Iris key concepts

Component 3
Media Key Concepts
Research
Name: Iris Michaelidou

How is meaning created?
In media there is two layers of meaning, Significier (Denotation) which is
what we actually see while watching something and Signifies
(Connotation) which is what you associate with the image, the deeper or
hidden meanings and associations. For example a scene where people
are physically fighting, you think about why they're actually fighting and
how they're feeling while fighting. There could be a reason to while it
lead to violence, so it’s just thinking about it in debt and the different
reasons why something is happening.
Meaning is created in a moving image by using symbolic and technical
codes, they are the key elements that help you understand how meaning
is created in media texts and moving images.
Symbolism is things like an object, color, character, plot, special effects
and camera angles or an event in a story that carries more than the
literal meaning and therefore represents something signficant to
understanding the meaning of a work of literature. In other words
symbols always have a literal (concrete) meaning and a figurative
(abstract) meaning.

Stuart Hall's Reception Theory
(how audiences can read media)
 Reception theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and
decoded. The producer adds in messages and values into their media which are then decoded
by the audience. Theres three theory's that Stuart descovered:
 Preffered reading: the audience sees what the director intended you to see in that scene and
it makes the audience understand the message that's being portrayed. The audience sees it
exactly how it was supposed to come out, no other view just how it’s supposed to be and they
understand it completely.
 Negotiated reading: the audience understands the preffered message in a scene but you can
also see another side to the message that’s showing. They fully understand what the director is
trying to tell you but they can also have another view of what they see and a different opinion
from what’s actually shown but they still understand what the actual meaning is they just see
it from two different meanings
 Oppositional reading: the audience opposes the original messsage and actually sees it for
something else. The audience doesn’t actually see the real message the director is trying to
show but actually makes up they’re own meaning behind the scene. They might not really
understand the meaning behind the scenes correctly and gets a whole different meaning.
 Different spectators will decode the text in different ways, not always in the way the
producer intended it to.
 Encoding/decoding- it is the model of the relationship between text and audience, the text is
usually encoded by the producer and decoded by the reader

Dove advert
The dove advert was created an advert to show that
they’re body wash is meant for everybody and
everyone with all races. The black woman removed
her top after using the lotion and it revealed a white
woman underneath, after that the white woman
removed her top and turn into a middle eastern
woman. Dove had gotten into a lot of contriversy
with the public because to some people it cam
across as very racist, but the message of the ad was
completely different. Dove later explained that it
was trying to say that the body wash was for every
woman and to be a celebration of diversity. This is a
clear example of Stuart Halls theory when he talks
about oppositional reading, the audience got the
message completely wrong and sees it for something
else.

Symbolic codes
Symbolic codes show what us beneath the surface of what we
actually see. There are codes that are used to convey a
symbolic, rather than literal meaning.For example, a
character's actions show you how the character is really feeling.
Symbolic codes:
Mise-en-scene
Costume
• Time period/age/social
class
• Low/high quality
production values
• Status/role/occasion
• Ethnicity/race/sexuality
• Realism/escapist
• Coordination with
setting
Settings
• Studio set design/ on
location
• Decor/style/interiors
• Genre conventions
• Audience identification
• Backdrop
• Natural
• Stylised
Lighting/color
• High key and low key
lighting
• Single source and fill
lighting
• Use of shadows and
silouettes
• Bright primary colors
• Black and white
Body language
• Pose and posture
• Eye contact
• Actors movement/style
Objects and props
• Clues to characters
• Objects to help
understand scenes
• Props could be used for
super heroe capes or
for example in harry
potter they're wands
• Motifs

Technical codes
 Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is being used
to tell the story in a media text and for example camera work in a
film.
 This includes sound, camera angles, types of shots and lighting as
well as camera techniques, framing, depth of field, lighting,
exposure and juxtaposition.
Technical codes and conventions:
 Slow motion
 A lot of camera movement
 Eye line action
 Lots of close ups
 Rhythmic editing
 Pulled focus
 Moving lights
 Diegetic and non-diegetic lighting
 Technical codes are codes that are very specific to a media form
and actually don’t live outside of them. For instance,
our understanding of different camera shots and their connotations
make sense when we watch and film and also photographs but they
really mean nothing to us outside of those forms

Examples of technical codes
(camera shots)

Examples of technical
codes (camera shots)

(camera angles)

(camera movements)

Examples of technical
codes (camera movements)

(camera composition)

Editing
 Once all of the elements are filmed, the editor pieces it
all together. Many argue that this is the single most
important job in filmmaking. Combining shots into
sequences , good editing is a critical element in getting
the audience to understand the films story, by creating
a mood.
 Good editing is a critical element in getting the
audience to understand the film’s story, by creating or
enhancing mood, emotion and character
 The director should always create a bunch of shots for
the editor to choose from to actually tell the story.

