2. Media Texts:- In media we call any product we are discussing a media text. Can refer to a film, tv, podcast,
magazine etc.
Media Studies Tools
LIAR - Acronym
L – language I - Institution A - audience R - Representation
Language = Codes & Conventions
Media texts follow the same rules depending on the platform they use.
So TV/Film follow the rules of Visual Media
Shot Types
Mise-En-Scene
Editing
Sound
3. Media Institutions
Institutions are the ones who make Media texts. They can range from big companies and conglomerates to small independent
companies.
Media Audience
People who listen, watch, read or use media texts are called the audience, they are grouped together by things such as their
Gender, Age, Income and Interests.
Institutions work hard to make their media texts appeal to the right audience.
Media Representation
The way real life is presented in the media is known as Representation.
Groups of people, based on things such as age, race, gander and social class, are often represented in a certain light so that
people begin to believe them and become indoctrinated by the media, such things like this are called Stereotyping.
4. Media Genre
We separate media into genre types to categories them.
The word genre comes from the French word type.
Media genres can apply to all different types of media product such as the "comedy" film or the television "soap opera".
A genre can be recognised by its common set of distinguishing features.
These features associated with a genre's style and content may be for example:
Style
- Setting
- Characters
- Props
- Colours and Lighting
Genre Theory : David Chandler
It was chandler who first identified that a genre is defined by conventions of content (similar themes or settings) and form (including structure and style).
These are things which would be shared by all the texts of this type.
Steve Neale & John Hartley
Steve Neale added that it is not just repetition that makes a genre but they need to be different from each other to attract and audience.
John Hartley stated that the same text can belong to different genres at once. this adds to our idea of sub and hybrid genres.
Sub and Hybrid Genres
Genre can be more complex than one type at once.
Sub Genre - A sub category in a particular genre. Like vampire movies in the genre of horror.
5. Media Narrative
In Media Studies, it is important to tell the difference between narrative and story.
Story - A sequence of events, known correctly as the plot.
Narrative - The way those events are put together to be presented to an audience.
Linear Narrative
As the name suggests, linear narratives follow a straight line.
Starting at the beginning, moving to the middle and proceeding to the end of the story.
Non-Linear Narrative
A non-linear narrative is how a film uses different techniques to tell stories out of order to
have a greater effect. These might include
- Flashbacks
- Out of sequence
- Dream sequences
6. Todorov's Narrative Theory
Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believe to be able to be applied to any film
He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern.
Equilibrium - Where we first meet the characters.
Disruption - Where something happens to effect the characters lives.
Realisation - Where the characters realised they need to fix the situation.
Dis-equilibrium - The characters have to deal with the situation and often try and fix it.
New equilibrium - Everything is restored back to the way it was or in a better place than when
it started.
Barthes - Enigma & Action Codes
Roland Barthes was a semiologist; basically he was paid to look at "texts" and decipher how
they were put together.
If you imagine a text is a ball of string - can it be unraveled in more than one way?
His idea was that Texts could be :
Open - Unravelled in different ways
Closed - There is only one thread to pull on
Barthes decided that the threads you pull on to try and unravel meaning are called narrative
codes.
These include Action & Enigma Codes.
7. Action Cod
Action codes are significant events which move the narrative on in a particular direction.
It applies to any action that implies a further narrative action.
For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of
this action will be.
Enigma Codes
Enigma codes pose questions to the audience which are then answered shortly after or later on in
the film.
For example, who is she? where is she going? why is she doing that?
They refer to an element in a story that is not explained and therefore, exists as an enigma for the
audience raising questions that demand explanation.
Strauss - Binary Oppositions
Levi Strauss believed that the world was split into a series of binary opposites.
This means that one thing can only be defined in relation to something it isn't.
Example: So a hero is only a hero if there is a villain. Propp - Character Codes
8. Character Types:
The Hero
In every story there is a major character with whom the reader normally associate most strongly and
who is the key person around which the story is told.
The Villain
The sharpest contrast against the hero is the villain, who struggles directly against the hero.
The villain typically is morally bad, highlighting the goodness of the Hero.
The Princess
She may be the object which is deliberately sought by the Hero, perhaps finding where the villain has
taken her.
The Helper
The Hero is supported by his or her quest by a helper, who appears at critical moments to provide
support.
The Donor
The Donor is a person who gives the Hero something special, such as a magical weapon or some
particular wisdom.
The Dispatcher
An early role in the story is that of the dispatcher who sends the Hero on the mission.
9. False Hero
The variant on the villain and a potential complication within the plot. Whilst
their motives may seem good at first it becomes clear they have villainous traits
or are perhaps working for the villain.
Princess's Father
Finally there is the princess's father, who constrains the princess or who may
dispatch the hero on his mission to save the princess.
Character Types:
These character types are based on ideas of old fashioned stories that can be
modernised, for example it is now common for a female to be the hero role
which could make a man the princess/love interest role.
Technical Code (Signifier)
What something in an image technically is. This could be character or a prop, a
colour choice, language used, a camera shot or angle.
Symbolic Code (Signified)
What the meaning or interpretation behind an image might be. Such as the
colour red representing danger, anger or a passion, or a close up shot being
used to show a characters emotion.
