2. Key terms
• Media Language
• Media forms
• Genre
• Genre evolution
• Genre theory = Neale
• Subgenre
• Codes and Conventions
• Technology
• Contexts
• Hybridity
3. MEDIA LANGUAGE
How the media through their forms, codes and conventions communicate meanings The various forms of
media language used to create and communicate meanings in media products
KEY TERMS WITH MEDIA LANGUAGE:
.
4. Theoretical Framework
MEDIA LANGUAGE
(lots of ‘stuff’ in this!)
AUDIENCES REPRESENTATION INDUSTRIES
Media Language
Elements/meaning
Genre
Technology
Intertextuality
Narrative
9. GENRE = as a ‘style’ or ‘category’
TELEVISION CHALLENGE!
Can you think of a media
product (example)?
Sit-com TV: Mrs Brown’s Boys
Soap Eastenders
Documentary Planet Earth
Drama Downton Abbey
Game show Who wants to be a
millionaire?
Reality TV Big Brother
Comedy Peep show
Police Broadchurch
Hospital/medical drama Grey’s Anatomy
10. How can we ‘categorise’ media forms?
MEDIA
MUSIC
VIDEO
NEWSPAPER
RADIOADVERTISING
ONLINE
MAGAZINE
TV
You could say these are
‘genres’ of media….
14. Is there only 1 way to categorise media
forms?
MUSIC VIDEOS
Dance
Hip hop
Rock
Pop
Country
Rap
Metal
Indie
15. Is there only 1 way to categorise media
forms?
MUSIC VIDEOS MUSIC VIDEOS (type)
Performance
Narrative
Conceptual
MUSIC VIDEOS (style)
Special effects
Animation
Production value
MUSIC VIDEOS (music)
Dance
Hip hop
Rock
Pop
Country
Rap
Metal
Indie
20. DO NOW
• Identify different genres
to identify this film.
• SCI FI
• ACTION/ADVENTURE
• FAMILY
• DRAMA
• ROMANCE
• BIG BUDGET
• 3D
• JAMES CAMERON …..
21. Lesson 1 Re cap quiz (3 seconds thinking time)
1. What are the 9 media forms?
2. What does the theoretical framework mean?
3. What are the 4 parts of the theoretical framework?
4. Another word for genre is _______.
5. Name a TV drama subgenre.
6. Name a TV crime subgenre.
7. Print advertising as a genre could be defined many ways, one could be
profitable companies so other types of adverts could be for non-profits,
an example would be ___________.
8. Why does genre change over time? Give one example.
22. Why do media forms evolve?
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS INFLUENCE MEDIA FORMS:
SOCIAL/CULTURAL
POLITICAL
ECONOMICAL
TECHNOLOGY
Task: Think print advertising and think about how each
contextual factor has influenced this media form.
24. Challenge questions
• Do genre conventions always remain the same?
• Are they ‘fluid’?
• How and why do they evolve/change over time?
• Can you give an example of this in relation to Zombie films?
25. Challenge questions
• Do conventions always remain the same? No
• Are they ‘fluid’? Yes, genres evolve and change over time and therefore what is expected or
familiar in a genre is always changing and evolving. Sometimes some conventions remain to be
iconic and integral to a genre, whilst others change quite change drastically.
• How and why do they evolve/change over time? Sometime the conventions in a genre become to
familiar, boring or predictable and therefore a change is needed to ‘freshen’ things up or put a
twist on them. Furthermore, sometimes genres fuse with other genres to create subgenres which
adopt conventions from both genres. Lastly, contextual factors can influence a genre – think of
how sci-fi changed over the last 50 years because of the role and advancement of technology. For
example, the original Alien (1979) and Alien Convenant (2017) were made very differently – the
famous scene of Alien spurting out of the man’s chest is much more advanced and realistic in
2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsD6AL3HJtM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5BwXaVpTYQ
26. Challenge questions cont.
• Can you give an example of this in relation to Zombie films?
Virus kills millions, survivor as protagonist, small group
trying to escape and find refuse, bloody/violent/gory,
very scary and horror focused, zombies as antogonists
and are villains and shown as savage killers/eaters
Comedy/romance aspect, focus on romantic relationship, still
have violence/gore but not graphic/very scary, zombies as
protagonists and integrated in regular society (ie go to work)
They are complex characters (not simply after eating a human)
27. Genre theory – Neale “genres evolve”
What is theory?