Sound
 There are three main types of sounds in films:
 Dialogue which is when the characters are talking with each other
 Background music or just music in general creates an atmosphere and elicits
emotions
 Sound FX adds to the actions happening on screen. These made be recorded in
different locations and added later. For example, they may have been created
for a scene such as a gun shots, raining sounds, someone being punched, cars
crashing.
 Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds:
 Diegetic sound is the sound that the camera picks up while filming that are just
natural sounds. For example, voices of character and the majority of speech and
also sounds that are made by objects being used in the story.
 Non-diegetic sounds are sounds not picked up by the camera when filming, it has
been created and added post-production for a specific part in the story. For
example, the narrator’s dialogue which is too hard for the camera to pick up
additionally, sound effects added for an increased dramatic effect, music is also
included as non-diegetic, its often created to create a mood for the audience.
Diegetic sound:
Car sounds
Non-diegetic sound:
Background voices could be
a narrator

Colour symbolism
 The media producers use colour to specifically connect
the connetations to specific scenes, objects or even
characters. Red, for example comes across as a color of
passion, love, danger or violence. Blue is seen as a
colour of calmness and patience, yellow is warm and
inviting and green is presenting nature or sickness.
 For example in horror movies the colours that
would mostly be used are dark colours such as black or
grey which immediately makes the audience think of
death or something evil could be happening. Also the
color red is used a lot, in the movie cover "US" the
characters are all wearing red body suits which is a sign
of danger which also links perfectly to the movie
because they are the characters that kill.

Examples of colours and what
they symbolize

Movie covers or scenes with
the colour red
The colour red is mostly used in this
movie cover because it’s trying to make
the audience understand the story of
the movie just by looking at the cover,
this is because the characters are
wearing all red and also the title of the
movie "US" is white which means
freedom, it could be trying to show that
other characters are trying to escape
and be free from the danger that they
bring. They are fully clothed with red
which means danger so it makes them
stand out and come across as evil and
dangerous.
Deadpool's cover is fully red
and it connects with the
story of the movie perfectly.
He tries to hunt down
someone that apparently
almost ruined his life which
link to the colour red by
passion and danger but also
because in a specific part of
the movie he falls in love
which also links to the colour
red

the colour green
The cover of this movie is
mostly green to show that
the setting of the movie
would be in nature or for
example on a forest also
because zombies are a
very unpleasant creature
to look at so the green
could also represent
disgust and feeling sick by
The matrix cover is also
all green with black the
green could represent the
fact that it's talking about
the environment and how
they find out the real
world and the color that
represents that is green,
also the black to show
that they'res evil things

the colour blue
The color blue is used in
the title and in most of
the background, the title
joy is put in blue because
it symbolizes joy and
calmness, the audience
would think that it's a
calm and relaxed movie,
nothing bad would
happen
The tangled is a cartoon
about two characters falling
in love and the girl finding
her real parents, the
background is in blue to
make the audience think its
gonna be a calm and joyful
movie. The title is also in
gold to show royalty and
wealth and this also link to
the girl character because
she finds out she's a princess

Mise-en-scene
 Mise-en-scene is the arrangement of the scenery and stage
properties in a play or movie. It is a French word and when
translated it means "setting the stage" but in the film industry the
word mise-en-scene is basically everything in front of the camera
also including the set designs, lighting and actors. Its also now used
in film studies to explain all of the elements that make up a scene
in a movie or film. The directors use mise-en-scene to guide or
manipulate how the audience views or responds to the film.
Everything we all see in a film is considered mise en scene but to
make it easier the term can be split into different areas.
5 elements of mise en scene:
 Settings and props
 Costume, hair & make up
 Facial expressions & body language
 Colours
 Positions of character and objects within the frame

The importance of denotation
and connotation
 Denotations refers to an actual word, place or objects
 Connotations refers to all the images, metaphors, words
and things that they're associated with that flood into
our mind when we mention that word, place or objects.
 An example is, Los angeles the audience would think
about how it's glamorous, celebrities, oscars, palm trees
 The cinema is relying on the audience decoding the
images they see to make sense of the movie they
watch. This process relies on the concept of
denotation and connotation

Lighting
Low key lighting
Low key lighting is a
lightong technique for
films that focuses on
accentuating shadows and
this made by using a hard
source of lighting in a
scene. Low key lighting
always aims to increase
contrast through the use
of shadows and dark
tones.
Highkey lighting
 A high key look often
gives you less shadows
and makes your talent
flawless and elegant. It
produces an even amount
of light that spreads
across the entire scene.
For example, high key
lighting is used in beauty
and make up commercials
and mostly in comedies
too. This represents heat,
passion or extreme
emotions
Lighting is fundamental to films because it creates an atmosphere and a sense
of meaning for the audience. Whether it's the light covering the whole scene
or only focusing in an actor or object every step in the filming process effects
the lighting set ups. Lighting is used to basically tell the audience where to
look during a scene. For example, if it was a scene of two people talking and
at the background they're was a restaurant with people, the director would
have to place the light to the people talking if they want the audience to pay
attention to what the people are talking about.

