Vocabulary

Binary oppositions - where texts are organised around sets of opposite values such as good and evil, light and dark. For example Man v's woman, Good v's Bad.

Diegetic/non - Diegetic is sound that the characters can hear them selves like the radio playing, non diegetic is sounds or music or an over voice that the characters cannot hear but the audience can. Non-diegetic sounds can be put in when editing for example:


Hegemony - means a position of power or leadership in a given situation.

Ideology - These sets of beliefs are those held by groups within society, and the prevalent ones are those held by the ruling/dominant groups.

Intertextuality - The term Intertextuality refers to the process of creating references to any kind of media text via another media text. In other words Intertextuality essentially means for a type of media(film,television,music etc) to pay homage to another media text.


Representation - Media representations are the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective

Iconography - essentially this is a 'genre indicator'. When its a cowboy film we expect to see the desert, saloons, horses. in a horror we expect to see darker lighting and knives and weapons. It's what the audience expects to see when they know the genre of the film.


Preferred reading - Producers of a media text design it with a certain meaning in mind. They hope that audiences will decode their text in a certain way - particularly if the text is an advertisement. Preferred readings are those which tie in with hegemonic beliefs.

Oppositional Reading - when the audience rejects the message portrayed.

Archetype - a generic character found in many story lines, e.g. hero, villain, loyal friend



Stereotype - a widely held and fixed but oversimplified image or idea of a certain type of person.


Verisimilitude - being true or real

High-key lighting - Generally makes the image or video a lot brighter. Suggests happiness

Low-key lighting - Generally a darker scene, can be used for making the scene more emotional or scary.

Contrapuntal sound - sounds that don't go with what is seen on the screen so make the audience question what they are seeing. 

 Ambient sound - common sounds in the back ground e.g Wind, Air, birds, Office Noise.

Foley - reproduction of every day sounds which are then added into the clip during post production.

Dramatic irony - irony that is understood by the audience but not the characters.

Ellipsis - cutting out parts of a scene or conversation so it isn't too long

Prop's Character theory - Vladimir Propp came up with the theory that there are only 7 types of characters in cinematography

1. The villain (struggles against the hero)
2. The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
3. The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
4. The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
5. The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)
6. The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
7. The hero [AKA victim/seeker/paladin/winner, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

Todorov's narrative theory - most storys or plots follow the same 5 steps

1. Equilibrium

2. disruption

3. realisation 

4. restored order

5. Equilibrium again

Restricted narrative - Limits the audience to what the characters know about the story line

Omniscient narrative - audience knows all the thoughts and feelings of all the characters.

Linear narrative - a story in chronological order

Episodic Narrative - a story told through a series of episodes or segments

Above the line costs - In general, Above-the-line refers to Actors, Producers, Writers and Directors. For the most part, these are fixed costs. For example, if a scene is cut from the script, the writer is still paid the same amount.

Below the line costs - The 'line' in below-the-line is the one separating the Actors, Director, Producers, and Writers from the other crew.

Diegesis - A plot or narrative

Enigma Code - A question that is not immediately answered and therefore draws in the attention of the audience for example a dead body at the start of a film.

Continuity editing - a system of cutting used to maintain continuous and clear narrative action

High concept film - a simple and often striking idea or premise, often leands itself to easy promotion

Juxtaposition - two things being placed or seen close together to contrast eachother

Key Light - This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.

Master shot - A single shot that includes the complete scene from its start to the finish.  Usually a master shot is filmed and then the rest of the other kinds of shots (close-ups...etc) are then shot later.

Parallel shot - a device of narrative construction in which the development of two pieces of action are presented simultaneously.

Reaction shot - a portrayal of a person's response to an event or to a statement made by another.

Polysemic - having more than one meaning

Synergy -  the symaltanious release of different products to boost both

Convergence - the combining of two or more mediums 

Horizontal integration - a production company expands into other areas of one industry

Vertical integration - the production company has the ownership of the means of production, distribution and exhibition of the film by the same company, because of this they receive all the profit

180 degree rule - In film making, the 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene.

Rule of thirds - In the rule of thirds, photos are divided into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two lines horizontally making three columns, three rows, and nine sections in the images. 

Aesthetics - a set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty

Arbitrary signifiers - signs where the relation between signifier and signified is purely conventional and culturally specific, e.g., most words.

Codes - A system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning.

In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following:

• technical codes - all to do with the way a text is technically constructed - camera angles, framing, typography etc

• verbal codes - everything to do with language -either written or spoken

• symbolic codes - codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotational level - all the things which draw upon our experience and understanding of other media texts, our cultural frame of reference.

Frame composition - is the presentation of visual elements in an image, especially the placement of the subject in relation to other objects.

Conglomerate - media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet.

Connotation - an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Cultural codes - Cultural codes are defined as symbols and systems of meaning that are relevant to members of a particular culture (or subculture). These codes can be utilized to facilitate communication within the 'inside group' and also to obscure the meaning to 'outside groups'.

Cultural Imperialism - Cultural imperialism is the cultural aspects of imperialism. Imperialism, here, is referring to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between civilizations favoring the more powerful civilization.

Effects model - is how the media can affect society and how society affects media.

Hypodermic model - implies that the mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful affect on its audiences.

Signifiers - a sign's physical form (such as a sound, printed word, or image) as distinct from its meaning.