Terminology in Media Studies
- Code : Codes are sign systems that generate meaning. Technical and symbolic codes are the two types of codes. Technical codes are all the different ways that equipment is used to tell a story in a media text, such as camera work in a film. Symbolic codes reveal what lies beneath what we see.
- Convention : Conventions are repeated methods of creating media works that employ codes that have become accepted by audiences over time. (For example, a fade to black indicates that time has passed; a car chase scene will include dramatic music) Codes and conventions construct meanings that are culturally determined.
- Encode : Encoding is the process of converting ideas into communication. To send the message, the encoder employs a'medium' such as a phone call, email, text message, face-to-face meeting, or other communication tool. The level of conscious thought required to encode messages can vary.
- Decode : A message's decoding is how an audience member understands and interprets the message. It is the process of interpreting and translating coded information into understandable form.
- Mise-en-scene : The stage design and configuration of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, and in narrative storytelling through direction, is known as mise-en-scène.
- Camera : The camera angle is the angle at which the subject is photographed. The audience can be influenced by the camera angle. Camera movement allows cinematographers and directors to change the perspective of the audience without cutting. Specific camera movements in film can also have a psychological and emotional impact on the audience. These effects can be used to enhance the immersion and engagement of a film.
- Sound : Sound Media examines how music recording, radio broadcasting, and muzak affect people's daily lives, as well as the many and varied creative techniques that have emerged in music and journalism throughout the twentieth century.
- Editing : Editing describes the relationship between shots and the process by which they are combined. It is essential to the creation of narrative space and to the establishment of narrative time. The relationship between shots may be graphic, rhythmic, spatial and/or temporal.
- Passive audience: The audience accepts and believes all messages in any media text that they receive. This is the passive audience model. They accept the preferred reading and don't question it.
- Active audience: According to Active Audience Theory, media audiences are not passive recipients of information, but are actively involved, often unconsciously, in making sense of the message within their personal and social contexts.
- Hypodermic Needle Theory: The Hypodermic Needle Theory is a linear communication theory that proposes that media messages are injected directly into the brains of passive audience members. It implies that we are all the same and react the same way to media messages.
- Desensitization:Desensitization theory suggests that exposure to secondhand violence in a relaxing setting, such as violence portrayed in media, results in dimin ished physiological responses to violence over time (Griffiths & Shuckford, 1989) .
- Uses and Gratification Theory: The Uses and Gratifications Theory is a Mass Communication theory that focuses on the needs, motives and gratifications of media users. The theory states that media consumers are passive consumers of mass communications; rather, they play an active role in media consumption.
- Reception theory: Reception theory is a version of reader response literary theory that emphasizes each particular reader's reception or interpretation in making meaning from a literary text. Reception theory is generally referred to as audience reception in the analysis of communications models
- Preferred reading: When the audience responds to the ideas in the way the media producer wants them to.
- Negotiated reading: a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer's views, but has their own views on parts as well.
- Oppositional reading: when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with.
- Demographics: Media producers define and categorize their audience through demographic profiles. A demographic audience profile defines groups based on things like age, gender, income, education and occupation. A demographic audience profile can be used to define a target audience.
- Psychographics: Psychographics is the qualitative methodology of studying consumers based on psychological characteristics and traits such as values, desires, goals, interests, and lifestyle choices
- Representation: Representation is how media texts deal with and present gender, age, ethnicity , national and regional identity, social issues and events to an audience. Media texts have the power to shape an audience's knowledge and understanding about these important topics.
- Target audience: A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to said intended audience
- Industry: In the case of the media industry, the term refers to the collection of businesses that allows information to be shared. This includes operations such as radio broadcasts, websites, and newspapers. Jobs that are commonly available in media include positions for journalists, photographers, and producers.
- Stereotypes: A stereotype is a widely held, simplified, and essentialist belief about a specific group. Groups are often stereotyped on the basis of sex, gender identity, race and ethnicity, nationality, age, socioeconomic status, language, and so forth. Stereotypes are deeply embedded within social institutions and wider culture.
- Counter-types: A representation that highlights the positive features of a person or group. Denotation The first level of meaning for the audience. Usually what they can see visually.
- Misrepresentation: Misrepresentation is the act of making a false representation for the purpose of deceiving, or causing another to rely on it detrimentally. A misrepresentation can be made in words, by conduct, and even by concealment or failure to disclose a relevant fact.
- Dominant Ideology: A dominant ideology is a term that refers to the beliefs and ideas shared by the majority of people in a particular group. An ideology is simply a set of beliefs and ideas, such as religious conservatism, that influences peoples' behaviors and perception of the world.
