themediablog

In order to write effectively on the media you must be aware of the Key concepts.  These are the toolbox of Media Studies and knowledge of them is essential to success in each of the modules and in the final assessments for each.

The Key Concepts

• Media Representations
• Media Language
• Media Institutions
• Media Values and Ideology
• Media Audience

Additionally the areas of genre and narrative [which are aspects of the concept  of media language] are so important to understanding media texts that they are also considered as essential parts of the conceptual framework.

 

Media Representations

Who is being represented?

• In what way?
• By whom?

Why is the subject being represented in this way?

• Is the representation fair and accurate?
• What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?

Media Languages and Forms

•  What are the denotive and connotative levels of meaning?
•  What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
•  What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text?
•  What is the significance of mise-en-scene?
•  What work is being done by the soundtrack/commentary language of the text?
•  What are the dominant images and iconography and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
•  What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning [eg camera positioning; editing; mix of sound/image]?

Media Institutions

• What is the institutional source of the text?
• In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institutions which produced it?
• Is the source a public service or commercial institution?  What difference does it make to the text?
• Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does it matter?
• How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology

• What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
• What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?

Media Audiences

• To whom is the text addressed?  What is the target audience?
• What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
• What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
• In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text?  Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
• What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
• What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?
• How do you as an audience member, read and evaluate the text?  To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?

 

Narrative and Genre are aspects of the Key Concept of media language dealt with above but these elements are so important to any understanding of how and why media texts work that they are essential to your work in every module in AS and A2.

 

Narrative

• How is the narrative organised and structured?
• How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
• How are characters delineated?  What is their narrative function?  How are heroes and villains created?
• What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
• What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc. within the narrative?
• What are the main themes of the narrative?  What values/ ideologies does it embody?

Genre

• To which genre does the text belong?
• What are the major generic conventions within the text?
• What are the major iconographic features of the text?
• What are the major generic themes?
• To what extent are the characters generically determined?
• To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text?  Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
• Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre?  What meanings and associations do they have?