GLOSSARY



Aberrant Decoding: Where the message of the text is misinterpreted.

Ambient Sound: Absolute natural sound.

Anchor: The text that is used to anchor the meaning of an image eg: a slogan on an advert.

Audience: recipient of the intended communication

Binary Opposition: The opposites or contrasts created by a text. These reflect the dominant ideologies of society and encourage the audience to consider a situation from a specific point of view. By deconstructing a product using oppositions we can identify the underlying ideologies motivating the text.

Connotation: The meanings that can be attached to what you see eg: the colour white has connotations of freshness, naturalness and innocence.

Consolidation: When Media (or any other) companies join together, often to form conglomerates. AN example is the world's biggest Media conglomeration, Disney.

Conventions: The typical way in which something is done; the 'rules' of a certain genre or form. For example, rock stars are hyper sexual and have exaggerating dance moves.

Convergence: This means 'coming together'. Usually in Media Studies, this refers to technologies and how they link up; an example might be the iphone and how it is bringing video, music, games , the internet and telecommunications together.


Decoding: Recognising and comprehending the encoded message, but also the process of interpreting and evaluating the message.

Denotation:
The description of what you see.

Encoding: Putting a media message into code.

Graphology- text

Horizontal / Vertical Integration - Horizontal Integration is the joining together of businesses that are engaged in similar business activities or processes. Vertical Integration is absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution

Icon: A sign where there is a physical similarity between the signifier and signified eg: a photograph or a male/female toilet sign.

Ideology: Sets of ideas (values, attitudes and beliefs) which often give a partial and selective account of the social world.

Index: A sign where there is a causal relationship between the two parts of a sign eg: smoke is an index of fire or tears are an index of sadness.

Intertextuality:
Where a text (eg: an advertisement) draws upon elements within another text. This is often done in a humorous way to parody something or to pay homage to a specific film or director.

Male Gaze - Laura Mulvey's theory that women are almost always represented in a sexualised way in order to appeal to a male audience. This is not necessarily deliberate - she contended that the media is populated mostly by male photographers, directors, editors, lighting technicians and so on; thus, most of what is produced is made FROM a male point of view and in a way which will appeal TO males.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl5WHj0bZ2Q
Media Invisibility- When groups of people are not represented much in the media

Metaphor: Where an attribute of one thing is transferred to another eg: often in old films a train entering a tunnel is seen as a metaphor for sex.

Metonym: where an associated detail is used to represent an object or idea eg: a crown is used to represent a king/queen.

Mode Of Address: The way a text addresses its audience via its constituent parts.

Myth:
Where the connotations of an object become so accepted and understood that they are perceived as being natural or normal. In effect they become like denotations.

Negotiated
Reading: Where the reader accepts some parts of the message sent by the producer and rejects or modifies other parts of the message.

Oppositional Reading: Where the intended meaning of the text is totally opposed by the reader.

Palette: The term to explain the colours in a picture of a video. For example "The Palette of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the beginning is dark."

Paradigm: A grouping of signs from which choices are made.
Pilot: A sample of a proposed television series. For Example- The first episode of the television series Lost.

Polysemic:
Having many meanings. All media texts are polysemic, they can be read in a range of different ways depending upon the attitudes, values and beliefs that the reader has.

Preferred Reading: The way the producer intends their text to be read.

Propp's Theory:
Vladimir Propp came up with the idea/theory that there are 8 types of characters in the basic storyline. These characters are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess (damsel in distress) and her father, [These people don't have to all be different people]. He also states that there are only 31 things that these characters can do (Sphere of Action). Once we identify the character we can guess the actions. e.g. A Fairytale
Reception Theory: Everyone responds to the media differently.

Sign: A physical object, word or sound with a meaning. A sign is made up of the signifier and the signified.

Signified:
The mental concept which is evoked by the signifier.

Signifier:
The physical image or sound ie: the physical appearance of a word.

Stereotype:
An over-generalized and preconceived idea or impression of what characterizes someone or something, especially one that does not allow for any individuality or variation;

Symbol: Where the relationship between the signifier and signified is totally arbitrary and symbolic. Based upon convention and consensus eg: words are all symbolic signs.

Stereotype: An over-generalised and preconceived idea or impression of what charaterises someone or something, especially one that does not allow for any individuality or variation. For example; blonde women are silly, or black people are good dancers.

Synergy: There may be a new movie such as Superman Returns. People at Mc'Donalds would give away Superman toysin Happy Meals. Mc'Donalds has a lot of visitors each day and maybe kids want to buy and collect Superman Toys.

Syntagm: The ordering of combinations from a paradigm to create meaning.

Todorov's theory: Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives. - Films and programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period then disruption causes disequilibrium. Then a new equilibrium brings chaos to an end. The simplest form of narrative is sometimes referred to as 'Classic' or 'Hollywood' narrative.

Vertical distribution: Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place. In the practice of Hollywood and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company. In the UK, distribution is very much focused on marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets.

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