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Key Concepts




KEY CONCEPTS


Codes and Conventions;


Codes are signs, which create meaning. They can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic.
  • Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film.
  • Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling.
  • Some codes fit both categories – music for example, is both technical and symbolic.

Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.




Audience;

A media audience consists of those who are viewing the media text. Whether that is a film, advert or magazine. Audiences are important as they generate income and popularity for the specific text. Audiences are also kept in mind when considering the representation. It must connect to their target audience.


https://www.slideshare.net/alevelmedia/media-audiences-an-introduction

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=audience+in+media+a+level&&view=detail&mid=6E8D45461829A67C438D6E 8D45461829A67C438D&&FORM=VRDGAR


Media Language;

The way in which the meaning of a media text is conveyed to the audience. One of the ways Media Language works is to convey meaning through signs and symbols through connotations. Media language consists of terminology that is best used to analyse media texts. This terminology concludes around visual, audio, and linguistic codes. 
These can be used to determine the themes of media texts as well as suggestions why such media texts have been manufactured as they were.





Institution;

A media institution is an established, often-profit based organization, that deal in the creation and distribution of advertising, entertainment and information services. In Media Studies, we are most concerned with the institutions responsible for producing media texts.
 





Genre;

A text is classified in a genre through the identification of key elements which occur in that text and in others of the same genre. Media genres appear within a medium (film, television) such as the "horror" film or the television "situation comedy". Audiences recognise key aspects, and bring a set of expectations to their reading of the text accordingly.




Narrative;

In media terms, narrative is the coherence/organisation given to a series of facts. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things. We connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. In everything we seek a beginning, a middle and an end. Examples of narrative theories include the 'Todorov' theory and the 'Propp' theory.






Representation;

Representation in media is based off reality. Characters, settings and topics are used to challenge the ideas that are within our society. These representations can either be progressive or regressive. Most media texts try to produce progressive representations yet audiences may challenge how successfully they have done that. Stereotypes are also key to representations. These are a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Representation usually focus on; gender, class, ability, ethnicity, age and sexuality.



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