Key

Concepts - the core concepts on which media studies focuses

These key concepts provide a systematic structure for the study of the media and media

products and provide terms of reference in any media assignment or project. Any analysis
of the media topic should be related to the key concepts where appropriate.

Media/Film Language: the particular codes used within different media to convey
messages to audiences.

Includes the language used to discuss mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and

sound techniques.
Includes the terminology used to discuss theories and meanings of texts, e.g.
conventions, connotations, iconography,

Narrative: the storyline and structure of a media text.

Narratives all stories helped to shape and explain all aspects of our lives from earliest
infancy. They are part of the ways in which we make sense of the world and provide
reassurance in the face of the dangers and contradictions of everyday experience.
Narratives are structured within genres, which provide frameworks of expectation,
predictability and outcome.

Representation: the process whereby the media construct versions of people, places
and events in images, words or sound for transmission through media texts to an
audience.

Representations provide models of how we see gender, social groups, individuals

and aspects of the world we all inhabit. They are ideological in that they are
constructed within a framework of values and beliefs. Representations are therefore
mediated for and reflect the value systems of their sources. No representation is
ever real, only a version of the real.

The representations are part of cultural mythology and reflect deep-seated values
and beliefs e.g. Of such places as the north of England, Scotland and America.

TIP representation is the key to many media debates and is usually described as
being positive or negative, depending on the view of the group being represented.
Achieving positive representations (versions of themselves that they agree with and
approve of) has been a goal of minority groups who have criticised the perceived
negativity of media stereotypes, e.g. homosexuals, ethnic minorities, religious
minorities, disability groups and women.

Audience: the groups or individuals targeted by producers as the intended consumers of

media texts. Owing to the wide availability of media texts, the actual viewers, readers or
listeners may not be those originally targeted.

Audience studies are usually structured in terms of gender, age and social and
cultural background, and are concerned with the circumstances in which media
texts, are consumed and the nature and the consequences of this consumption.
The identification of an audience is a vital ingredient for the successful production
and marketing of and media text.
Considerations of audience motivation and behaviour are at key focus of attention in
both active and passive audience theories.

Genre: a category of media products classed as being similar in form and type.

Film, magazine, newspaper and television are all media genres. Types of film,
magazine, newspaper and television programme are also genres. Westerns and
musicals are filmed genres, lifestyle magazines are a magazine genre, tabloids and
broadsheets a newspaper genres, situation comedies, crime dramas and soap operas
a television genres.
Genres operate alongside narrative constructions in line with the audience
expectations, for example, magazines of a particular genre are expected to contain a
specific kind of narrative discourse.
Genres can be further divided into subgenres.

Ideology: of a set of attitudes, beliefs and values held in common by a group of people and
culturally reproduced within that community to sustain its particular way of life.

Ideologies can be described as dominant, subservience, or opposition all depending

on their status within a society.
E.g. Capitalism, Communism, Christianity and Islam.
TIP Ideology is present in all media texts. You can explore it by assessing the
attitudes, beliefs and values within the text and the assumptions made about what
the viewer or reader thinks and feels.

Institutions: any of the organisations responsible for the production, marketing, distribution
or regulation of media texts.

Institutions are business and social structures that produce media texts and
regulates and structure media activities. If they are collectives within which
individuals are encouraged to work toward a common goal and to develop working
practices based on assumptions about the aims and ethos of the institution.
Institutions assumed shared values of all employees and have a status and power
relationships with other institutions and the wider public. E.g. BBC, Sky, CNN, British
Board of Film Classification, Warner Brothers, Universal, Comcast, Paramount.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

