Question 1B: Media Language

Media Language

Media has its own language, for those who are involved with media it helps them talk about what they produce/consume. Media language defines the way meaning has been constructed and presented in a media text.

- The question is meant to be answered by the way meaning has been constructed

Illustrated and communicated meaning to the audience using symbols and signs, such as clothing, colour, camera angle + shots, mise-en-scene. (the media language I used in my film opening aims to connote a deprived run down area, in which the surrounding youth are involved with crime).

Barthes (1967) - Organisation of signs encodes particular messages and ideologies, an audiences understanding of a sign comes from their understanding of frequently told stories and beliefs in society - repeat showings of youth from deprived areas being violent and criminal in the media means that a signal of deprived area within a text may lead audience to believe that youth in the surrounding area are criminal and violent - shown by the blocks of flats (setting) protagonists selection of clothing (costume) camera angle shows cramped housing (shots) graffiti in underpass (setting)

Fiske (1982) - 'denotation is what is filmed and connotation is how it is filmed'

Saussure (1983) - said 'an audience can look at a media text from a syntactic point of view' or a 'symbolic point of view' where by they put meaning to that they are seeing

Stuart Hall - Argued that 'meaning is not fixed by the producer, as audiences can take different readings, the preferred reading is when the audience reads it the way the producer wanted them too.

Things to use: colour, lighting, mise-en-scene (costume, props, language) camera angle and shots, editing, mise-en-scene

When there is an object which gives a sign this is called a signifier. (denotation)

What the audience gathers from the signifier is called the signified. (connotation)

I used media language in my film opening to present:

• Deprived area through setting, location, lighting
• Deviant youth, costume, language, breaking laws
• Presented more simply - Action suggesting that this youth is fleeing from something, presents him again as delinquent as audience gathers he is anxious about something he's done

Barthes 1967 - says that 'organisation of signs encodes particular messages and ideologies' which the audience will decode, an audiences understanding of certain signs comes from frequently told stories and beliefs within society. For example a sign or signifier of a youth wearing joggers, a hoodie and trainers may lead an audience to decode that this youth is in fact a delinquent and perhaps a criminal. The media language of the mise-en-scene shows the protagonist as a dangerous character as his costume is grey with a black hat. Dark colours typically represent 'darkness', perhaps moral darkness of his personality representing him as a delinquent or criminal, and dangerous (which he proves to be as he stabs his attack and flees the scene). Furthermore I choose locations as part of the film openings mise-en-scene which were typically dark grey colours, this is a signifier which perhaps creates gloomy atmosphere and also anxiety. The signified audience interpretation may be that this is an area which is not nice to live in and perhaps is therefore deprived and underprivileged.


Within my film opening I included a scene which shows the protagonist waiting in an underpass to make a drug deal, whilst an attacker sneaks up behind him. One of the shots shows a low camera angle from the front of the protagonist at about waist level, this allows the audience to clearly see the drugs which are in his hand, whilst the attacker can be seen in the background creeping up on the protagonist from behind with a knife in his hand. These two objects between the two characters act as signifiers to being illegal, the signified meaning that the audience therefore gains from the camera angle and prop mise-en-scene in this shot is that both these youths are criminals.

Genre conventions and narrative conventions are also aspects of media language which show signs and signals in certain ways. I conformed to genre conventions by showing criminal youth in stereotypical 'yob' style clothing and making them speak with urban language these signals signified to the audience that these characters are in fact the stereotypical youth 'yob' types. I did this intentionally so that the audience could identify that these characters are delinquents as they seem to show opposition to society. Barthes theory (1967) suggests that an audiences understanding of signs comes from frequently told stories and beliefs in society, this theory reinforces the idea that my audience will view my characters in my film opening as delinquents and 'yobs', as I have conformed to accepted stereotypes using costume and urban language. Therefore the signifiers which I have used will lead audience to the connotation that these characters are delinquent yob type youths.

Shot reverse shot within editing conforms to conventions of editing used to create tension, thereby creating a denotation that these youth are holding illegal objects, the connotation is that these youths are both equally as bad as each other as both criminals, the audience gets the signified interpretation that with crime comes trouble.

Barthes 1967 - organisation of signs encodes different messages and ideologies, an audiences understanding of certain signs comes from frequently told stories and beliefs in society

Fiske 1982 - denotation is what is filmed, connotation is how it is filmed

Saussure 1983 - An audience can 'look at a media text from syntactic point of view' or a 'symbolic point of view', where by they place meaning to what they are seeing

Hall - 'meaning is not always fixed by the producer' as audiences can 'take different readings', the preferred reading is the reading what the producer hoped the audience would take.