Facial expressions
Angry
Her face shows
clearly that
she feels angry
because her
eyebrows are
going in wards
and her mouth
is closed tighly
Sad/upset
Her eyes are shut
which might
indicate that she’s
about to cry, her
lips were pushed
down to create a
frown and her eye
brows are raised
and squished
Shocked
her eyes are wide
open to show that
she’s surprised by
something, her
mouth is fully
open and her eye
brows are fully
raised up
everything is over
exadurated
Disgusted
Her eyes are
squinted and her
nose is moved to
the side and her
lips are sort of
on the side,
she’s squinting
her eyes because
maybe she really
doesn’t want
look at
something
Happy
Her eyes are
squinting and
shes smiling
with her teeth
which just
clearly shows
that shes
happy because
when were
happy we smile
Facial expressions are ways to show how someone is feeling from just
the movement of they’re facial features to express how they truly
feel without talking. The audience would almost immediately
understand what the scenes theme and what the atmosphere would
be like whether it’ll be negative or positive.

Facial expressions p2
 Eyebrows:
Eyebrows tell a lot about how someone is feeling
 They can be raised and arched to show that they’re surprised
 Lowered and close together to show anger
 Inner corners drawn up to show when they’re upset or sad
 Eyes:
The other other thing that shows more is the eyes themselves
 Wide open eyes mean that they’re trying to show that they’re surprised
 Intesely staring is to also show anger
 When someone’s eyes are squinting and crinkles start to show
 Mouth:
The final facial expression has to do with the mouth
 A dropped jaw is trying to show when someone’s surprised
 Open mouth to show fear
 One side of the mouth raised to show hate
 Corners of mouth raised to show happiness
 Corners lowered down to show sadness

Body language
 Body language is a mysterious way of non-verbal
communication, a character doesn't have to talk
to express how they feel. The way a character
walks or stands it all contributes to the audiences
understanding of that specific character. The
character could be sitting down and they're upper
body is lowered down to show that they're upset
or vunlerable and the oppositite of that would be
if someone's shoulders are up and they’re head is
help up high it makes us understand that they're
happy and excited about something. Its another
way of expressing how someone feels without
having to say it out loud. They use they're body to
clearly state how they feel. How someone walks
or runs also shows how they feel, for example if
someone was running fast it could show that
they're scared of something or stressing out about
being late, if someone is walking slowly it shows
that they could be lazy or tired.
The finger pointing at the
women shows that he’s
telling her off and he has a
high posture to show that hes
at a higher state than her
The woman has her hand out in a
way where shes asking a question
and hes trying to defend himself by
putting his arms back

Props and costumes
 Props:
The objects or props that are placed and used in scenes by characters are
deliberately chosen to create a certain atmosphere and may also have a
symbolic meaning. For example, if an actor is in a room full of books the
audience would immediately assume he’s intelligent and talented. Using props
could also help the audience realize what setting they’re in, what country, year
or even century. For example if they’re were eating bagguetes and wearing a
beret hat, the audience would immediately think they’re in France because of
the steryotypes that have been told for a while. If they’re was a device from
the olden times then the people who were born at that time they’d know it was
from that time. For example, If the movie was based on witches then the props
would need to be a wand and a robe just like in harry potter. It creates the
setting and makes them understand the personality and the qualities the
character has.
 Costumes:
Costumes are what the actors wear while filming and have to be in character.
This may include wigs or hats even specific jewelery that only depends on how
they’re character is. For example if they’re wealthy or not. Costumes also
shows how they’re personality is or what they’re interested in and they’re
clothes might show they’re attitude and the audience can almost immediately
understand how that character is going to act. Costumes build on the character
just like props. The audience must beileve that every person in a story has a life
before the movie. It helps the actors transform into new and beilevable people
on the screen. It also clearly shows the characters persona and who the
character really is also you can tell where and when something is taking place
and what is going on in the scene and story
Costumes in this
picture are scary
costumes to show that
they might be
dangerous and not
friendly also links back
to colour symbolism
because they’re black
which symbolizes death
and evil.
Wands is an example
for props because its
an essential thing that
wizards use to show
that they have powers
and are powerful

