key terminology

• Denotation


  definition: The surface meanig of a sign - What you see

  example: A gun in a film poster being hel by a character
• Connotations


  Definition: The deeper meaning of an image /sign/ text

  Example: Gun signifies action and violence. The character holding the gun is the hero/ villain
• Sign


  Definition: An element in a media product that is used to comunicate something.

  Example: Low key lighting is a sign of a dark theme/ story.
• Signifies


  Definition: What something suggests.

  Example: The sun signifes volence
• Codes an convetions


  Definition: The element of media language that usually occour in particular forms (e.g. magazines or adverts) or genres (e.g. crime, drama).

  Example: Horror film convetionally feature a villain and low key lighting.
• Polysemic


  Deffinition: A sign can have many different connotations/ interpretaion depending on the audience.

  Example: The colour red connotes danger or passion or anger. the colour red is therefore polysemic.
• Stereotypical


  Deffinition: A widley held and over simplifide image or ideaof a particular type of person or thing.

  Example: Boys steriotypicaly like cars, sport and video games. Girls steriotypicaly like the colour pink, fashion and make up
• Genre


  Deffinition: The type of catagory of a product.

  Example: crime, comedy, thriller, adventure, pop, rock,
• Narrative


  Deffinition: How storys are structured and communicated.

  Example: Katy Perry’s Roar is structed as an action adventure story. The way the Guardian and The Sun present the same story to different audiences
• Intertextuallity


  Deffinition: Where a media product refers to another text to communicate meaning to the audience

  Example: Stormzys superheros is animated like 'into the spiderverse;