1. AndrewGoldman
Media Language
Technical elements
Mise-en-scene – Setting, performance, lighting, costume, colour, props, composition
Editing – Refers to the join between the shots. The purpose of conventional editing is
to make this join as smooth as possible – invisible. The need for narrative flow, to tell
a story, led to the development of the continuity system of editing.
Sound – Used to tell audience how to react at different points in the film. Distinctive
sound devices are used for particular genre. It’s an important device in establishing
the genre for an audience and getting them in the mood for watching something.
Diegetic, non diegetic, synchronous, asynchronous.
Camera – Framing, angle, type, movement
In media, the word text is used to describe any media product such as TV, Photographs,
adverts, films etc. One of the keys to understanding the meanings in text is the use of codes
CODES: Rules or conventions by which signs are put together to create meanings
In most cases, the text with use a variety of codes – visual, audio and written – that fit
together in a certain way to create a certain meaning
SEMIOTICS: The study of signs
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
Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure – SIGNIFIER + SIGNIFIED = SIGN
The form that the sign takes The concept it represents
‘open sign’ the shop is open
But in order for them to work, there must be a shared reference or experience
Symbol – 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
Iconic – Always resemble what they signify. There’s a physical similarity between a
photograph, or a good drawing, of a dog and most people’s experience of these
animals.
Index – Lie between symbolic and iconic signs. Indexical signs have some sort of
direct connection with what is being signified. For example smoke is often an
indexical sign for fire.
2. AndrewGoldman
Roland Barthes – applied abstract ideas to daily life and culture
Barthes looked at how signs take on the dominant value systemof a particular
society and make these values seem natural. The dominant value system of a society
is known as an ideology, a way of looking at things shared by the majority of society.
Barthes showed that Saussure’s sign can become a signifier to create, not only a
connotation, but a myth.
Another example is a red rose, it’s hard to see a red rose and not think of anything
other than romance. The denotation of ‘a red rose on valentine’s day’ has become a
connotation of romance.