How is meaning created?
They both look like they’ve been
through something tragic both
because of the setting they’re in and
the background and also because of
they’re dirty clothes that look like
they’re gone through a lot to get
there. The colours used are mostly
like blue and yellowish colours to
show that now everything is finally
okay and there’s no chaos but
they’re also red and orange from the
fire to show that its dangerous.
This is a medium long wide shot because we
can only see the upper half of they’re body
and not they’re feet, also a wide shot
because we can clearly see the environment
behind them. A medium long shot is used so
we can clearly see them and where they are
so we can understand a bit more about
what’s happening due to the wide shot
showing us the background
They’re facial expressions
also helps us understand that
they’re in a very vunrable
situation and the young boy
looks sort of terrified like he
doesn’t know what else is
gonna happen and if he’s
going to survive.

Genre
Genre in other words categorizes movies. Categorizing movies
makes it easier for the viewer to discover what he or she likes and
will want to see. Putting a movie into a particular genre or category
does not portray how the quality of the movie by assuming that if it
can be put into a genre, the movie is ordinary and lacks originality
and creativity.
Genre consists of four elements or parts: there’s the characters, the
actual story behind a movie, the plot, and where the movie was set.
The elements above equal to a specific category of a movie. These
element are discussed relating to how their variations created
different category of movies.
Like other forms of popular media, the film relies on the concept of
genre in order to establish an audience and work within a particular
narrative framework. A genre is an informal set of conventions,
references, rules and settings that establish a particular film within
a particular tradition of similar films.
Within each genre, there are usually subgenres, or more specific
variations on a larger genre tradition. For instance, within the
larger genre category of science fiction films, it's possible to
distinguish subgenres, for example alien abduction narratives or
time travel scenarios.
These are some examples of types of genres: horror and romantic
comedy

Horror
 Horror is the oldest and most well-established genres in the history of film.
Early horror films like Dracula in 1931 and also Mr Hyde elaborated on and
often adapted the gothic and the victorian horror novels of the previous
century. In order to give viewers a sense of romantic wonder, combined with
a fear of the unknown and the supernatural, horror movies typically aim to
create a spooky, halloween like atmoshphere. It’s a genre that intends to
frighten or scare or disgust the specific audience. Horror is frequently
supernatural, though it might also be non-supernatural. Horror can be
inteprented as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. It can be
interpreted in many different ways, but there is often a certain villain,
monster, or threat that is often a reflection of the fears being experienced by
society at the same time. This creature or person is called the "other", a term
that refers to someone that is feared because they are different or
misunderstood. This is also why horror has changed throughout the
years. fears and cultures change and so does horror.
Some elements of the horror genre-
 Themes:
The horror genre is often a reflection of the culture and what it fears at the time
(for example, covid 19,diseases, invasions)
 Character types:
Besides the evil character, monster, or threat, the various sub genres contain a
certain hero (for example, harry potter defeats voldemort)
 Setting:
Horror can have many different setting. Such as a haunted house, a cemetery, a
gothic castle, small town, cabin in the woods. It can take place in the past,
present or future
 Music:
This is an important thing in the horror genre. It can be used with great effect to
build the atmosphere and suspence

Romantic comedy
 One of the most common and enduring film genres is Romantic comedy (some
times shortened to RomCom).romantic comedies, while often derided by criti
cs as shallo w and sentimental, still continue to draw large audiences. Light,
comic narratives surrounding the romantic courtship of two people are typical
ly romantic comedies. The two romantic protagonists involved normally begin
the film as an unlikely and sometimes antagonistic pairing, but through a seri
es of unfortunate and humorous events they end up falling in love but in a
way where the audience would find it a strange and funny way of finding
love. They are light hearted, humorous movies and dramatic stories centered
around romantic ideals such as a " true love". Romantic comedy films are a
sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films.

Rick Altman’s Semantics and
Syntactics
 A theory that was developed by rick altman suggests that audiences can
identify a particular genre through two different elements. These two are
called syntactics and semantic elements. Semantic elemts are physical
objects that can be seen by the audiences that would automatically
represent or show that the media product is of a certain genre. For example
if it was a gun placed somewhere this could signify that the media products is
under action genre or if there was a clown mask on a table it could represent
that it’s under the horror genre.
 Semantic feature are often considered “obvious” indications for genres. The
same features are present in documentaries those certain codes can help
illustrate sub-genre. For my documentary if i had a musical instrument or a
book with music notes then the sub genre for the documentary is music.
 Syntactic elements are less obvious, and they often represent feeling,
themes and emotions that aren’t so clear to see. Feelings like love or hate
are considered syntactic elements, and these are processes that audiences
could actually feel and understand. Directors commonly communicate
syntactic elements through the use of actions within characters. For
example, if they wanted to show the emotion love they could put two
characters together being affectionate or if it was to show that two people
hate each other it could be a scene where they’re arguing.
 Semantic codes are way easier to find than syntactic. Just like
documentaries often show certain objects or places that would be
associated with the genres of the documentary.