A person’s (usually academic)
viewpoint or explanation of
something. Usually non-
factual.
28. Mini task
• Each group discuss a media form and apply Neale’s theory – how has
it evolved over time*?
• Try to think go back far back in history all the way until now
• Consider contextual factors
• Give specific examples to back up your answers
1 2 3 4
MUSIC VIDEO
80s
VIDEO GAME
70/80s
NEWSPAPERS
1600s
TELEVISION
50s
30. Mini task
Draw a magazine cover for a men’s fitness/health magazine.
Include all the ‘expected stuff’.
Take a look at some magazines on your tables for reference.
5 mins
Draw here Keep this
blank
33. Challenge questions
• What happens when there are not familiar or recognisable
‘characteristics’? Positive or negative?
• Why do you think this happens sometimes?
• Can you think of an example?
35. Specific magazine cover conventions
Others:
• Close up shot (face)
• Mid shot (face and body)
• Digital manipulation (photoshopping)
• Shallow focus (when background is blurry)
• Pull quotes (a short quote pulled from an article inside and put on cover)
• Secondary image (a smaller or less attractive image on another topic inside magazine)
• Use of columns/boxes (for copy/layout)
• Cover lines (smaller text than masthead indicating content in articles)
• Strap lines (secondary or smaller headline or caption)
• Stand first (brief summary of an article after the headline)
• Copy (the text on front cover)
• Ratio (the ratio of copy/image)
• Font style (include serif/sans serif….italics/bold etc (the types of font used)
• Font size (different sizes for different copy)
• House style (repeated layout/colour/style throughout different editions)
• Informal/formal language (the type of language – consider the audience/who it is aimed at)
• Mode of address (the tone or way in which language ‘speaks’ to an audience ie. persuasive)
We’ve ALREADY DISCUSSED:
• Masthead (title of magazine –
like a logo)
• Slogan (the magazine’s term
they use to identify their brand
like Nike’s slogan is ‘Just do it’)
• Main image (usually most
large/attractive image)
• Use of celebrity
• Date
• Buzzwords (words or phrase
that is popular or relevant in
that point in time – i.e. ‘selfie’)
• Cover line and/or Anchorage
text
• Puffs
• Barcode
• Props
• Graphics
36. Conventions that are applicable in this cover
Others:
• Close up shot (face)
• Mid shot (face and body)
• Digital manipulation (photoshopping)
• Shallow focus (when background is blurry)
• Pull quotes (a short quote pulled from an article inside and put on cover)
• Secondary image (a smaller or less attractive image on another topic inside magazine)
• Use of columns/boxes (for copy/layout) (group 1)
• Cover lines (smaller text than masthead indicating content in articles)
• Strap lines (secondary or smaller headline or caption)
• Stand first (brief summary of an article after the headline) (group 2)
• Copy (the text on front cover)
• Ratio (the ratio of copy/image) (group 3)
• Font style (include serif/sans serif….italics/bold etc (the types of font used) (group 4)
• Font size (different sizes for different copy)
• House style (repeated layout/colour/style throughout different editions)
• Informal/formal language (the type of language – consider the audience/who it is aimed at) (group 5
• Mode of address (the tone or way in which language ‘speaks’ to an audience ie. persuasive)
TASK: each table group explain a convention
(how it’s applicable, why it’s used etc.)
37. • Masthead (title of
magazine – like a logo)
• Slogan (the magazine’s
term they use to identify
their brand like Nike’s
slogan is ‘Just do it’)
• Main image (usually most
large/attractive image)
• Use of celebrity
• Date
• Buzzwords (words or
phrase that is popular or
relevant in that point in
time – i.e. ‘selfie’)
• Cover line and/or
Anchorage text
• Puffs
• Barcode
• Props
• Graphics
Others:
• Close up shot (face)
• Mid shot (face and body)
• Digital manipulation (photoshopping)
• Shallow focus (when background is blurry)
• Pull quotes (a short quote pulled from an article inside and
put on cover)
• Secondary image (a smaller or less attractive image on
another topic inside magazine)
• Use of columns/boxes (for copy/layout)
• Cover lines (smaller text than masthead indicating content
in articles)
• Strap lines (secondary or smaller headline or caption)
• Stand first (brief summary of an article after the headline)
• Copy (the text on front cover)
• Ratio (the ratio of copy/image)
• Font style (include serif/sans serif….italics/bold etc (the
types of font used)
• Font size (different sizes for different copy)
• House style (repeated layout/colour/style throughout
different editions)
• Informal/formal language (the type of language – consider
the audience/who it is aimed at)
• Mode of address (the tone or way in which language
‘speaks’ to an audience ie. persuasive)
TASK:
ANALYSE THE CONVENTIONS
38. DIRT
(Directed Independent Reflection Time)
• Go back to your
magazine cover….
