Media Language

The way in which a text is constructed to create meaning for

a reader or viewer of the text

You need to be able to:

Read the denotative and connotative levels of meaning within a media text.

Use and understand the key terms used in the analysis of media language (Denotation, Connotation, Signifier & Signified).

Write a coherent analysis of the symbolic codes within your teaser trailer.

KEY TERM: Semiotics

Definition: The study of SIGNS(& the role of signs in social life)

Examines how symbolic, written and technical signs construct meaning (i.e. for your trailer how mise-en-scene, camerawork, editing and sound construct meaning)

Analysing Media Texts: A Framework

1. SYMBOLIC SIGNS

e.g.

Colour

Positioning

Setting & Locations

Facial Expressions & Body Language

Objects

Lighting

Clothing, Hair & Make Up

3. TECHNICAL SIGNSe.g.

Camera Angles

Framing (ELS, LS, MLS, MS, CU, ECU, POV)

Editing

Juxtapostion (2 separate signs that together make contrasting meaning)

2. WRITTEN SIGNSe.g.

Slogan

Typeface/Font

Headlines

Captions

Style

Choice of words

Emphasis of words

NB - If you analyse mise-en-scene,

camerawork, editing and sound you would cover all these areas.

Semiotics – The Study of Signs

Signs take the form of words, images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning.

Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself (e.g. low key lighting which casts dark shadows in a film scene can symbolise mystery in certain contexts).

We interpret things as signs largely unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions. (e.g. shadows are not mysterious in themselves, I am tapping into cultural ideas relating to darkness and the unknown/hidden and our understanding of film conventions by associating dark shadows in a film scene with mystery).

The above is Adapted from Chandler (2005) - http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html

Semiotics – The Study of Signs

Saussure (a founder of semiotics) summarised it in the following equation:

The Sign = signifier + signified– a 'signifier' - the form which the sign takes; and – the 'signified' - the concept it represents.

So the signified can change depending on the reader’s interpretation – meaning is not fixed.

What other words have you used before that could replace the words signifier and signified?

…denotation and connotation.

For those of you who want to really stretch your academic muscles…

‘Semiotics is important because it can help us not to take 'reality' for granted as something having a purely objective existence which is independent of human interpretation. It teaches us that reality is a system of signs. Studying semiotics can assist us to become more aware of reality as a construction and of the roles played by ourselves and others in constructing it …Meaning is not 'transmitted' to us - we actively create it according to a complex interplay of codes or conventions of which we are normally unaware. Becoming aware of such codes is both inherently fascinating and intellectually empowering… In defining realities signs serve ideological functions. Deconstructing and contesting the realities of signs can reveal whose realities are privileged and whose are suppressed. The study of signs is the study of the construction and maintenance of reality. To decline such a study is to leave to others the control of the world of meanings which we inhabit.’

Daniel Chandler (2005)

Roland Barthes and semiotics

Denotation and connotationBarthes was an influential theorist who explored the way in which texts make meaning.

He considered that all cultural forms, are essentially made up of a system of signs.

He analysed the denotative and connotative level of signs in a media text.

Barthes argues that the organisation of signs encodes particular messages and ideologies and that these ideologies can be revealed as constructed through textual analysis – denotation and connotation.

Semiotics

Signs can be polysemic (have many possible meanings)

So, how do we know which meaning to read?

Or, to put it another way, why do viewers interpret certain meanings over others?– Context is important – how signs work in combination will

lead us towards particular readings over others. – Dominant cultural ideas will lead us towards certain

interpretations over others.– We understand the conventions of particular media forms.

SIGNIFIER: Water/Ocean

WaveSIGNIFIES:

Wild, Stormy, Natural, Earthly

SIGNIFIER: Words ‘Cool

Water’SIGNIFIES:Refreshing,

different,

SIGNIFIER: Droplets on

BottleSIGNIFIES:Cool, chilled appearance,

almost drinkable

SIGNIFIER: Mans Naked

TorsoSIGNIFIES:

Natural, angelic, pure, toned, ideal,

masculine, adonis

SIGNIFIER: Facial

Expression/Body LanguageSIGNIFIES:

Ecstatic, pleasure lost in ecstacy, laid

back, inviting

SIGNIFIER: Calligraphy Style

FontSIGNIFIES:

Classic, timeless,

expensive tastes

SIGNIFIER: Blonde Hair

Signifies:Ideal

Woman, Innocence, Looks ‘gold’

SIGNIFIER: Perfume

BottleSignifies:

Looks Jewel-like, Buried Treasure

SIGNIFIER: Colour Gold

Signifies:Luxury, Riches,

Expense, Success,

Shimmering

SIGNIFIER: JewellerySignifies:

Extravagance, Excess, Glamour,

Decedance

SIGNIFIER: Word ‘Love’

Signifies:Passion,

Excitement, Lust

SIGNIFIER: Font

Signifies:Dior Logo,

Brand Name, Designer

Now analyse your own work in relation to media language

Deconstruct your teaser trailer to identify the signifiers and signified – you can use the terms denotation and connotation if you prefer, but for the highest marks in the exam it is good to include a wider range of semiotic terminology acknowledge that you are dealing with a system of signs.