| Anchoring |
Fixing of meaning e.g. the copy text anchors (i.e. fixes to one spot) the meaning of an image. |
| Mise-en-scene |
Stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for theatre or film production. |
| Antagonist |
The main adversary of the protagonist in a media text – the conflict between the two often drives the narrative forward. |
| Binary opposite |
When representations are structured as pairs that reflect oppositional values. For example, good and evil; police and criminals. |
| Brand |
A type of product that is manufactured and marketed under a particular name, logo and design. |
| Band identity |
The image that a brand projects and the associations the audience then make with the brand. |
| Code |
Codes are the systems of signs that are used to create meaning in media texts. |
| Conventions |
The widely recognised and typical way of producing media products within a particular genre or media form. |
| Copy |
The written material, as opposed to images, that features in a media text. |
| Demographics |
Statistical data based on groupings in the culture based on age, gender, ethnicity, income etc. |
| Diegetic sound |
Sound that appears to come from the world of the film or TV programme, whether on or off screen. |
| Non-diegetic sound |
Non-diegetic sound will be sound effects or background music added to create mood and atmosphere. |
| Narrative |
The way in which a story or sequence of events is put together in a media text. |
| Intertextuality |
The influence that media text have of one another. Perhaps a reference to one another. |
| Ethnocentrism |
Evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture. |
| Ideology |
A system of ideas that determines beliefs and values. Dominant ideologies hold power within a culture. |
| Institution |
The organizations that create and distribute media texts. |
| Enigma |
A question that is not immediately answered which draws the audience into a text. |
| Polysemic |
A text which lacks a preferred reading and could lead to several different readings. |
| Protagonist |
The main character in the narrative of a media text. |
| Psychographics |
Identifying the audience using categories based on personality, values, opinions, attitudes, and lifestyle. |
| Representations |
The way in which the media producers combine media language elements to create ideas about people and the world around us. |
| Semiotics |
The study of the way meaning is made in the use of signs. |
| Signposting |
Establishing what the location of a scene is from the beginning. |
| Stereotypes |
A set of ideas held about what a person or place is like that is applied to the whole group. |
| Target audience |
The specific type of person that the producers of a media text are aiming their product at. |
| Voyeurism |
The pleasure of looking at others whilst remaining anonymous. |
| Propaganda |
Media images and campaigns which are designed to promote a particular point of view or ideology. |
| Sign |
A symbol which is understood to refer to something other than itself. |
| Globalisation |
The phenomenon of expanding multinational corporate media investment, resulting in the emergence of a global oligarchy (group) of first-tier corporations, which own and operate a variety of mass media content and distribution technologies. |
| Enculturation |
Process of learning social norms through watching others |
| Homogenised cultural effect |
The influence and lack of diversity in it makes us take on the same attitudes |
| Mainstreaming |
More educated or those with no experience of real violence are less likely to be influenced by TV. They are still influenced somewhat so TV can cultivate it. |
| Pastiche |
Imitation of a style of work |
| Hegemonic |
Ruling or dominant in a political or social context. |
| Oligopoly |
When media producers are controlled by a small number of companies. |