- Constructed reality: The term social construction of reality refers to the theory that the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped partly by our interactions with others, as well as by our life experiences.
- Hegemony: media hegemony means the dominance of certain aspects of life and thought by the penetration of a dominant culture and its values into social life. In other words, media hegemony serves as a crucial shaper of culture, values and ideology of society.
ABC figures
The Audit Bureau of Circulations is responsible for measuring the reach of different media across a range of platforms.
Active audience
The idea that media audiences do not just consume a text passively, they actively engage with it because of personal and social contexts.
Advertising campaign
A campaign run by an advertising agency which incorporates all of the ways in which a product, event or service is beneficial to the audience. This can be in the form of packaging, television, print and online adverts.
Advertorial
An advert that is presented in the form of editorial content. For example an advertorial video or post is an advert presented by the poster in their usual style.
Agenda setting
The way the values of a media (usually news) institution by prioritising and giving prominence to selected stories. Those deemed most important will take prominence in coverage and this will reflect the news provider’s values.
Anchorage
The way media language choices combine to attempt to reinforce the producer’s intended meaning.
Antagonist
In a plot, the character whose function is to disrupt the protagonist – often, but not always, a villain.
Archetype
A universal type of character found in various media texts, eg anti-hero, hero.
Audience
The people who read, see and/or listen to a media product.
Audience positioning
The way a media product addresses the audience to influence the way the audience will interpret the media product.
Avatar
In gaming this is the player’s representation of themselves within the game.
BARB
Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board – the organisation that measures and collects television viewing data in the UK.
Bardic function
This refers to the nature of the media as a story-teller/information provider within the culture.
BBFC
British Board of Film Classification – responsible for deciding the age classification and censorship of all films and video content released in the UK.
Big Close Up (BCU)
An extreme close up camera shot, usually focusing on the face or close detail of the body.
Binary opposite
When representations are structured as pairs that reflect oppositional values. For example, good and evil; police and criminals.
Binary opposition
The conflict created between two opposing ideas. This conflict creates the problems that drive narratives forward.
Binge watching
When multiple episodes of a TV programme are watched in succession.
Blog
A website or web page often created by an individual or small group which is regularly updated, often written in an informal, conversational style.
Blogger
A person who engages in blogging by updating and adding content to a blog. Blog is a short term for weblog.
Brand
A type of product that is manufactured and marketed under a particular name, logo and design.
Brand ambassador
An individual, often a celebrity, who is paid to promote and endorse a product or service. They will become the face of the brand and their qualities are associated with the product.
Brand identity
The image that a brand projects and the associations the audience then make with the brand.
Bricolage
When signs or artefacts are borrowed from different styles or genres to create something new.
Broadsheet
Newspapers that prioritise hard news, for example, The Guardian.
By-line
The printed line of text in a newspaper/magazine that names the writer of an article.
Call to action
An instruction aimed at the audience with the hope to provoke an immediate response – can take the form of ‘subscribe now’, for example. Often used in advertising and marketing.
Camera movement
The way the camera is moved during filming to add depth, interest and variation for the viewer, such as pan and track.
CAP code
UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct Promotional Advertising. The advertising code that covers non-broadcast media. It is written by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and administered by the ASA.
Censorship
The controls and regulations that exist about media content. Censorship powers can be held by governments or regulatory bodies.
CGI
Computer-generated imagery is the application of computer graphics to printed or moving image media. The term CGI commonly refers to 3D computer graphics used for special effects in film sequences.
Circulation
This relates to the amount of readers/viewers that access a media product. This can be measured in sales (magazines and newspapers), unique visitors (websites), listening/viewing figures (TV and Radio via BARB, YouTube viewing figures) etc.
Classification
A rating given to a film, DVD or video game which informs the audience the suitability for different ages of audience according to the criteria of violence, sexual content and inappropriate language.
Cliff hanger
A narrative device where suspension is created at the end of an episode or before an advert break in order to persuade the viewer to continue watching subsequent instalments of the programme to find out what happens next.
Closed narrative
A story where the main threads of the narrative are neatly resolved.
Close up (CU)
A common camera shot that tightly focuses on a person or object.
Code
Codes are the systems of signs that are used to create meaning in media texts. Codes can be both symbolic and technical. For example, Action code - media language choices that act to move a narrative forward, Enigma code – a question that is not immediately answered which draws the audience into a text.
Cognitive surplus
The cultural context of increased leisure time allowing for more sharing, collaboration and creativity using online platforms.
Collective identity
The shared sense of belonging to a group.