CAMERA SHOTS
Aerial Shot A camera shot taken from an overhead position. Often used as an establishing
shot.
Close Up A head and shoulders shot often used to show expressions/emotions of a
character. Also can be a shot of an object, filmed from close to the object or zoomed in to it,
that reveals detail.
Extreme Close Up A shot where a part of a face or body of a character fills the whole
frame/dominates the frame. Also can be a shot of an object where only a small part of it
dominates the frame.
Establishing Shot A shot that establishes a scene, often giving the viewer information
about where the scene is set. Can be a close up shot (of a sign etc) but is often a wide/long
shot and usually appears at the beginning of a scene.
Medium Shot the framing of a subject from waist up.
Two Shot A shot of two characters, possible engaging in conversation. Usually to
signify/establish some sort of relationship
Long Shot - A shot that shows the full body of a subject and some of the background.
Point-Of-View Shot (POV) Shows a view from the subjects perspective. This shot is
usually edited so that the viewer is aware whose point of view it is.
Over the Shoulder Shot looking from behind a characters shoulder, at a subject. The
character facing the subject usually occupies 1/3 of the frame but it depends on what
meaning the director wants to create (for example, if the subject is an inferior character, the
character facing them may take up more of the frame to emphasise this).
Overhead Shot a type of camera shot in which the camera is positioned above the
character, action or object being filmed.
Reaction Shot a shot that shows the reaction of a character either to another character or
an event within the sequence.

DEPTH OF FIELD
Deep Focus - allows objects both near and far from the camera to be in focus at the same time.
Shallow Focus allows the objects closest to camera to be in focus, with the background out of focus

CAMERA ANGLES
Camera Angle the position of the camera in relation to the subject of a shot. The camera
might be at a high angle, a low angle or at eye level with what is being filmed.
High Angle A camera angle that looks down upon a subject or object. Often used to make
the subject or object appear small or vulnerable.
Low Angle A camera angle that looks up at a subject or object. Often used to make the
subject/object appear powerful/dominant.
Dutch framing (or canted) camera angle that makes what is shot appear to be skewed or
tilted.

CAMERA MOVEMENT
Pan Where the camera pivots horizontally, either from right to left or left to right to reveal
a set or setting. This can be used to give the viewer a panoramic view. Sometimes used to
establish a scene.
Track - a shot where the camera follows a subject/object. The tracking shot can include
smooth movements forward, backward, along the side of the subject, or on a curve but
cannot include complex movement around a subject. Track refers to rails in which a
wheeled platform (which has the camera on it) sits on in order to carry out smooth
movement.
Crane A crane shot is sometimes used to signify the end of a scene/ programme /film. The
effect is achieved by the camera being put onto a crane that can move upward.
Stedicam - A steadicam is a stabilising mount for a camera which mechanically isolates the
operator's movement from the camera, allowing a very smooth shot even when the
operator is moving quickly over an uneven surface.
Hand-Held When the operator moves with camera in hand creating a shaky effect
Tilt - where a camera scans a set or setting vertically (otherwise similar to a pan).
Zoom Using a zoom lens to appear to be moving closer to (zoom in) or further away from
(zoom out) a subject/object when in fact the camera may not move (so, strictly not camera
movement). Can be used for dramatic effect.

EDITING

Editing the stage in the film-making process in which sound and images are organised into
an overall narrative.
Continuity Editing the most common type of editing, which aims to create a sense of
reality and time moving forward. Also nick named invisible editing referring to how the
technique does not draw attention to the editing process.
Jump Cut An abrupt, disorientating transitional device in the middle of a continuous shot
in which the action is noticeably advanced in time and/or cut between two similar shots,
usually done to create discontinuity for artistic effect.
Credits the information at the beginning and end of a film, which gives details of cast and
crew etc.
Cross Cutting the editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one
narrative action (scene, sequence or event) with another usually in different locations or
places, thus combining the two: this editing technique usually suggests Parallel action (that
takes place simultaneously). Often used to dramatically build tension and/or suspense in
chase scenes or to compare two different scenes. Also known as inter-cutting or parallel
editing.
Cutaways A brief shot that momentarily interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting
another related action. Object, or person (sometimes not part of the principle scene or main
action), followed by a cutback to the original shot.
Freeze Frame the effect of seemingly stopping a film in order to focus in on one event or
element.
Eye-line Match a type of edit which cuts from one character to what that character has
been looking at.
Flashback a scene or moment in a film in which the audience is shown an event that
happened earlier in the films narrative.
Shot Reverse-Shot Edits which switch back and forth between two characters interacting
with each other
Slow Motion indicates intensity or importance of an action.
Graphic Match an edit effect in which two different objects of the same shape are
dissolved/cut from one to the other.

