Glossary of Media Terminology

Glossary of Media Terminology

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180 Degree Rule: A rule in which the camera, when showing a conversation between two characters, isn't allowed to go over an imaginary straight line. E.g. if the camera is behind character one's left shoulder and is looking at character two then cuts so you can see over character two's shoulder then it must be over character two's right shoulder, it must stay this way flipping back and forward till the conversation ends and one character leaves or the scene cuts.

A

Actor: The person who plays a character within a narrative (actor is male, actress is female).

Adobe: A software manufacturer based in San Jose, California, and traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ADBE. Adobe is a leading provider of media productivity software.

Advertising: Overt/Paid for "spots" and "slots" in newspapers, magazines, radio shows and/or TV.

Ambient: The environmental conditions, e.g. surrounding light and sound.

Anchorage: How meaning is fixed, as in how a caption fixes the meaning of a picture

Antagonist: The character whose function in a plot is to oppose the protagonist.

Aperture: Literally means "opening". The camera iris; the opening which lets light through the lens. By adjusting the size of the aperture, the amount of incoming light is controlled. The aperture size is measured in f-stops.

Aspect Ratio: The ratio of width to height of an image. Can be expressed as a number, or a relationship between two numbers. For example, the standard television screen ratio is 4:3 (4 units wide by 3 units high)

Audience: Viewers, listeners and readers of a media text. A lot of media studies is concerned with how audience use texts and the effects a text may have on them. Also identified in demographic  socio-economic categories.

Audio: Sound. Specifically, the range of frequencies which are perceptible by the human ear.

Audio Dub: The process of adding audio to a video recording without disturbing the pictures. The original audio may be replaced, or kept and combined with the new audio.

B

Backlight: A light which is positioned behind the subject. It's primary purpose is to make the subject stand out from the background by highlighting the subject's outline.

Backlight Correction (BLC): A feature of some cameras which increases the apparent brightness of the subject when lit from the rear.

Billboard: A form of advertising, usually a large outdoor sign.

Binary Opposites: The way opposites are used to create interest in media texts, such as good/bad, coward/hero, youth/age, black/white.

C

Camcorder: A single unit consisting of a video camera and recording unit.

Campaign: A time-limited set of ads - campaigns may run across different media over long or short periods of time but can be categorised together as they are the execution of a central idea.

Catharsis: The idea that violent and and sexual content in media texts serves the function of releasing ‘pent up’ tension aggression/desire in audiences.

Celebrity Endorsement: When celebrities promote/advertise the product/goods/services of a business.

Censorship: Control over the content of a media text – sometimes by the government, but usually by a regulatory body like the British Board of Film censors.

CGI: Computer Generated Imagery.

chiaroscuro: Strong contrast between light and dark.

Cinematographer: AKA Director of Photography, the person on a film production responsible for photography.

Cinematography: The art and science of movie photography, including both shooting technique and film development. Cinematography consist of two elements which are camera framing e.g. close up, medium shot, long shot etc. and camera movement e.g. panning, tilt, tracking etc.

Closed Narrative: Usually seen in films, the narrative have a beginning, middle and end.

Close-up: A camera shot which is usually shown from shoulders upwards of a character.

Code: A sign or convention through which the media communicates meaning to us.

Concept: An idea/theme.

Consumer: The user of the product or service.

Conventions: The widely recognised way of doing things in a particular genre.

Convergence: The way in which technologies and institutions come together in order to create something new.

Connotation: The secondary meaning that a sign carries in addition to it’s everyday meaning. 

Contrapuntal Sound: When the sound/music in a scene or for a photo doesn't suit or link well to the scene or photo. E.g. A photograph of a upbeat and happy college party with sad piano music the background.

Covermount: The free gift in a magazine.

Crane Shot: A shot in which the camera is lifted high up from a crane position, usually looking down.

Crossfade: A video and/or audio transition in which one shot/clip gradually fades into the next. AKA mix or dissolve.

Cropping: To cover up portions of a graphic image. Possibly in order to alter the meaning of an image.

Cut: An instantaneous transition from one shot to the next.

D

Demographics: Factual characteristics of a population sample e.g. age, gender, race, nationality etc.

Denotation: The everyday or common sense meaning of a sign.

Dialogue: conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play or film.

Diegetic Sound: Sound whose source is visible on the screen 

Digital Zoom: A method of zooming which digitally crops and enlarges part of the image. This is not a true zoom and results in loss of quality.