Colloquialism
An informal expression, often used in casual conversation as opposed to writing. May be used to establish an informal communication with an audience.
Colour palette
The suite of colours that are used in the creation of media texts, such as websites and magazines, to reflect a brand and appeal to its audience.
Commercial media
Privately owned media hat is funded by advertising revenue.
Commissioning
When programmes get the ‘go ahead’ or ‘green light’ for production. Producers will pitch their ideas to commissioning controllers who will decide whether or not to commission the programme.
Commodification
The process by which something becomes an object that can be marketed and sold.
Concentration of ownership
Refers to the limited number of organisations or individuals who control ownership of much of the media.
Conglomerate
A media conglomerate is a large corporation that owns a large number of media companies, such as television, radio, internet, publishing – giving the conglomerate large amounts of power in their market.
Connotation
The additional associative meaning that can be bought to a sign outside its literal, surface meaning.
Consumable product
These are products that we use regularly and that need to be replaced. Some audiences are loyal to a particular brand, whereas, others may be persuaded to change.
Consumption
A term used to refer to the act of reading, viewing, listening to or interacting with media products.
Content analysis
A method of research that provides quantitative data. It generally involves counting the number of times a particular feature appears in a given context – for example, counting the number of men who have speaking roles in a TV programme.
Content creators
Those involved in creating and sharing content online, for example, YouTubers and social media influencers..
Context
The social, cultural, historical and political values of a culture that impact on the production and reception of media products. The values within a context are subject to change over time.
Continuity
The logical and consistent presentation of images in the movement across frames within moving image products.
Continuity editing
Editing choices made to create logical and linear coherence.
Contrapuntal
Sound that does not match the action on screen.
Conventions
The widely recognised and typical way of producing media products within a particular genre or media form.
Convergence
The coming together of technologies and institutions to create a new product or media experience. This is often facilitated by digital technologies that bring together the facility to perform different functions such as internet browsing, playing music, taking photographs, watching videos etc.
Copy
The written material, as opposed to images, that features in a media text.
Countertype
A representation that actively seeks to subvert and challenge negative stereotypes usually of a person, group or place.
Cover lines
The written text that features on the cover of a magazine, they usually give a preview of the content inside.
Cross platform marketing
When one form is advertised on another media platform.
Crane shot
A camera shot that is taken from above the ground high on a crane (also known as a jib).
Cross-head
Words used as a title or sub-heading to break up text in a newspaper or magazine.
Cross cut
An editing technique used to establish that action is occurring at the same time.
Cultivation differential
The margin of ‘heavy’ viewers over ‘light’ viewers when assessing the perception of social reality that the media creates.
Cultural capital
An idea of a power gained in society by having cultural knowledge and experiences that are valued within a culture.
Cut
A simple editing technique. One shot ends and another begins, with no transitions or effects added.
Date line
A line that shows the date that a media publication/article was written/first published.
Decoding
The process through which an audience interprets a message.
Deconstruction
The act of analysing the structures used to construct a media product.
Deep focus
A technique used in photography or cinematography which produces a ‘depth of field’ where everything is in focus.
Demerger
Separating a large corporation into two or more smaller organisations.
Demographics
Statistical data based on groupings in the culture based on age, gender, ethnicity, income etc.
Denotation
The literal or surface meaning of signs.
Deregulation
The relaxing of controls and limitations imposed upon the media by the state.
Desensitisation
A psychological process which suggests that audiences who are regularly exposed to acts of violence through tv programmes, films and video games etc, are increasingly less likely to feel empathy or concern when exposed to violence, bad language or other forms of aggressive behaviour.
Dialogue
Words spoken by characters in a media product, such as films or television dramas.
Diegesis
The communication of a story from inside the world being represented. For example: diegetic sound has a source from inside the world being represented.
Diegetic sound
Sound that appears to come from the world of the film or TV programme, whether on or off screen.
Digital native
A person who is brought up with digital technology from an early age so using it comes naturally to them..
Diversification
Large corporations spreading their interest and shares in a wide variety of mass media forms.
Duopoly
An industry within which two companies control the market.
Editing
A post-production technique – any arranging, revising and preparing of written, audio or video content to get the piece ready for audience consumption.
Editorial
An article in a newspaper or magazine that expresses an opinion on a topical issue.
Editorial philosophy
A media product’s underlying values, attitudes and beliefs and the viewpoint it adopts. The editorial philosophy helps to determine the style and content of the media product including the mode of address it adopts.
Effects theories/The Effect Debate
The effects debate is collection of theoretical ideas that examine the potential impact the media may have on audience members. Effects theories tend to see audiences as largely passive and vulnerable to negative effects of the media.
