Media texts and the industries that produce them are acutely aware of their audince and the strageties needed to attract them.

Audience posistioning concerns the relationship between the text and the responses an audience may have to that text.

How do we posistion the audience?

through technical codes , through language and mode of address, throught the construction of the text and the audience within the text.

What affects the way the audience will respond to the text?

 Gender- suggested women enjoy the themes and annaratives of soap operas more than men becuase they dealwith relationships and domestic narratives.

Age- older audinces may be more uncomfertable with sexually explicit texts whereas a younger audience has been more desensitised.

Ethnicity- ethnic groups respond to texts differently becuase of their beliefs ,ideas and upbringing. 'Four lions' for example may elicit different responese depending on ethicity.

Culture and cultural experince - the culture and experinces of an audience will shape their response to the text. media texts can also shape our view.

Representation: Representation involves how a person, group, organisation
etc. are represented. Most media products have been intentionally composed,
lit, written, framed, captioned, cropped, branded, targeted and sometime
self-censored by their producers and are artificial versions of the reality we
perceive around us.

Media organisations:

Features of media organizations: - Has to cater to different markets –consumer
market/revenue vs. advertising market/revenue.

Concerned about the social composition of the market – income and education levels,
whether it is homogeneous or concentrated geographically. Competition between
media and uniformity in terms of product

High ‘first’ copy cost – dependent on economies of scale and hence vulnerable to
demand and advertising revenue.

long shot: shows entire human body with head near top of frame and feet near bottom.

Medium shot: contains a figure from the kness/waist up.

Close up: this shows very little background and usually concentrates on a face or specific detail of mise en scene

Extreme close up: generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experince in real life.

High angle: the camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a genral overview.

Eye level: natural shot , the camera is position as though it is a human actually observing a scene

Low angle: these increase height of actors/models, and gives a sense of speeded motion

Oblique: camera is tilted to suggest imbalence , transistion and instability. this technique is used to suggest point of view shots.

Tilts: a movement which sans a scene vertically , otherwise similuar to a pan.

Dolly shots: the camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action

Hand held shots: simulates point of view ,normally used in horror genre

Non diegetic sound: sound which has been put into the scene

Dialouge: speech within the scene between charcters

Voice overs: speech put over the original sound of scene usually to describe events or introduce characters.

Denotation-Literal meaning of a code

Codes-Signs within a media text that give clues to the text’s meaning.

Iconography-Description / analysis of the content of an image or images

Colloquialism-Informal expression.

Register-The spoken or written register is the range or variety of language used within a text. This will change according to the purpose of the text and target audience

Symbol-A sign which is understood to refer to something else. EG. Woman in a red dress – symbolise passion / danger.

Polysemic - More than one meaning. Can be interpreted in a different way by an audience

 Positioning- this is where, the editing or the audio codes place the audience in a particular position. this may be emotionally to emphasise more clearly with a character or to have expectations of how the narrative will develop.

Flash backs- used to give the audience additional information.

apparent impossible shot- this is where the camera gives the audience a view of the action from a unuasual position.

Privileged spectator position - here the camera places the audience in a  superior position within the narrative. they are shown a aspect of the narrative that other characters cannot see.

enigma codes - used in both moving image and print texts. in tv and films the camera may only show some of the narrative leading the audience with unanswered questions.

Brand- that which identifies one company's products from those to another. for example the swoosh-Nike.

Brand identity - is the associations that audience ,makes with brand. these are built up over time. Nike suggest good quality sports clothing that is also fashionable.

consumable products- are products that we use regularly and we need to be replaced. some audiences are loyal to a particular brand , whereas others may be persuaded to change as a result of successful marketing devices.

unique selling poiunt - is the things that makes the text stad out as different from everything else.

campaign- is run by an advertising agency and incorporates all the ways in which product is promoted.

slogan- is a catchy phrase that is memoreable and thus becomes associated with the product

enigma- is a mystery contained within the advert that makes the audience curious

product endorsement- is the use of celebrities , experts etc. to say how good a product is. if the endorser is admired and believable, the audience may be persuaded to buy the the product

hard sell - is 'in your face' adversiting. they tend to be short, loud and clearly tell you the price of the product , what it does and where you can get it

soft sell - adverts are much more subtle and attempt to sell a lifestyle rather than just a product.

demonstrative action - is when the audience can see the product being used in the advert. if we see it being used , we may believe that it actually works.

iconic representation- is when the actual image of the product appears in the advert to show the audience what it looks like.

diversion/escapism- a great way to escape what is going on so you can sit back and read about new music and celebrities lives.

personal relationships- by keeping up to date with the latest news you can talk to your friends about current events.

personal identity - they advertise opportunities for readers to get involved and sometimes the people represented in the magazine may reflect our lives or personality.

surveillance- allows individuals to get the latest on celebrities lives,

Key terms-

Flashbacks: used to give the audience additional information
Point of view shots: allow the audience to see the action from different perspectives

Enigma codes: in film the camera may only show some of the narrative leaving the audience with
unanswered question

Voice-over: used to move action on and fill in missing information
Apparently impossible positions: gives the audience a view of the action from an unusual position. Audience accept this view.

