Media Key Concepts and Theorys

Sumera Ishtiaq

Media Key words, Concepts, theories and generally everything you could possibly need to pass the exam… except the actual answer…

M
Media Language

• Camera Shots:
*extreme close up (parts of face)
*big close up (most of face)
*close up (face)
*medium close up (shoulders up...)
*medium shot
*medium long shot
*long shot
*very long shot

• Camera angles:
*low angle shot (looking up)
*high angle shot (looking down)
*panning left
*panning right
*birds eye view
*tilted frame

• Colour:
*bright
*dark
*pastel
*black and white
*contrast
*saturation

• Font:
*size
*curved, linear?

• Audio:
*dialogue
*Soundtrack
*diegetic
*non-diegetic

• Lighting

• Mise-en-scene

• Symbolic

• Iconic

• Images
*photograph
*logo
*still or moving?

• Realism

• Abstract

• Polysemic (many meanings)

• Denotation (what it is)

• Connotation (what it means)

• Rule of thirds

I
Institution

• What or who?
*company
*charity

• Brand

• Old, new, rebranding?

• Contemporising?

• Longevity

• Heritage

*(links closely to ideology, don’t get mixed up)

G
Genre

• Film:
*horror
*comedy
*action
*adventure

• Broadcast fiction:
*reality
*entertainment
*advisory
*informational
*documentary
*educational
*lifestyle

R
Representation

• Who?

• What?

• Where?

• When?

• How?

A
Audience

• Who?
*age
*gender
*social class
*audience

• Target

• Primary

• Secondary

• Tertiary

• Consumers

• Audience groupings:
*socio economic groupings
(define people by job and social standing) 1. A –- higher managerial, admin / professional (barristers, business owners, judges) 2. B - Intermediate managerial, admin / professional (teachers) 3. C1 - office worker 4. C2 – plumbers, hands on jobs 5. D – semiskilled and unskilled (fox’s biscuits, factory workers) 6. E – Unemployed (students, pensioners, unemployed)

*psychographic groupings:
(define people by beliefs or values) 1. survivors / mainstreamers 2. social climbers / aspirers 3. care givers / carers 4. explorers / discoverers

I
Ideology

• Alternative media (Channel 4)

• PSB (public service broadcast) (BBC)

• Formal / proper

• Informal

• Ethical

• Beliefs

• Entertainment through action (paramount)

• Codes of conduct

N
Narrative

• Plot

• Storyline

• Text included in a piece of media

• Circular narrative

• Closed narrative

T
Theories

• Barthes Action Code:
*states that audiences can relate to texts through their own cultural experiences e.g. falling in love etc.

• Barthes Enigma Code theory:
* states that plots need mysteries that are eventually solved.
*states that plots need enigmas that are finally solved to delay the ending.

• Feminism

*Women want equality in general e.g. equal rights, equal pay

*There are different types of feminists

1. Radical feminists

Blame men for their dominance over women

a. Family causes problems of exploitation (don’t want to be the “wife/weak woman” figure)

b. want matriarchal society (women superiority)

2. Marxist socialist feminists

a. Blame inequality on capitalism e.g. money, pay, maternity leave

b. Still believe in the “family”

3. Liberal feminists

a. Just want to be equal but aren’t extreme.

*Feminists believe that women are portrayed as one of these 10 female character types:

1. Tomboy

2. The goodwife

3. Happy / aggressive single woman

4. The bitch

5. The victim

6. The decoy – inner strength

7. Siren – sexually attractive, leads people on

8. Courtesan – unpaid prostitute

9. The witch – power over men

10. The matriarch - female boss in the family

*There are fewer females in the media

*Very few female directors so there’s more stereotypical characters

*Male presenters are unattractive

*Voiceovers predominantly male

*Women’s magazines are huge but it’s because women are objectified

*Campaign during Paralympics for “real role models” to be in the media e.g. rowers and Jessica Ennis instead of models and unhealthy celebs

*Laura Mulvey female gaze theory

• Women are objectified in the media, why are they and why aren’t men?

• Women have to look amazing on a pedestal

• Have to have their hair and size perfect

• Hypodermic Needle Theory:
*audience theory
*states that audience just soak everything up like a sponge
*states that audiences are passive

• Marxism
*Marx believed in social equality and the abolition of the social classes.
*He believed that the working class should revolt and overthrow the upper class thereby making everyone equal.
*It is a social theory blaming capitalism (money and financial status of the individual)

• Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ theory:
* states that every human has needs that go in a specific order
*states that these needs have varying levels of importance from starting with basic needs for survival 1. psychological – basic needs: food, water, shelter 2. safety – personal security: job security, friends 3. social – to belong to a group 4. esteem - self esteem, status, respect 5. self actualisation - be who you want and where you want to be: to be content

• Neo – Marxism

*Inspired by Marx but is more practical

*Fits contemporary society more

*Antonio Gramsci says that it is not sufficient for owners to dominate society. You can’t rely on false class consciousness (the classes shouldn’t actually exist, they’re just a way of looking at things) as fixed points.

*“You have to be able to move up and down through social classes” i.e. they aren’t fixed they’re flexible.

*Coach carter: film starts with Marxism, ends with neo – Marxism

*Neo means new

• Patriarchy

*Male gaze theory

*Believe that men are dominant

• Post colonialism

*Challenges dominance of white people in the media

*Fear and fascination of the orient

*Diaspora identity - Result of migration. People feel they belong to their original group rather than the dominant group where they live.

*Types of character:

1. The humorous

2. The exotic

3. The pitied

4. The dangerous

▪ Positive / negative representations

+ musicians

+ sports players

+ comedians

- criminals

- socially dysfunctional

- prostitute / sexually promising women

- stud / pimp

• Propp’s character theory:
* Vladimir Propps theory
* states that all narratives have 8 characters and 31 actions 1. hero – saves day 2. villain – tries to destroy everything hero tries to save 3. helper – helps hero 4. donor – character that gives something to hero (object / advice) 5. anti-hero – double crosses so is a hero in the end (e.g professor snape) 6. princess – waits to be saved 7. dispatcher – sends hero off 8. father – father figure or mentor to hero

• Queer Theory

*Argues that the media has made heterosexuality the norm

*Want equality, want equal coverage of homosexual relationships

*Want fair representations of homosexuality

*Want the media to move away from stereotypes of lesbians or gay men

*Homosexuality decriminalized in 1967 in most places

*2011 American armed forces changed ruling to allow gay people to apply for the army on a “don’t ask, don’t tell” basis

• Todrov’s Equilibrium theory:
*states that the formula for a plot is: balance – chaos – balance

• Two step flow
*people see something and then talk about it
*that person talks about it to someone else…

• Uses and Gratifications theory:
*audience theory
*modernised theory
*People take what they want or need from a piece of text
*states that audiences are actively intelligent
*4 main general uses: 1. diversion – form of escape 2. personal relationships – ability to compare their own life with that of characters 3. personal identity – to be able to identify themselves with comparisons to characters 4. surveillance – to know what’s going on
Binary oposites
Barthes action code
Hegemony – everyone believes what theyre told by the media