• IN GREEN PEN, on the 2nd
page write ‘DIRT’
• Make improvements by
adding at least 3 more
specific conventions you
just learned about…
Improve
here
39. How has the genre evolved considering this picture?
40. GENRE CODES AND CONVENTIONS
• the codes and conventions of media language, how they develop and
become established as ‘styles’ or genres (which are common across
different media products) and how they may also vary over time
44. What are codes?
A system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning.
In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely
grouped into the following:
• technical codes - all to do with the way a text is technically constructed -
camera angles, framing, typography etc
• verbal codes - everything to do with language -either written or spoken
• symbolic codes - codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotational
level - all the things which draw upon our experience and understanding of
other media texts, our cultural frame of reference.
45. What are conventions?
The widely recognised way of doing something - this has
to do with content, style and form
eg the conventions of a music video might include:
• they are the same length as the song (somewhere
around 4 minutes, say)
• they present the band, who look as though they are
singing
• they have lots of fast edits
46. What’s the difference?
• Codes might be individual to the media text you are analysing
Eg: The music video might use a tracking shot that is significant,
however, this might not be a convention for the genre.
• Conventions are something that they ALL share within that genre or
platform
47. What are technical conventions?
Codes and conventions are used
together.
For example, the technical code
of lighting is used in some way in
all film genres.
It is a convention of the horror
genre that side and back lighting
is used to create mystery and
suspense – an integral part of any
horror movie.
53. Hybridity
• Is Taylor’s ‘Shake it off’ similar to that of ‘Video killed the Radio Star’?
• Why/why not?
• Therefore, what inevitably happens in media forms?
• How does it have conventions of other music genres? (not just pop)
56. Hybridity = bricolage
Documentary + game show + sit com + chat show = reality TV
Bricolage = the bi product / a mixture or hybrid of other genres to make
a new media form (which will have it’s own conventions)
57. Contexts
SOCIAL: how media products reflect society in which they are produced and
that of their target audience
CULTURAL: how media products reflect arts and culture, including popular
culture, of their time
HISTORICAL: how media products reflect historical events and social changes
ECONOMIC: how media products reflect political viewpoints, messages,
values and beliefs
58. Music video genre analysis task
• Pre task: On A3, in groups, make a list of female pop music videos
codes and conventions (what familiar or recognisable characteristics
do they have?)
59. FEMALE POP MUSIC VIDEO CONVENTION
PROMPTS
• Type of video (performance/narrative/conceptual)
• Concept or themes in video
• Role of the artist
• As a performer (how they perform) or type of character (roles)
• Styling of artist
• Settings
• Costumes/props
• Colours/lighting
• Editing
• Camerawork
•
60. Homework
• Find a female pop music video that is UNCONVENTIONAL – explain
HOW and WHY it is unconventional.
• Consider the questions on the worksheet – might want to do this first.
• DUE NEXT LESSON
61. Main task
Watch the set video and fill in the worksheet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f5A4DnGtis
62. Group presentation task
• As a group, you will find a music video to analyse in the way we just practiced. This will
be assessed with the 3 levels (minimal, adequate, excellent)
• Slides should contain (stuff from worksheet)
• The genre/subgenre
• Examples of artists in that genre
• The genre conventions (a list you come up with together)
• A link to the video you want to analyse
• Media language codes (denotation/connotation)
• Genre indicators
• Genre conventions
• Genre comparison (screen shots from other videos)
• Neale’s theory
• Contexts
• Hybridity
Marked individually but you work as a
team – divide the work fairly and
appropriately.
Assessed on:
-understanding of genre and
subgenre/hybridity, genre codes and
conventions
-analysis of codes (meaning)
-understanding of how genre
compares/differs
-application of theory
-understanding of context and
influence of contextual factors