Ellipsis
Where sentences are incomplete and are finished with a set of three dots; the words then need to be filled in by the consumer.
Emerging media
The communication that occurs through digital technology and new platforms with interactive elements, for example podcasts, social media etc.
Encode
The act of communicating ideas and messages through a system of signs. Media producers make specific media language choices to encode their messages.
Enculturation
(from Gerbner) How the media is part of the way we learn social and cultural norms.
Enigma
A question that is not immediately answered which draws the audience into a text.
Equilibrium/disequilibrium
In Todorov’s theory, equilibrium is the status quo or normal state of affairs in a narrative which gives way to unpredictability (disequilibrium) when equilibrium is disrupted. The narrative journey is usually about the restoration of balance by solving the problems created by the disruption (return to a new equilibrium).
Essentialisation
A process that involves ascribing certain traits or characteristics to someone by nature, those traits are seen to be part of that person’s nature and as such they are fixed and cannot be changed.
Establishing shot
The opening shot of a visual narrative sequence often showing the geographical location.
Ethics
The principles and standards that are upheld in broadcast media, film and the internet.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity is defined by your cultural identity, often demonstrated through customs, food and dress. It suggests identity is based on a sense of place, ideology or religion.
Ethnocentric
Roger Brown defines ethnocentrism as ‘the application of the norms of one’s own culture to that of others’ (Social Psychology, 1965). Stuart Hall refers to this definition in his theory of representation as he suggests ethnocentrism is an example of the way in which stereotypes reinforce the power of certain groups over others.
Exhibition
Where a film can be viewed, eg multiplex, independent art house cinemas, online, and film festivals.
Exotic other
A term used to describe someone who is perceived to be different or ‘foreign’ – a state of alterity.
Fabula
A term in narrative theory – Russian for ‘story’.
Facial action coding system
A technique whereby computer technology is used to capture a range of high resolution skin textures and different facial expressions used to help animators replicate computer generated images. This was used in the Galaxy chocolate advert to make Audrey Hepburn look real.
Fade
A transition that moves to or from an image to a single colour (usually black or white) where the second shot appears gradually so both images are on screen for a period of time.
Female gaze
A term used in reaction to Mulvey’s Male Gaze that considers representations that subvert the male gaze and present ideas from a distinctly female point of view. Often misconstrued to refer to products targeting a female audience.
Feminism
A collection of ideas and actions that aim to promote women’s rights and the social, economic and political equality of the sexes.
Flashback
A scene in a moving image text that is set in an earlier time than the main story.
Flexi narrative
A narrative structure that combines aspects of the same serial or series. For example, whilst each episode may feature a self-contained narrative, character relationships may develop over the course of several episodes forming a wider story arc.
Flow
A term first coined by Raymond Williams, after his first experience of US television in the mid-1950s, to suggest that broadcast media are experienced as a flow of similar segments not as separate items.
Fly-on-the-wall
A form of documentary filmmaking where the camera is an invisible presence, positioning the viewer voyeuristically as an unseen observer.
Focus group
Qualitative research where a group of people are asked about their views of a product which enables the producers to form an opinion of the needs of the target audience.
Font
The style and size of text characters on the printed page or screen.
Form
The classification of media products by type as it related to their production and the way audiences access them. For example, TV, magazines, and games are all forms of media.
Framing (reception theory)
The organisation of media language that acts to present a message in a very specific way that reflects the agenda of the producing institution.
Franchise
A media franchise is a collection of connected media products derived from a single original source, for example, a film – with a comic and video game also produced about the film or a film that generates sequels, is rebooted etc.
Free market
A capitalist system where the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and consumers and where state/legal regulation is kept to a minimum.
Gatekeeping
The way in which information is filtered by the media before it is prepared for publication, broadcast or distribution.
Gender norms
Cultural expectations of how different genders should behave – what is considered ‘normal’ for men or women.
Gender performativity
From Butler. The idea that gendered behaviours come from lived experiences within a culture. Gender is something people ‘do’ rather than something they ‘are’.
Genre
A style or category within media forms. For example, broadsheet is a genre category within the newspaper form.
Globalisation
The global spread of media and communications systems and businesses. How local and national industries are linked to a wider world culture.
Global village
A term coined by Marshall McLuhan where he described how modern electronic media have interconnected around the globe and have ‘shrunk’ the world making it seem like a village.
Guerilla marketing
Low-cost and unconventional marketing methods with a clear focus on grabbing the audience’s attention.
Gutter
The space between two pages of text in a newspaper or magazine.
Hand-held camera
A style of filming where the camera is hand held and not mounted on a tripod. This often produces jerky footage which makes the product appear more realistic to audiences.