Mood board for the different
genres

Genre theorists
 Genre theory refers to the research and ideas surrounding genre. The
importance of audience in genre is high, as much of genre is about
the audience identifying with it and recognizing it. The filmmakers
are trying to break the conventions of these genres in order to defy
audience’s expectations and create interest. Steve neale says “genres
are instances of repetition and difference”
 Daniel chandler said “ conventional definitions of genre are based on
the idea that they share particular convention of content, for
example themes or setting”
 John heartley said “ the same text can belong to different genres in
different countries or times”
 David Buckingham said “ genre is a constant process of negotiation
and change”
 John fiske said “ genre attempts to structure some order itno a wide
range of texts and meaning that circulate in our culture for the
conveniences of both producers and audiences”

Narrative:
In the film industry, narrative films are those that tell a story.
Movies like the wizard of Oz is an example of a narrative film
because it has a been driven by a story that has a particular
structure. According to narrative theory , this film follows a pattern
best described through example. The wizard of Oz, which starts by
introducing the characters like Auntie Em, Miss Gulch and Dorothy.
The characters then experience an upset to their equilibrium which
is the tornado, that presents them with a challenge that they have
to overcome. Finally the story resolves itself when Dorothy finally
makes it home and restores equilibrium to her fictional world.
In general, each part of a narrative film serves the purpose of
moving the story forward.

Open/Closed Narrative
 An open structured narrative leaves an audience to
wonder what happens next or to make sense of the
ending themselves.. An open structure is mostly used
within a series of films. The next film will continue
where the last one has left off.
 A closed narrative its when the film comes to an end.
The audience is not left to wonder what happens next.
There is a clear conclusion for the audience. Often the
audience are invited to make ‘verdicts’ of the
characters in the film, identifying the narrative roles.

Todorov’s Narrative Theory
 According to Tzvetan Todorov, a
Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher,
stories have common narrative structure:
 1. Equilibrium- the story begins with
normality
 2. Disruption- a problem occurs and
creates a disruption to the normality
 3. recognition of disruption- characters
become aware of the problem
 4. attempt to repair the disruption-
characters prepare to overcome the
problem
 5. new equilibrium- the final stage of the
story presents characters with a new
normality.

Propp’s Character Types:
The hero- the savior,
he saves Fiona from
the castle and the
villain
The helper- the donkey
supports and helps him
to save fioana from the
castle
The villain-
he takes
Fiona away
from shrek
The princess-
she needed
to be saved
by shrek
The donor- the
baker creates the
ginger bread man
who helps them
escape later on in
the movie
The princess’s father-
protective over Fiona,
he wants her to be
happy and safe
The false hero- he
looks like hes the
right person for
Fiona but turns
out to be evil

Alvarado theory:
 Pitied: For example ,when adverts or documentaries are displayed
for African children and African families dying in poverty or from
lack of food and clean water also shelter isn’t stable, the
impression this would give off to the people watching creates a
feeling of pity. It makes the audience feel as if they should help
them and find ways to make they’re life better and it creates an
atmosphere of pity.
 Dangerous: ethnic groups can be displayed as dangerous through
their behavior. For example coldemort in Harry Potter is known as
the extremely dangerous and evil character. This makes the
audience relate to his behavior to the ethnic group
 Exotic: Ethnic groups can be shown as exotic, like latino Americans
are shown to be sex symbols and rather exotic through racy
costume and controversial behavior. For example Shakira and
Rhianna
 Humorous: For example, the simpsons, the character that is playing
the groundskeeper Willie is convayed as being Irish through his red
hair and heavy accent. His lines are always humorous and

Stereotypes:
 A stereotype is a fixed general image or set of
characteristics that a lot of people believe represents a
particular type of person or thing.
 Woman have the stereotype of not being as strong as
men and are mostly seen as weak and emotional human
beings.
 Arabs are stereotyped to be terrorists because of past
events or to be rich and have multiple wives
 Asians are stereotyped to be be very intelligent and
very successful in life
 Mexicans are stereotyped to be thieves or to follow bad
paths and always end up in prison

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