Juxtaposition the placement of two (often opposed) images on either side of an edit to
create an effect.
Linear Narrative a style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically.
Montage Editing the juxtaposition of seemingly unconnected images in order to create
meaning.
Parallel Editing a type of editing in which events in two locations are cut together, in order
to imply a connection between the two sets of events.
Visual Effects - visual effects are usually used to alter previously-filmed elements by adding,
removing or enhancing objects within the scene.
Match on Action - A shot that emphasises continuity of space and time by matching the
action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action. (For example a shot of a
door opening after a shot of a close up of a characters hand turning a door handle)
Transition how one shot/image moves to the next in video editing
Dissolve: a transition where one image slowly dissolves into another.
Fade: a transition where the image gradually fades and disappears, leaving a white or black
screen.

SOUND

Diegetic Sound sound that can be heard by the characters within a scene/ sound part of
the imaginary world.
Non-diegetic Sound sound that the characters cannot hear and is not part of the
imaginary world of the story. This includes a musical soundtrack or a voiceover (however
this excludes a narration by a character within the story referred to as an internal
monologue and is diegetic).
Score The musical component of a programmes soundtrack, usually composed specifically
for the scene.
Sound Effects sounds that are added to a film during the post-production stage.
Sound Motif- A sound effect or combination of sound effects that are associated with a
particular character, setting, situation or idea.
Sound Bridge Can lead in or out of a scene. They can occur at the beginning of one scene
when the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new
scene begins.
Dialogue Words spoken by the characters
Incidental music non-diegetic sounds which add atmosphere to an action or revelation.
Ambient soundthe background sounds which are present in a scene or location. Common
ambient sounds include wind, water, birds, crowds, office noises, traffic, etc. It performs a
number of functions including: Providing audio continuity between shots, preventing an
unnatural silence when no other sound is present and establishing or reinforcing the mood.
Sound PerspectivesThe sense of a sound's position in space, yielded by volume and pitch.
Used to create a more realistic sense of space, with events happening (that is, coming from)
closer or further away.
VoiceoverWhen a voice, often that of a character in the film, is heard while we see an
image of a space and time in which that character is not actually speaking. The voice over is
often used to give a sense of a character's subjectivity or to narrate an event told in
flashback.
Sonic Flashback When the sound from a different time is heard without the image. (For
example a elderly man is in shot, sitting and thinking about his time in the war. We do not
see a flashback, but we hear sounds of bombs dropping and bullets being fired from his
memory)

MISE-EN-SCENE Everything in the frame

Location The place where the scene is shot, e.g Paris or the countryside.
Set designThe way the set has been decorated in order to express particular
characteristics
Costume - The clothing of a character speaks volumes about their personality
Make-UpAs does their make-up
Props - Items that are used by characters in a particular scene
Colour designA scenes colours are very carefully selected in order to give off certain
connotations.
ProxemicsRefers to the physical distance between characters
PhysicalityThe physical presence of an actor and what that brings to a role.
Performance The characters physical movements and what that says about them. Includes
their facial expressions, gestures and postures.
IconographyThe visual style of a piece of film OR the meaning that using a famous
actor/logo brings to a film or show.

LIGHTING
High Key LightingLighting which appears to be natural (but very rarely is). A three point
lighting system is used to reduce shadows and be flattering to the character.
Low Key LightingUsing a lighting system which intensifies shadows and gives a moody or
scary effect.
Back lightingWhen a character is lit from behind, thus silhouetting them.