign systems and their role in the construction and reconstruction of meaning in media texts. It can be problematic in that some of the terminology makes it seem obscure and difficult. Semiotics is essentially the "study of signs" but it doesn't just refer to formal signs, but any system of communication. We will look at the work of 3 key figures; Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Peirce, Roland Barthes.Saussure said that a sign is the sum of the signifier and signified. i.e.
The signifier is the sign's physical form in the real world while the signified is the mental concept evoked by the signifier. So, if we perceive a four legged animal with a very long neck (the signifier), this evokes the mental concept of a giraffe (the signified). This combination creates the sign "giraffe". You can see here how in your own perception, the signifier and signified are inseparable, but they are separated for the purposes of analysis. The basic act of signification operates at the level of denotation.
The relationship between the signifier and the signified is usually arbitrary (determined by chance and universally agreed upon). EG the fact a four legged animal with a long neck is called a giraffe in English is arbitrary. It therefore follows that if the signifier determined the signified than the word for giraffe in English would be the same in all languages; indeed there would probably be only one language. The fact that signs are arbitrary means they can have many meanings- they are POLYSEMIC. Not all signs are entirely arbitrary in nature. A photograph looks like what it represents. Signs such as this were defined by Charles Peirce.
The relationship between the signifier and the signified is usually arbitrary (determined by chance and universally agreed upon). EG the fact a four legged animal with a long neck is called a giraffe in English is arbitrary. It therefore follows that if the signifier determined the signified than the word for giraffe in English would be the same in all languages; indeed there would probably be only one language. The fact that signs are arbitrary means they can have many meanings- they are POLYSEMIC. Not all signs are entirely arbitrary in nature. A photograph looks like what it represents. Signs such as this were defined by Charles Peirce.
Our understanding of signs rarely stops at the level of denotation. Once we see a sign, we have particular associations with it which colour our understanding. EG- arachnophobes would have negative feelings about the sign "spider" whereas a tarantula owner would have an opposite feeling. These connotations mean that the original sign has become another signifier which evokes an associated mental concept to create another sign which consists of "sign" + "associations"
There is a social consensus for many connotations; eg a dog, sitting down, tongue hanging out and head to one side (a denotative description) - connotation that the dog is friendly.
Meaning can't exist in individual signs because of their arbitrary nature. Meaning is derived from context.
Langue and Parole
Saussure distinguished between;
- Langue; the rules of sign systems (eg grammar)
- Parole; the articulation of the signs (eg writing)
Langue is the supporting structure of any communication, often implicitly understood but hidden beneath the surface. Parole is the performance of the rules, referred to by Noah Chomsky as "what the speaker does".
To use the writing analogy above, langue is the grammar of English (eg the rules of punctuation) and parole is the piece of writing produced by a person who implicitly understands the langue.
Codes associated with films (eg continuity of editing, use of diegetic and non diegetic sounds etc) act as the equivalent of the langue while the way these codes are actually used in a specific film is the equivalent of parole. unless a person has learned about the media language of Hollywood films, then it is likely they would know about the rules of (EG) continuity editing. However, because most people can make sense of the editing when watching films (the parole) then they implicitly understand the langue, as indicated by Chomsky.
Sychrony and Diachrony
Saussure demonstrated another way of structuring meaning: considering the vertical and horizontal dimensions of sign systems; synchrony and diachrony. Synchrony is the vertical dimension of meaning of meaning and diachrony is the horizontal dimension.
When we look at a still from a film, or a freeze-frame of a video, we are, in effect looking at the synchronic dimension: the sequence from which the still is taken is the diachronic dimension.
A useful way of remembering this is that synchronic is like freezing time (as said above) and diachronic is concerned with changes over time. If we analyse a text in a synchronic way, we focus on it as existing at one historical moment. If we analyse diachronically, we acknowledge that what we are looking at arrives with a history, not something that is complete within itself.
Theorist Warren Hedges defines the terms as:
"A diachronic approach involves an examination of origins, development, history and change. They focus on how things change over time."
"In contrast, a synchronic approach gives us a snapshot of a particular system at a particular moment in time. Synchronic approaches focus on how a given system is at a given moment, and how each part fits into the system."
To expand on Hedges' example of words: a synchronic analysis of the word "gay" in 2006 would focus on how young people in Britain have adapted the word to mean"rubbish" or "worthless" in addition to it meaning homosexual. A diachronic approach would ground the word "gay" in its historical context of meaning "happy" and follow the way it has evolved to mean homosexual and now "rubbish" or "worthless" to British school children.
Syntagm and Paradigm
Syntagm:
This is a chain of signs, that is, an element which follows another in a particular sequence. Saussure identified a syntagmatic relationship in language: language is linear so there is a relationship between the words: "the cat sat on the mat". This syntagmatic level can be seen as the structural level from which a text can be broken into its constituent parts - ie that sentence being reduced to analysis of individual words within the sentence.
In terms of film or television, a syntagmatic analysis would involve an analysis of how each shot, scene or sequence relates to the others. If you were analysing a still image, syntagmatic analysis would focus on the spatial relationship between objects.
Roman Jakobson used the word "combination" when defining syntagm.
Paradigm:
A paradigm is a class of objects or concepts which are all members of a defining category but markedly different in themselves. To use the example of language, the vocabulary of a language is a paradigm. The use of one paradigm over another (ie choosing to use one word instead of different word) shapes the meaning of a text. To change the selection of words can potentially change the wider meaning, which is crucial when it comes to analysis in Media.