Headline
The text, usually in larger font, at the top of a page or article in a newspaper or article, indicating what the content is to the reader.
Hegemony
The leadership or dominance in the media of a particular group that defines the norms and ideas of the culture.
Home page
The first page of a website that a user will access at a web address. The home page usually contains navigation links to the other pages of the website.
Hook
Something within a media product that catches the attention of the audience and pulls them in, this could be an image or a tag line.
Horizontal integration
Companies who acquire other companies operating in the same sector.
House style
The overall design style of a newspaper, website or magazine. This might include font, colour scheme and layout. The house style sets a product apart from its competition and makes it easily recognisable to its audience.
Hybrid
A type of media created through convergence resulting in a new form consisting of different media combined.
A way of describing a media product that is a combination of different genres and styles.
Hyperlink
An icon, graphic or text within a document that links to another file or object.
Hyperreality
From Baudrillard. An inability to distinguish reality from a simulated version of reality.
Hypodermic syringe model
The hypodermic syringe or needle model is an outdated effects theory that suggests a mass audience responds immediately to the direct influence of media products.
Icon
A sign that resembles what it represents.
Iconography
The visual images used within a media product such as costumes, settings etc.
Ideology
A system of ideas that determines beliefs and values. Dominant ideologies hold power within a culture.
Ident
Short for identifier – can be a short visual image shown on the screen in between television programmes, signaling the channel that is being watched, or an audio ‘call sign’ to identify a particular radio station/programme.
Implosion
From Baudrillard: the collapse of meaning in media products due to the sheer proliferation of signs and the way they often refer to one another to create meaning.
Independent media
Media companies that operate outside of the major companies within that industry. There are independent companies in film, TV and music industries.
Index
A sign that works by a relationship to the object or concept it refers to for example an image of a ball can be indexical of sport.
Institutions
The organisations that create and distribute media texts, such as the BBC and News International.
Interactivity
Interactivity is when media audiences take an active involvement in/with the media text.
Interpellation
The process by which a media product draws an audience in to make an announcement about something/someone.
Intertextuality
The act of making references to other texts and popular culture artefacts as part of the signification process. To create meaning, intertextuality relies on audiences recognising and understanding intertextual references.
IPSO
The Independent Press Standards Organisation is the independent regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK.
Jingle
A short and catchy piece of music or song/slogan used to promote a product, used particularly in advertising and on the radio.
Jump cut
A noticeable edit between two images with the same subject and framing.
Jump line
This is a journalism term for the line after or before an article telling you where an article continues on or where it began.
Juxtaposition
Placing two things close together with contrasting effect.
Left wing
Political views that are left of the centre of political ideologies
Let’s play video
Let’s play or LP is a style of video series documenting the play through of a video game.
Lifestyle magazine
A popular magazine concerned with lifestyle these can include men’s magazines and women’s magazines as well as health and fitness, beauty, interiors etc.
Linear narrative
A plot that moves forward in a straight line and logical fashion and does not use flashbacks or flashforwards.
Links
Clickable text or images that take users to different pages of a website.
Logo
The visual image used to identify a product, brand or company.
Long shot
Shot size or framing which shows the whole of a person.
Mainstream
The area of media production that reflects dominant cultural norms and aims to appeal to a broad cross section of people.
Male gaze
From Mulvey: a theory that suggests media products are usually constructed using a male point of view and reflect male desires. Women, therefore are often objectified in representations, presented as objects of male desire.
Mass amateurisation
The capabilities that new forms of media have given to non-professionals and the way the non-professionals have used these capabilities to create and distribute media content.
Masterplot
A collection of broad story-types that are told in different contexts and across genres. For example, a quest narrative focuses on a protagonist’s journey to reach a specific goal. This masterplot can be shaped in different ways and appears in genres as diverse as horror, fantasy, sci-fi, comedy, crime-drama etc.
Masthead
The name of a magazine or newspaper, often presented in the form of a logo using a specially designed typeface.
Mean world syndrome
From Gerbner: this describes a situation where violence-related content of a mass media (news, fictions, documentaries) influences consumers of that media to believe that the world is more dangerous than it actually is.
Media literacy
The ability to access, analyse and understand media. Media literacy allows a better understanding of the complex messages received via the media.
Media saturation
A term used to describe how our experience of the world and the way we view it is dominated by the media on a national and global level.
Mediation
Mediation is when the media takes a person or event and changes or interprets in a particular way to create a media text.
Medium/mid shot (MS)
A commonly used camera shot. Typically it will frame the subject from the waist up or show some background detail in the shot.