(Code - How it can be used - Example)

Clothing - The clothing more can communicate messsages quickly about a person. clothing can communicate messages quickly to a audince without the need for an explaination -

in a foresic drama when somebody enters wearing a white coat the audience understands the role of the charcater.

Expression - expression can set the tone of the scene for the audience - if someone looks mad in eastenders we can infer that the scene will contain voilence or anger

Gesture- a certain gesture can give away a crime or a guilty person - if someone signas a person or flinches it may give away they are guilty

Technique , Use of colour , Iconography , Images , Graphics

iconography is a clue to the genre ( white lab coats relate to crime drmama like CSI)

The narrative - consider how iit is established in the extract

• are there obvious strands inroduced
• does a key event happen?
• how is the narrtive conveyed? (eg: manaipulation of time and space, split secreen narratives)
• how do technical does communicate the narrative.

The characters - certain genres have a set of charcters that a audince expects to see

• these may be central protagonists and stock, supports charcters
• the audience will anticipate the behaviour of these charcters and can predict how they will react in a certain way
• ensure that you discuss their codes of clothing,gesture and expression as well as their role within the narrative and their relationship with other characters.

Technical codes

different tv programs will employ a range of differennt techincal codes

saops and other drams dealing with relationship may employ close up to position the audince with regard to  the charcters.

Audio codes - these also convey a messgage to the audience

soap operas have distinct opening and closing theme tunes.

Talk about the msucis pace in correlation tot he charcters emotions and moods. in eastender the pace of the music reflects the narrative,

Comedies uses canned laughter to signal audinces when they should laugh.

What is it?

Narrative is the process by which the stories, fictional and
non-fictional, are constructed by producers and understood by audiences. Every
media text has a narrative, even if it is a still image, what happened before
and what will happen next are part of the narrative o the image.

Linear Narrative

A linear narrative starts a story at the beginning, goes on through the middle,

and ends at the end

Non linear Narrative

where events are portrayed, for example out of chronological order, or in other ways

where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the events featured,

such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream immersions or narrating another story inside the

 main plot-line

Examples of stock characters

A stock character is a stereotypical person whom audiences readily recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition

Examples
of actors/actresses who play similar characters

Hot cheerleader girl in horror movies

Damsel of distress

Tragic anti-hero

What is it?

Examples of particular objects and props associated

with a particular genre

horror- weapons

disaster - urban setting

action - fighting , explosions

romance- kissing , relationship , sex

Technical Codes

What are they?

Examples from particular genres

Hypodermic needle theory- the theory that proposes media messages can be injected into the audience  and influence people to act in a particular way

Implies that mas media has a direct , immediate and powerful effect on its audience

The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by shooting or injecting them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response from the sender to the receiver.

Two step flow theory suggests that there are opinion leaders within society who can influence opinions and attitudes of the public.

The people with most access to media , and highest media literacy exlain and diffuse the content to others. this is a modern version of the hypodermic needle theory.

Users aqnd gratifications theory the theory that audinces use media texts in order to fulfil pleasures and basic needs such as : escapsism,surveillance,personal identification,personal relationship.

the theory assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.

Example :

Q magazine-

diversion/escapism- a great way to escape what is going on so you can sit back and read about new music and celebrities lives.

personal relationships- by keeping up to date with the latest news you can talk to your friends about current events.

personal identity - they advertise opportunities for readers to get involved and sometimes the people represented in the magazine may reflect our lives or personality.

surveillance- allows individuals to get the latest on celebrities lives,

Key ways in which
ethnic minorities are represented in the media

Underrepresented-

• Stereotype

• Criminals

• Unimportant

• As a threat
  

These are the findings of Van Dijk, who has examined media representations of ethnic
minorities. He made these findings via content analysis of thousands of news
items over several decades.

News contents leads to moral panics. ‘Black mugger’ makes
people think every black person is a mugger.

Immigrants-

• This group is seen as a threat in terms of
  numbers
  

• Common media coverage focuses on how their
  presence is affecting housing, jobs etc.
  

Refugees and asylum
seekers –

• Similar treatment in the media to immigrants

• Often portrayed as coming to Britain to abuse
  the welfare state and claim benefits.

• News

• was quite xenophobic in tone, which reinforced
  exclusion –rather than embracing diversity.
  

Richardson has made
the following findings from his study of the broadsheet press in relation to
presentations of Muslims:

• Wholly absent from the news

• When they do appear, tends to be negative
  context

• Rarely called upon as providers of informed
  commentary on news events

• Their everyday issues and concerns are not being
  addressed

• Thinkers like nahdi believe that Islam is
  presented by the media in a distorted way