Roman Jakobson used the word "selection" when defining paradigm.
Paradigmatic elements are those from which you choose, and the syntagm is the sequence into which they're arranged.
The Commutation Test:
In semiotics, the replacement of one sign by another is called a commutation test and illustrates how powerful syntagms and paradigms can be in analysis. by substituting objects for other signs in the same paradigm and decoding the new meaning, we can isolate what contribution the original sign is making to the meaning of the image.
As John Fiske puts it: "the meaning of what was chosen is determined by the meaning of what was not."
FOR EXAMPLE:
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Charles Peirce, the other great pioneer of semiotics, created a tripartite categorisation of signs:
- Iconic
- Index
- Symbol
Symbolic Signs
A symbol is a sign that represents an object or concept solely by the agreement of the people who use it, therefore, symbolic signs have no obvious connection between the sign and the object.
EG: The word DOG has no obvious link to a furry animal - it only works because we understand the rules that say the letters D-O-G when put into a certain order, mean/signify that furry animal.
Internationally the colour green is used in traffic signs to signify "go". This is a symbolic or arbitrary sign because the world as a whole has agreed to its meaning. The colour pink could equally have been chosen if this had been agreed upon.
This means some symbolic signs can have several meanings that are contested, or about which people mightn't agree.
Iconic Signs
Iconic signs always resemble what they signify. There is a physical similarity between a photograph/good drawing, of a dog, and most people's experience of these animals. Therefore, unlike the symbolic word 'dog', the photo/drawing is an iconic sign.
We are familiar with iconic signs in our everyday lives, for example a wheelchair is used to signify facilities for disabled people and we can usually find the men's and women's toilets wherever we are in the world by looking for the iconic signs on doors.
Indexical Signs
In a sense, indexical signs lie between symbolic and iconic signs. Indexical signs have some sort of direct connection with what is being 'signified'. EG smoke is often used an indexical sign for fire and a tear running down a cheek can be an indexical sign for sorrow.
READING SIGNS...
The three categories of signs aren't mutually exclusive! In fact- a sign can very well be all three categories at the same time. For example, a crossroads sign:
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Finally, we will look at Roland Barthes, whose crucial contribution to semiotics was his definition and exploration of myths. Barthes looked at how signs take on the dominant value system of a particular society (ideology) and make these values seem natural.
Barthes used the example of a flower with red petals, green leaves and a thorny stem - a signifier evoking the mental concept of rose at the denotative level. However, rose can also signify the mental concept of romance, particularly if it is red and placed in the context of St Valentines Day.
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Binary Oppositions
One of the most powerful creators of a sign's meaning are binary oppositions. Here, signs are contrasted with signs which have meanings that operate which have meanings that operate in opposition. For example, town and country, man and woman, child and adult etc
Binary oppositions are cultural creations. Some theorists claim that the west uses binary oppositions such as white-good, black-evil to perpetuate and legitimise western power structures that favour "civilised" white men.
The media often use binary oppositions to structure their representations. So a portrayal of a town, for instance, may use pollution as a starting point. A text that uses binary oppositions usually assigns a positive value to one side against the other; by stating the one side is good, it follows that the other side is bad.
Barthes used the example of a flower with red petals, green leaves and a thorny stem - a signifier evoking the mental concept of rose at the denotative level. However, rose can also signify the mental concept of romance, particularly if it is red and placed in the context of St Valentines Day.
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Binary Oppositions
One of the most powerful creators of a sign's meaning are binary oppositions. Here, signs are contrasted with signs which have meanings that operate which have meanings that operate in opposition. For example, town and country, man and woman, child and adult etc
Binary oppositions are cultural creations. Some theorists claim that the west uses binary oppositions such as white-good, black-evil to perpetuate and legitimise western power structures that favour "civilised" white men.
The media often use binary oppositions to structure their representations. So a portrayal of a town, for instance, may use pollution as a starting point. A text that uses binary oppositions usually assigns a positive value to one side against the other; by stating the one side is good, it follows that the other side is bad.
Adjectives such as artificial, polluted, over-crowded, exciting, commercial and dangerous could be used to describe a town, where as clean, natural, deserted, boring, and sage could be used to describe a country-side.
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Aspects of Mise-en-Scene -- video and print style
- Location - settings, set-design and iconography
- Character - costume, properties and make-up, actors and gesture
- Cinematography - lighting and colour
- Layout and Page Design - colour, juxtaposition of elements
Micro Elements: Camerawork
There are four aspects to camerawork that you need to understand:
- Shot types - particularly relevant for print
- Camera composition
- Camera angles
- Camera movement
Micro Elements: Editing
Editing is a post-production technique in which the footage shot during production is cut up and reassembled in such a way as to tell the story. TV shows aren't filmed in chronological order. They are filmed out of order in short sequences, called 'takes', which then have to be assembled in the correct order. Long takes are shots of unusually long length, and short takes are shots that only last for a few seconds.
There are two basic types of editing: Continuity and Non-continuity.
The Structure of The Classic Narrative System
According to Pam Cook (1985), the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have:
- Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution.
- A high degree of narrative closure.
- A fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence.
Micro Elements: Sound
Sound is layered on tracks in order to create meaning. There are 2 types of sound; Diegetic and Non-diegetic.
Diegetic sound includes; dialogue, sound effects and music.
Non-Diegetic sound includes; incidental music, voice over/narration, non diegetic sound effects (which can be asynchronous).
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