Merchandising
The exploitation of a character in TV/film through a range of non-media branded products, eg Star Wars action figures etc.
Merger
A combination of two media companies into one – usually to gain more power and influence in the market.
Message
The expected reading that the audience takes from a media text.
Metadata
The data providing information about one or more aspects of the data, it often summarises basic information such as title and description of an online video plus any tags and thumbnails.
Mise-en-scene
Literally ‘everything that is in the shot/scene’ in a single frame. This is what helps the audience to gain meaning from a scene.
MMORPG
Massively multi-player online role-playing game. An online video game played by a very large number of people at the same time.
Mock-up
A rough plan of how the layout of a page of printed media will look.
Mode of address
The way a media product ‘speaks’ to its audience.
Monopoly
Where one company dominates or has total control of the market place.
Moral panic
The way that the media stirs up intense feelings (often anger or fear) in the way it covers a news event or issue. These feelings are often out of proportion to the actual danger or threat presented.
Multimedia
Technology that enables sound, video, text and graphic images to be used in the same media production.
Myth
A socially or historically determined idea which has become accepted truth.
Mytheme
A fundamental part of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event and a theme) from which myths are constructed.
Narrative
The way in which a story or sequence of events is put together in a media text. All media texts have some sort of narrative running through them.
Narrative arc
The progression of a narrative from its start to the end. The arc refers to the building of narrative tension until a climactic moment creates a resolution.
Narratology
The study of narrative and narrative structures.
Narrowcasting
In opposition to broadcasting, narrowcasting addresses the needs of a specialised or niche audience.
Negotiated position
From Hall’s encoding/decoding model. When making a negotiated reading the consumer of a media product may agree with some aspects of the message in the product but may also disagree with other aspects of the message.
Neo-liberalism
A political ideology favouring free market capitalism.
News agenda
The importance given to stories in broadcast and print news, these will often reflect the ownership, and ethos of the news product.
News values
Ways in which media companies will assess and categorise news stories and decide on their newsworthiness. Each media publication will have its own news agenda and set of news values.
Niche audience/market
A small segment of an audience with specific tastes and interests.
Non-diegetic sound
Sound that is neither on the screen or features in the ‘world of the film’. Typically, non-diegetic sound will be sound effects or background music added to create mood and atmosphere.
Non-linear consumption
When audiences consume products at their own leisure, often using video-on-demand or streaming services. Linear viewing is where products are consumed at the time of their broadcast.
OFCOM
The Office of Communications is a government-approved regulatory body that is responsible for ensuring that the communication and broadcasting industries in the UK operate fairly and competitively. It also protects the public from inappropriate or offensive material.
Oligopoly
A market is shared by a small number of companies who have control or dominance.
Open text/polysemic
A text which lacks a preferred reading and could lead to several different readings.
Opening sequence
The opening section of a film/television drama. Often this is action-packed and ends on a cliffhanger. Opening sequences are also used to introduce key characters or to establish settings.
Opinion leaders
An individual or organisation that has the ability to influence others around them. These could be vloggers, media producers and owners.
Oppositional reading
From Hall: A reading of a product which does not recognise the intended or hegemonic meaning but disagrees or rejects the message being communicated.
Orders of signification
Roland Barthes ideas of two orders of signification being denotation and connotation.
Panning
A basic camera movement – the camera sweeps from one side to the other.
Paradigm
From Hall’s encoding/decoding model. When making an oppositional reading the consumer of a media product will disagree with the message in the product.
Parallel action
A narrative device in which two separate scenes are seen as happening at the same time by cutting between the two.
Para-social interaction
A media effects theory where the illusion of face-to-face relations is constructed through techniques such as the mode of address. This can be applied to online media such as blogs and vlogs as well as traditional media forms like television.
Participatory media
Referring to the audience’s role in creating, producing and distributing media content.
Passive audience
A passive audience is one that merely observes and takes in a media text without interacting or responding to it. The assumption is that a passive audience will agree with the preferred meaning of a text and will not challenge the content and that passive audiences will be directly affected by the messages in media texts.
Pastiche
The act of imitating the style or content of other media products.
Patriarchy
A society within which men hold the power and is structured to benefit male interests.
PEGI
Pan European Game Information – the organisation that judges what the age ratings should be for games. Produces guidance for consumers (mainly aimed at parents) so that they can decide if a game is suitable.
Pitch
An outline of an idea for the creation of a particular media product.
Platform
The technological distribution method used. There are three platforms: print, broadcast and e-media.
Plot
The main events of a storyline.
