1. Media Language

2.  Media Language means the way in which a
text is constructed to create meaning for a
reader or viewer of the text.
 All media texts are constructed; someone has
made decisions about how they should be
constructed so that the form matches the
content and with a particular audience in
mind.

3.  The description of deconstructing a text is
generally used in relation to a particular way of
reading a text, called semiotics.
 Deconstructing is key.
 You need to be able to deconstruct your own
projects to justify your design decisions.
 When deconstructing, your job is to identify the
different elements which construct the text and
the contextual factors which frame it.

4. SEMIOTICS - how meaning is
constructed through language and
codes.
 Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)
the signifier and signified
 how there can be two levels of meaning in
an object within a media text.

5.  Firstly there’s the signifier—which is what is
there in front of us, what we see, the form
the sign takes.
 Then there’s the signified—which is an idea
we associate with the signifier, the concept
it represents.

6.  THE SIGN OR SYMBOL WE SEE DOES NOT MAKE
SENSE WITHOUT THE ACTUAL OBJECT AND THE
MEANING IT CREATES.
 For example, if in a film the characters are talking
about a bank, its up to the audience to determine
which bank they mean—a grassy slope or a place to
deposit your money?
 THINK ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE CREATED
MEANINGS IN YOUR PRODUCTION WORK… CAN
AUDIENCES CLEARLY MAKE SENSE OF
DIFFERENT SIGNS YOU USE? OR IS THERE
ANYTHING AMBIGUOUS – SOMETHING THAT
ISN’T CLEAR TO THE AUDIENCE?

7.  looks at how the audience will interpret meaning
from a particular media text.
 The denotation is an object placed within
media texts, e.g. a poppy. It is then up to the
audience to draw on their own cultural, social
and historical knowledge to interpret its
connotations.
 looking at some images and describing what we
see. This level of analysis is called denotation.

9.  In order to analyse the denotation and
connotation of a moving image it is important
to think about the micro areas and referring
to the technical codes.

10.  • Shot size
 • Camera angle
 • Lenses
 • Composition
 • Focus
 • Lighting
 • Film Stock
 • Film colour
 • Sound/music/sound effects
 • Colour e.g. golden = warm

11. Denotation Connotation
Shot size
e.g. long shot A character
shot from far away seems
removed from the
audience, distanced,
isolated and alone.

12.  Denotation
Composition
e.g. symmetrical
Framing
 Connotation
This implies the filmed space has order and that
the inhabitants of it are organised and tidy

13.  • Setting
 • Props
 • NVC (non-verbal communication)
 • Dress
 Denotation: NVC— e.g. hunched shoulders,
head hanging down
 Connotation: The character is vulnerable,
unhappy or depressed

14.  Although Media Language is a separate area
in itself, you will still need to use media
language if you have a question based on the
other areas:
 Narrative
 Genre
 Representation
 Audience

15.  Using the handout and the information you
have gather today, discuss the following:
 SE7EV opening sequence
 Referring to the micro areas and media
language, analyse the opening sequence of
SE7EN.
 Blog your answer!

16.  Continuing to look at meanings within a
media text, Hall’s theory thinks about the
preferred meaning of a text.
 If something is encoded it is what is
written within a media text. An image has
been placed in the text by the producer and
will challenge or promote dominant
ideologies. Decoding is when the
audience reads into this piece of media and
makes their own interpretation of what the
image means.

17.  Hall thinks the media circulates dominant
ideas, and his theory says that producers
place dominant ideas in different media. So
basically, they would have cleverly encoded
their views and opinions into say a film or
newspaper article with the intention of the
audience interpreting this preferred or
intended meaning.

18.  Hall says there are three ways the audience decodes
texts:
a The audience fully accepts the preferred meaning, showing they
agree with dominant values.
g The audience takes a negotiated position, meaning that they only
agree with some-not all of the preferred meaning.
g The audience takes an oppositional position, whereby they understand
the preferred meaning but decide to make their own interpretation
 WRITE A LIST OF ALL THE VALUES YOU ENCODED IN YOUR
VIDEO PRODUCT. WHAT WERE YOUR PREFERRED MEANINGS? DO
YOU THINK AUDIENCES PICKED UP ON THIS?