Direct Address: When the character in a show/film looks at the camera/audience. Usually creates an effect of involving the audience but could disengage an audience as it would lose the escapism and realism feeling. The audience who wish to escape into the world of the film are reminded its not real.

Dissolve: A video transition in which one shot dissolves (fades) into the next. AKA mix or crossfade.

Disposable Income: Extra money or money which is earned and usually spent on luxury items or given to children as allowance/pocket money.

Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something that the characters don't.

Dolly: Any apparatus upon which a camera can be mounted, which can be moved around smoothly.

E

Edit: The process of assembling video clips, audio tracks, graphics and other source material into a presentable package.

Eponymous Hero: When a show is named after the protagonist/character. E.g. "Sherlock" or "Luther".

Establishing Shot: A long range shot showing the setting and location of a film or show.

Enigma: A question in a text that is not immediately answered and creates interest for the audience – a puzzle that the audience has to solve.

Extreme Close-up: A close-up of an object in great detail e.g. an eye, lips, buttons on clothing etc.

Exposure: The amount of light which is passed through the iris, and which the CCD or film is exposed to.

F

Fade: A transition to or from "nothing". In audio, to or from silence. In video, to or from a colour such as black.

Feminism: the struggle by women to obtain equal rights in society.

Femme Fatale: Female villain like character who is attractive and seductive and would most likely bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her.

Fill Light: A supplementary light that does not change the character or the main light and is used chiefly to lighten shadows.

Film Noir: French for "black film" or "dark film". A term used describe a genre of film popular in America between 1940 and 1960.

Filter: A transparent or translucent optical element which alters the properties of light passing through a lens.

Foreshadow: Prediction. E.g. The dark, rainy weather could foreshadow a bad event.

FPS: Frames Per Second. The number of video or film frames which are displayed each second.

Frame (1): The edges of a television / video / film image.

Frame (2): To compose a camera shot.

F-stop: Measurement of aperture. The higher the f-stop number, the smaller the aperture.

G

Genre: The type or category of a media text, according to its form, style and content.

Green Room: A room located near the main stage in a studio or concert venue, where artists and guests wait before their appearance.

Green Screen: A film and video technique in which action is shot against a green screen, which is subsequently removed from the image and replaced with a different background.

H

Hammocking: Placing a new show between two popular shows in hope that the audiences of the two popular shows will watch the show in-between after watching the show before or while waiting for the show after.

Hegemony: Traditionally this describes the predominance of one social class over another, in media terms this is how the controllers of the media may on the one hand use the media to pursue their own political interest, but on the other hand the media is a place where people who are critical of the establishment can air their views.

High-angle Shot: A shot in which the camera is placed high up and looking down on a character or object. Usually used to make the audience see how powerless a character is or how weak they are, this may cause the audience to feel sympathy for the character.

High-key Lighting: Lighting in which no dramatic shadows are shown, there are no shadows and the scene is brightly lit.

H.U.G.E: Helpful, Useful, Generous, Entertaining/Exciting. (Key things to analyse on a magazine along with M.I.D.S.A.R)

Hybrid Film/Genre: A film with two genres combined. E.g. Rom-Com (romance and comedy)

I

Iconography: The visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these.

Ideology: A set of ideas or beliefs which are held to be acceptable by the creators of the media text, maybe in line with those of the dominant ruling social groups in society, or alternative ideologies such as feminist ideology.

Identification: When an audience member is able to identify/relate to a character, setting or/and narrative.

Image: A visual representation of something.

Institutions: The organisations which produce and control media texts such as the BBC, AOL Time Warner, News International.

Intertextuality: The idea that within popular culture producers borrow other texts to create interest to the audience who like to share the ‘in’ joke. Used a lot in the Simpsons.

J

JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group. A standard for still-image compression.

Jump Cut: A video transition in which one shot appears to "jump" to another shot with very similar framing. Usually considered undesirable but can be used for dramatic effect.

K

Key Lighting: The purpose of the key light is to highlight the form and dimension of the subject. The key light is not a rigid requirement; omitting the key light can result in a silhouette effect. Many Key lights may be placed in a scene to illuminate a moving subject at opportune moments.

L

Linear Narrative: Chronological ordered narrative.

Long-shot: A long distance shot in which the camera is able to show the whole body size of a character from head to feet.

Low-angle Shot: A shot from which the camera is looking up at a character or object. Usually used to make the audience feel weak and recognise a character or objects importance and power.

Low-key Lighting: Lighting which creates shadows.

