Media Studies

The techniques used in a media product to communicate meaning to an audience

Media products that communicate meaning through audio and/or visual platforms.

Media products that communicate meaning through print techniques.

Online and interactive forms of media where audiences actively contribute and participate e.g. YouTube, Soundcloud, Twitter...

Camera shots, angles and movements used to create an effect on the audience.

The use of sound and music to create effect

The manner in which the shots and sound are constructed together in post-production; includes special effects and CGI

Everything you can see in a scene, and how these combine for effect. Includes positioning, costume, props, location, set, lighting, facial expressions, gestures etc.

The way way in which the style, size, design and colour of the type face/font works to create meaning.

A style or category of media text

The term for relationships between media texts, where a text alludes to, references or even features another text.

Or 'Semiology'. The study of how people make sense of the world around them through visual information

An Icon has a physical resemblance to the signified, the thing being represented. A photograph is a good example as it certainly resembles whatever it depicts.

An Index shows evidence of what's being represented. A good example is using an image of smoke to indicate fire.

A symbol has no resemblance between the signifier and the signified. The connection between them must be culturally learned. Numbers and alphabets are good examples. There's nothing inherent n the number 9 to indicate what it represents. It must be culturally learned.