Pluralism
Where power is dispersed amongst a range of groups within a society and no one groups exerts consistent dominance. The plurality of power is reflected in a diverse range of ideas and opinions found in the media.
Point of view shot (POV)
A film editing technique that makes the audience feel that they are seeing the same as the character on screen.
Political economy
A study of the social relations (power) that together constitute the production, distribution and consumption of resources.
Polysemic
A sign that has more than one meaning.
Post feminism
A collection of theories relating to gender that acknowledge the changes bought about in society by second wave feminism.
Postmodernism
A collection of ideas that reject the traditions of modernism and engage with the late 20th Century/early 21st Century as a time of technological reproduction and media saturation.
Post-production
Further production work that is undertaken after moving and still images have been taken.
Preferred reading/Intended meaning
From Hall: The reading of a media text that the producers intended the audience to have.
Pre-production
The work, planning and research that is done on a media product before the actual production begins.
Pre-title sequence
Used to hook in the audience from the opening section of a television programme.
Primary research
Original and new research that is carried out to answer particular questions or issues.
Prime time
The times of the day when radio and TV audiences are expected to be at their highest.
Privatisation
When a company is sold to a private bidder and taken out of public ownership.
Producer (Media)
The people who plan, coordinate and create media products.
Production values
The qualities of a media text which indicate the cost. High budget products will be recognisable by their use of stars, expensive settings and props etc.
Propaganda
Media images and campaigns which are designed to promote a particular point of view or ideology.
Prosumer
A merging of producer and consumer. It describes those people who create, and adapt existing media content and then distribute it via social media and the internet.
Psychographic profiling
Identifying the audience using categories based on personality, values, opinions, attitudes and lifestyle.
PSB or public service broadcasting
Television and radio programmes that are broadcast to inform, entertain or educate the public, without trying to make a profit. They are financed in some way via the state. For example, the TV licence funds for the BBC.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is used to explore and gain an understanding of audience opinions and motivations.
Quantitative research
Quantitative research is the collection of numerical data and statistics.
Raunch culture
A culture which promotes overtly sexual representations of women.
Realism
Representation by media products of situations or ideas in a way that seems real.
Reception theory
The study of how people use and interpret the media.
Register
This can be spoken or written and is the range and variety of language used within a product and will change depending on the target audience and the purpose of the product.
Regulation
Rules or sets of standards that are expected to be adhered to by media producers.
Remit
This outlines a broadcaster’s area of responsibility. The BBC’s remit is ‘to inform, educate and entertain’.
Repetition and difference
The mix of familiar and new characteristics which offer pleasures for existing audiences and attract new audiences to generic media texts.
Representation
The way in which the media producers combine media language elements to create ideas about people and the world around us.
Restricted narrative
When the audience only sees the narrative from the perspective of one character and therefore only knows as much as that character.
Right wing
Political views that are right of the centre of political ideologies.
Scheduling
The decisions of when and where to broadcast programmes on TV and radio.
Secondary media
Where an audience is not fully engaged with a text such as when watching television, they might be eating a meal, texting, engaging on social media on mobile phones etc.
Secondary research
Secondary research involves the collation and analysis of research that already exists.
Segmentation
The division of audiences into segments and categories.
Selection
What is and is not chosen to be used by media producers and creators, it can reflect the attitudes, beliefs and values of the producer/creator. Selection is part of the process of representation and what is chosen and what is rejected reflects the attitudes, beliefs and values of the producer/creator.
Self-contained narrative
When a whole story is told within a single episode.
Self-identification
How you view and categorise yourself as belonging to a group ie member of a political party etc.
Semiotics
The study of the way meaning is made in the use of signs.
Serial
A narrative where the story unfolds over several episodes.
Sexual politics
The power relations between men and women.
SFX
Special Effects. Graphics techniques that are applied to moving images to create specific effects.
Shot
A single image taken by a camera, or a single take of video footage.
Sign
A word or image that is used to represent or convey an idea or object.
Signposting
The technique of establishing what the location of a scene is from the beginning. For example, a hospital drama might be signposted by audio of medical equipment or ambulance sirens.
Simulacra
Representations that are simulation or copies of ‘reality’ that hold more meaning for the audience than the reality represented itself.
Simulation
Representations that imitate a subject, a location or experience.
Slogan
A catchy, eye-catching and memorable phrase, often used in advertising.
Social media/networking
Websites, platforms and apps that enable users to communicate with other people across the world.
Socialisation
From Gerbner: the process of leaning the norms and values of our culture. The media is said to have an active influence on this process.
Spin
The activities of RP officers (‘spin doctors’) employed to put a positive ‘spin’ or angle on stories about their employer or client.