M

Match On Action: Either an action commenced in shot A is completed in shot B, or an action in shot A is mirrored by an action in shot B. E.g. A long shot of a person climbing in shot A can be seen completed in a close up of the person climbing in shot B. Or a character enters a room and the camera sees this from the outside but the camera cuts just as the door opens and the camera is in the inside of the room and watches the action of the character entering being completed.

Masthead: The title of a magazine.

Merchandising: The process of manufacturing, distributing, licensing and sales of T-shirts, toys, posters etc that contain characters or designs from a film.

MIDI: Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A standard of communication between musical instruments, controllers and computers.

M.I.D.S.A.R: Masthead, Image, Design, Sell-lines, Audience, Representation. (Key things to analyse on magazines)

Mid-Shot: A camera framing term, half-way between a wide-shot and a close-up. A mid-shot of a person will show them from about the waist or chest up.

Mise en Scene: Literally ‘what’s in the shot’ everything that appears on the screen in a single frame and how this helps the audience to decode what’s going on.

Mode of Address: How a media text communicates with the audience through language and images.

Montage: Putting together of visual images to form a sequence. Made famous by Russian film maker Eisenstein in his famous film Battleship Potemkin.

N

Narrative: The way in which a story is told/put together within a text.

Non Diegetic sound: Sound effects, music or narration which is added afterwards

Non-Linear Narrative: A non-chronological ordered narrative.

Non-verbal communication: Communication between people other than by speech.

O

Open Narrative: Ongoing narratives with no final ending e.g. Soap Operas, they don't have a final conclusion and ending to a story, some narratives link into the next episodes and some episodes are left with a cliffhanger.

Ownership: Who produces and distributes the media texts – and whose interest it is.

P

Parallel Sound: When the sound/music in a scene or for a photo links to the scene or photo by portraying similar feelings. E.g. A photograph of a party would have loud upbeat music as they portray the same feelings and link to each other.

Parallel Narrative: More than one story occurring at a time within a show/film. (A good example is the show "24")

Pan: Horizontal camera movement.

Patriarchy:  The structural, systematic and historical domination and exploitation of women.

Pixel: Picture Element.

Point Of View: POV for short, is a first person camera shot that shows the scene from a characters viewpoint.

Primary Audience: The main target audience of a film.

Product Placement: The practice of paying for a branded product to be used by a character in a movie e.g. James Bond Skyfall film has James Bond drinking Heineken beer.

Production: The process of creating a media product, or in some cases, the product itself

Protagonist: The character who drives the narrative forward.

Propaganda: The way ruling classes use the mass media to control or alter the attitudes of others.

Psychographics: Describing an audience by their shared psychological profile (likes, dislikes etc)

Q

Quicktime: A digital media format originally developed for the Apple Computer range, but is now also available for other platforms

R

Reader: A member of the audience, someone who is actively responding to the text.

Real Time: Anything which occurs without delay. A real-time effects processor will add effects instantly, without having to wait to render.

Regulation: Bodies whose job it is to see that media texts are not seen by the wrong audience (eg British Board of Film Censors) or are fair and honest (EG Advertising Standards Association)

Representation: The way in which the media ‘re-presents’ the world around us in the form of signs and codes for audiences to read.

Repositioning: Changing a products identity in the market in hope to get it more recognised. E.g. Lucozade, it use to be a medical drink and bought in a pharmacy but was changed to be rebranded/repositioned as an energy sports drink.

RGB: Red, Green and Blue. The primary colours of video.

Rule of Thirds: A technique in camera framing where the frame is divided into imaginary sections to create reference points.

S

Saturation: The level of colour in a vision signal or still image. A highly-saturated signal has very strong colours.

Scene: In film, television or stage, all the action/shots which take place at a certain time and location and comprise a segment of the program.

Secondary Audience: The potential audience or audience who a business may attract from their goods or services. 

Semiotics: The study of signs and symbols.

SFX: Special effects or devices to create visual illusions.

Shot: Single image taken by a camera.

Shot/Reverse Shot: When the audience see a subject, then what the subject is looking at then back to the subject to see their reaction to what they see.

Sign: A word or image that is used to represent an object or idea.

Slogan: Line of copy which encapsulates the campaign strategy.

SLR: Single Lens Reflex, a popular type of still photography camera that uses a moveable mirror to synchronise the lens and viewfinder images.

Sound-bridge: When a sound flows over from one shot/scene to another.

