Media Studies:Media Studies:Key ConceptsKey Concepts

Media Representations

IntroductionIntroduction

Media Language

Media Institutions

Media Values and Ideology

Media Audiences

Media RepresentationsMedia Representations The subject matter of the Media is often ordinary, everyday people and yet they can often be represented in ways that they would find unrecognisable or even offensive. When we consider Media Representations we will be considering:1. Who is being represented by the text?2. In what way?3. By whom?4. For what purpose?

Media LanguageMedia LanguageAn analysis of a media text should include a consideration of how each of these elements affects our understanding and response to the text:1. Connotation and denotation2. Non- Verbal Communication3. Positioning of characters or objects4. Clothing, props, mise-en-scene, sets and settings5. Sound track, commentary and language6. Tone7. Sound and visual techniques (eg. camera

positioning, editing, special effects)8. Iconography9. Genre and genre conventions

Media InstitutionsMedia texts do not just appear out of nowhere, they are produced by often very powerful and wealthy people. We need to consider:

1. What is the institutional source of the text and how has it shaped or influenced the text?

2. Who owns and controls the institution?

Media Values and IdeologyMedia Values and Ideology

These people who create media texts will often use them either intentionally or not to present their view of the world. This is their ideology. We should ask:1. What are the major values, assumptions

and themes underpinning the text or naturalised/embedded within it?

2. What are the criteria that have been used for selecting the content that has been presented?

Media AudiencesMedia AudiencesYou, the audience, are possibly the most important and yet ignored element in the equation. We all have our own very different ways of using the media. We will be considering:1. To whom is the text addressed- what is its likely

target readership/audience? 2. What is the text's likely place in the schedules or

newspaper/magazine?3. In what ways does the text work to position its

audience?4. What are the likely conditions in which the text will

be received?5. What is the probable size and constituency of the

audience?6. What are probable and possible audience readings?

You will also be You will also be consideringconsidering

GenreWe can all tell within a few second of turning on the television whether we are watching a thriller, a game show or whatever. We recognise the conventions of the particular genre:

1.What genre does the text fit into? How can you tell- what conventions does it follow of the genre?

2. What do you know about the actors, stars, writers, directors etc.? Bearing in mind their associations, meanings and histories why do you think they have been chosen for this genre piece?

And…And…Narrative

When you watch a film or a bit of T.V you are basically being told a story. The study of narrative is the study of this story-telling and it is just as relevant in the TV News as it is in the latest blockbuster movie.

1.What is the structure of the narrative or the logic of the order of its component parts?

2. How have specific narrative techniques been used (e.g. point of view and identification with one particular character, building of suspense, use of reversals etc.?)

3. How are characters used- heroes and villains etc. established?

Finally…Finally… Wider contexts

No media text exists on its own. We need to think how it fits in with the wider world and with the history of the Media:

1.What are the historical contexts relevant to an understanding of the text ? (generic, institutional, social etc.)

2. What are the economic determinants: the ways in which economic factors may have influenced and shaped the text?

3. What are the political contexts relevant to an understanding of the text?

Oh, I forgot… AssessmentOh, I forgot… Assessment

Unit 1Unit 1 (MEST 1) 50% of A/SWritten Paper – 2hrsInvestigating Media • Section A: You must respond to an

unseen print-based or moving-image media text (a video, advert, photograph, etc), applying your knowledge of the key concepts.

• Section B: 1 essay question from a choice of 2 based on cross-media case study. Topics include: Broadcast fiction, film, documentary and hybrid forms, life-style, music, news, sport.

Unit 2 (MEST 2)Unit 2 (MEST 2) Creating Media

You will produce two media texts, informed by the study of the Key Concepts and one of the contemporary media topics studied during Unit 1. The project has two parts:

•Two linked production pieces•Written evaluation on both production pieces (1500 words)