Standardisation
The way the repetition of an idea, behaviour or attitude across the media over time can normalise/standardise the idea, behaviour or attitude.
Standfirst
An introductory paragraph in an article which summarises the article.
Statutory regulation
A regulation system that is implemented by law.
Stereotype
A set of ideas held about what a person or place is like that is applied to the whole group.
Stock characters
The repeated character types used within narratives. Stock characters are often related to the product’s genre. For example, the matriarch in a soap opera or the lone hero in a Western.
Storyboard
A visual representation and plan of how a moving image scene will be shot. Typically includes a sketch of each frame, camera movements, edits and timing, etc.
Strapline
A cross-column subheading, usually found in newspapers, magazines and websites, that emphasises part of an article or advert.
Stripping
Radio and TV technique where a programme is broadcast at the same time every day.
Structuralism
A theoretical approach that argues that investigating underlying structures is vital in analysing products.
Sub-genre
A sub-category within a genre.
Subscription broadcasting
Any platform/broadcaster that offers access to its content for a subscription.
Symbol
A sign or image of some sort that represents an idea through metaphor or association. For example: a rose can be a symbol for romance.
Synergy
Where links are created for commercial purposes between businesses, media industries and products. This link will benefit both participants. For example: Film tie-ins with McDonalds; Computer Games using commercial music as a soundtrack; Social media influencers creating ‘collabs’
Syntagm and paradigm
Syntagm: related to the sequences (structures) that create meaning.
Paradigm: related to the sets of possible signs that can be used within the structure.
Tabloid
The term is used to describe newspapers (and other media forms such as magazines, television programmes etc) that prioritise soft news and focus on celebrity gossip, popular sports and media.
Tag line
Short phrases that sum up a product, can be used in print and moving image promotional material.
Target audience
The specific group for whom a media product is intended.
Teaser
A form of trailer that ‘teases’ the audience about a forthcoming film. Often meant to intrigue, teasers are typically short and aimed at perking interest.
Textual poaching
The repurposing of media texts by fans to create new media products. This includes memes, fan-fiction, parody videos etc.
Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework includes ideas about media language, audience, media industries and representations. These theories are the tools used to critically understand and discuss the construction of meaning within media products.
Titles
The opening credits of a television programme or film, including the title but often including information about key personnel and snippets of the product.
Trailer
A short advert for a forthcoming film. Usually adhering to a particular set of codes and conventions, trailers might include highlights from the film and information about the stars of the film.
Transitions
How shots are edited together to produce a particular effect, they include cuts, wipes and fades.
Transmedia storytelling
A term coined by Henry Jenkins. ‘A process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience’ (transmedia Storytelling 2007).
Transnational culture
An analysis of the cultural effects of globalisation.
Treatment
A short outline of an intended media production. This might include written descriptions, sketches and mock-ups.
Typography
Font styles that are used in a media product. These can be sub divided into serif fonts, those which have short decorative lines such as Times New Roman and look more traditional, and sans serif fonts, without decorative lines such as Calibri and look more modern and contemporary.
Unrestricted narrative
Where the viewer has access to more information than individual characters.
User-generated content
User generated content (UGC) is any content created and distributed on a particular platform by a user of that platform.
Uses and gratifications theory
From Blumler and Katz: This is the idea that the media audiences make active use of what the media offer them. The audience has a set of needs which the media gratify: information, social integration, entertainment and personal identity.
Utopian
An ideal, if not impossible social world.
Verisimilitude
When a product’s content appears truthful or authentic.
Vertical integration
When one company acquires another so that it has ownership of different paths of the production process.
Violence debate
A recurring debate over assumed audience behaviour which focuses on the possible ‘effects’ of the representation of violence.
Viral marketing
A method of marketing which encourages media consumers to share opinion and information about a media product on the internet and on social media.
Voice of God
A voiceover or commentary provided by a narrator.
Voiceover
A segment of narration that is added to a broadcast with the speaker not seen on screen.
Vox pop
An interview which is conducted with ‘ordinary’ people, often in the street.
Voyeurism
The pleasure of looking at others whilst remaining anonymous. This is often associated with the idea of looking to gain an illicit pleasure.
Walkthrough
A demo on how to play a video game, the vlogger ‘walks’ the audience through a tour of the product.
Watershed
The time, after which is it allowed for media products (TV programmes) to contain more adult content or content that is deemed unsuitable for younger audiences. In the UK the watershed is 9pm.
Web 2.0
A phase in the history of the internet where it involved interactivity, user participation and collaboration.
White space
In magazines and newspapers where there is space free from text and images.
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