Sound Effects: Additional sounds other than dialogue or music, designed to add realism or atmosphere. e.g. car explosions, foot steps, creaking sounds etc.

Soundtrack: A recording of musical accompaniment to a film.

Standees: Large life-size cardboard cutouts usually used to promote a film and contain the main characters on the cardboard.

Steadicam: A Steadicam is a stabilising mount for a motion picture camera, which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera

Stereotype: Representation of people or groups of people by a few characteristics e.g. stereotypical male is masculine, manly, strong, football/sport fanatic. However stereotypes aren't always portraying a true representation of these people or groups. e.g. stereotypically all men love football. When in actual fact some men aren't interested in football or sports in general.

Still: Static image (non moving image).

Storyboards: A sequence of drawings which are put together with some directions and dialogue representing shots planned for a film or TV show.

Sub-genre: A genre within a genre e.g. Horror is the main genre and sub genres of Horror would be Slasher, Gore, Zombies, Vampires, Gothic Horror etc.

Suture: To stitch in. E.g. The POV shot sutures the audience into the scene.

T

Tagline: The one-liner summing up the story which appears on posters.

Teaser Trailer: A short trailer which doesn't give away much about the show/film but is designed to create enigma and curiosity in potential audiences to watch the show or film.

Technical codes: All to do with the way a text is technically constructed – camera angles, framing, typography, lighting etc.

Televise: To transmit by television.

Tele-zoom: Longer zoom, producing greater magnification.

Test Pattern: Pattern of colours, lines and/or shapes designed to assist equipment calibration.

Tie-ins: Promotional campaigns (e.g. Happy meals and toy cars) where another company gets together with a film company to promote their products jointly.

Tilt: Vertical camera movement, i.e. adjusting the framing up and down.

Top Lighting: Lighting which comes from above on the ceiling.

Tracking Shot: A shot in which the camera is laid on a track or on a steadicam and it follows the subject around freely with no cut needed.

Trailer: A sort sample of the best bits of a film without giving too much away, usually 30-180seconds long.

Transition: The way in which two video shots or audio clips are linked together; for example, instant cut, crossfade, wipe, etc.

Tripod: A three-legged stand for mounting equipment such as a camera, etc.

Two Step Flow theory: The idea that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population.

U

Uses and Gratifications: Ideas about how people use the media and what gratification they get from it. It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.

Undershot: A low-angle camera shot usually quite close to the character.

USP: Unique Selling Point

UV: Ultra-violet light.

UV Filter: A filter which blocks out a certain percentage of ultra-violet light.

V

Value Transference: An advert transferring values to the audience, when you watch an advert it makes you want that families/actors lifestyle and the advert makes you want to buy the product because it would somehow make you have a similar lifestyle as the actors.

Video: Any medium which displays moving images electronically

Viral: The spreading of a video across the media through pre-existing social networks e.g. YouTube. The spreading of the video is like a virus, it usually spreads very quickly to a mass audience.

Visual codes: Codes that are decoded on a mainly connotational level – things that draw on our experience and understanding of other media texts, this includes Iconography – which is concerned with the use of visual images and how they trigger the audiences expectations of a particular genre, such as a knife in slasher horror films.

Viewfinder: A component of video, television and film cameras. Available as EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) or OVF (Optical Viewfinder). An EVF has a small CRT which displays the camera output (or tape output).

Vocal: Of the human voice.

Voiceover: A vocal playing over scenes or a scene from a moving image as non-diegetic sound. Usually is a narrator of a story.

W

White balance: A camera function which gives a reference to "true white", in order for the camera to interpret all colours correctly.

White noise: Random noise that contains an equal amount of energy in all frequency bands.

Whip-pan: A very fast camera pan, usually such that individual frames are severely blurred.

Wide screen: Generally refers to any video aspect ratio greater than 4:3.

Wipe: A video transition in which parts of one shot are successively replaced by equivalent parts of the next shot.

WMA: Windows Media Audio file, a file format used for delivering digital audio.

WMV: Windows Media Video file, a file format used for delivering digital video and audio.

X

Y

Z

Zoom: Framing movement, in which the focal length of the zoom lens is altered to make the subject appear closer to, or further away from the camera. Note that this effect is similar, but not the same as moving the camera itself closer to or further away from the subject.

Zoom Ratio: A number indicating the zoom range of a lens, arrived at by dividing the shortest focal length into the longest focal length. A 10 to 100 mm zoom has a zoom ratio of 10x. The number is sometimes stated as a ratio, e.g. 10:1.