2. Media Languages can be...
1. Written
2. Verbal
3. Non – verbal
4. Visual
5. Aural
(Personal responses: We felt that the task of the music
video linked to the media language of being mainly
visual based out on the five)
3. Written language is found within print-based media such
as newspapers and magazines which include a particular
style and presentation of language to match their audience
and genre. Written language can also be found in silent
films and is used to anchor the audiences reading of the
visual elements in the same way that a caption does, for
example in a newspaper.
4. Verbal language is used in many areas of media such as;
film, radio, television programmes and music videos. The
ways in which this language is delivered to the audience
and it’s context of the language used are important factors in
the way meaning is generated for the audience.
For example, a television news item will be delivered using
language that creates a sense of the importance of the story
in the mind of the viewer.
5. Non verbal language is often defined in terms of body
language such as gestures. These gestures help the audience
to understand a feeling of the actor when acting.
For example, this media language works very well in silent
films as it is essential to show expression of thoughts and
feelings to the audience as a replacement of verbal speech.
6. Visual language is used mainly in films, television
programmes and music videos. It is an important media
language as it involves many technical areas allowing the
audience to understand. These areas involve camera work
and mise-en-scene, linking to the creation of denotation and
connotation.
For example, in a film a point of view shot will allow the
audience to experience thoughts and emotions of a
particular character.
7. Media texts often include a mixture of sounds, all of which
help to generate meaning of text. This includes spoken
language, but also any sound within the world of the chosen
media (diegetic sound) or on the soundtrack (non- diegetic
sound).
This language also needs to linked to other media languages
such as visual so that it makes sense in the piece of media in
which it is being used with.
8. Non Verbal Language:
Non verbal language is used in our music video
to present a relationship between music and
visual. We did this by doing gestures of the
description in the lyrics.
9. Visual Language:
This media language is used the most out of the five in
the music video as it was based on the visuals. Within
these visuals we included a variety of different camera
shots and mise-en-scene. These included a variety of
different locations in the music video so that the
audience were able to follow a narrative, as well as it
being a convention of a pop/r ‘n’ b music video.
10. Roland Gérard Barthes (12 November 1915 – 25
March 1980) was a French literary theorist,
philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes'
ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he
influenced the development of schools of
theory including structuralism, semiotics,
social theory, anthropology and post-
structuralism.
11. The term semiotics is used to describe the ways in
which signs and symbols create meaning or
messages, both literally and potentially. Barthes
developed this term in his semiotic theory, by
analysing the ways in which signs work in culture.
He believes that these messages, created through
semiotics are constituted in two ways. These are
through denotation [literal meaning and reference
of a sign] and or through connotation [the
meanings that are suggested or implied by the
sign]. Barthes’ (1977) theory, ‘The Photographic
Message’ describes the multiple messages rooted
within images through the co-existence of
denotation and connotation.
12. An example of this using Roland Barthes
semiotic theory is Hitler. He denotes an
historical figure. As well as this Hitler connotes
evil, racism and so on.
13. The literal meaning of this is that Amy is
pushing him onto the car. The connotation of
this is that Amy has control and power over
him leaving him submissive.
14. Born 8 November 1908
Died 30 October 2009
Was a French anthropologist and ethnologist
Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary
oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts.
An example would be GOOD and EVIL – we understand the concept of GOOD
as being the opposite of EVIL.
Levi –Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were
arranged in the plot. He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. For
example, if we look at Science Fiction films we can identify a series of
binary oppositions which are created by the narrative:
Hot Cold
Good Evil
Day Night
Past Present
Normal Strange
Known Unknown
