1. Sian Lynes
“Media is communication”. Discuss the ways that you have used media language to create meanings
in one of your media products.
Media language was used in the construction of my music video to symbolise meanings to the target
audience. This is evident through the use of camerawork to denote meaning, ultimately complying
with John Fiske's Theory (1982) that "denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it is
photographed". A long shot is seen predominantly in the outdoor sequences in combination with
the female artist seated on a garden bench on the right hand third of the frame. This connoted to
the audience that the artist, against the lifeless background, was solitary and alone, almost distant to
'normal' civilisation. In contrast with the indoor scenes, such as the regular use of extreme close-ups
which shows the artist's entire lips to show the misé-en-scene of heavy red lipstick whilst lip-syncing.
This sexualised the artist in order to appeal to a mass audience of both genders, complying with
Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory, as the artist becomes an object to be "viewed" by the audience.
The compact framing of the face in combination with short, quick straight cuts draws the audience's
attention to the lyrics of the song.
The use of camera angles was also evidently used to portray certain connotations. Particularly, a
high angle shot was used facing downwards to film the artist as she was laying across the bed. This
shot denotes my artist throwing flower petals at the camera whilst laughing. However, the staggered
high angle portrayed an "off-guard" and amateur aesthetic to represent my artist as a "real person".
Conclusively, with the artist breaking the "Fourth Wall" by acknowledging the camera, it enables the
audience to form a rapport with her thus making her more desirable. An over-the-shoulder shot was
also adopted as my artist was lip-syncing and applying make-up in the mirror. Again, this connotes to
the audience the feminine aesthetic that is popular to a mass audience.
In terms of editing, straights cuts are the most prominent form of translation from one shot to the
other within the music video. They were used in short periods with quick amounts of time in beat
with the pop song overlaid on the music video. This emphasised drama, allowing multiple visuals to
be decoded by the audience in a shorter period of time. These straight cuts were also reduced
during slow tempo sections of the song, which emphasised my artist in a calm and 'cooler' manner.
At the end of the video as quick fade out into black was used for the final shot. This complies with
Stuart Hall's theory (1980) that producers encode texts and meaning in then decoded by the
audience. In this case, it was a convention used deliberately to signify the music video had ended. It
also connoted from the final shot of my artist 'hanging up the phone' and that she had finished
relations with whom whoever was on the other end. It also gave the video a fluent and natural
aesthetic to the ending rather than an abrupt straight cut which may have confused the audience. A
'Speed Up' shot was also used subtly on a shot of the artist's hand dialling the rotary telephone. It
perceived the shot as being more 'active', reducing the usually elongated process; therefore by
extension this created a hyper reality to the audience.
Lighting is also used to communicate several meanings to the audience. For example, the location of
the light source is manipulated to create a spot light effect to illuminate the artist singularly. This
immediately draws the audience's interest directly to the subject. With the rest of the stage
unilluminated it also suggests to the audience that my artist is centrally important and has
connotations of exclusivity. Back lighting was a technique were the lighting was positioned behind
the subject. With the light source obscured by the artist's head, the effect was reminiscent to a 'halo

2. Sian Lynes
effect'. Therefore this provided connotations of an angelic and pure persona, which contradicted the
dark binary opposite conveyed in the rest of the natural dark outdoor lighting.
Mise-en-scene was vital in the composition to encode meaning. For example, the binary oppositions
within the locations with outdoors vs indoors adhered to Levis Strauss' theory. The night-time scene
represented the artist to the audience in a lonely way, especially with the dark undertones of the
foliage and black dress (which provided connotations of death). In contrast within the indoor scenes
the furniture and background had a warm red hue, whilst the oppositional red dress suggested
connotations of being alive. The use of the garden location set at night-time also complies with
Charles Sanders Pierce (1931) theory, with the artist becoming the 'signified'. The natural signed of
the night-time scenery, with dark sky and unnatural lighting can be inferred as a reference to the
subject; providing mysterious and lonely connotations that the artist may be feeling. The autumn
leaves around the subject, and wilting foliage, may also be inferred as the subject's own state of
mind, again reinforcing the loneliness and 'dying' state she may be experiencing (tying in with the
song title 'Living Dead') which can be decoded by the audience. In regards to make-up, I agree with
Pierce again as society has attributed meaning to the connotations of colour to represent emotions
and ideas. For example, in the video red was adopted as the primary hue, visible in the location and
used predominantly in the subject's costume. The denotation of the lipstick that the female artist
wore was dark red, which enhances the sexuality of the subject. Similarly, this can be applied to the
use of a black and white effect within the video during the bridge. This, in combination with longer
shots and non-verbal communication of the subject smiling, suggested connotations of
sophistication as well as security; challenging the abrupt 'cool' attitude of shots with full colour.
Another 'sign' can be applied to the use of props, especially in the adoption of a black retro cigarette
holder which was used by the subject to inhale and exhale a cigarette. In modern day terms, it is
unconventional and now has connotations of individuality and enhances the 'attitude' of the subject
smoking it, in this case the artist. It has connotations of carelessness and non-conformity to
expectations of society - becoming more of sign of style than functionality.