Media language is the way in which the meaning of a media text is conveyed to the audience.
One of the ways Media Language works is to convey meaning through signs and symbols suggested by the way a scene is set up and filmed.
Signs and symbols in media texts are polysemic which means they are open to many interpretations. The different possible meanings in media texts depend on two things. The first is the way the signs and symbols in the text are ‘read’. The second is the cultural background of the person ‘reading’ the text.
For film and television media language includes the way meaning comes across through the pictures and through the words or dialogue. Seeing the characters in a moving image text allows meaning to come across as non verbal communication. This includes the gestures, facial expressions, clothing and props in a film as well as where the characters are placed in the frame.
Media language includes the way the camera sees the scene through shot size and camera angle. It is also possible under the heading of media language to analyse the way the actors interpret the script.
Camera Work
Where the camera is placed is very important for how the audience understands a scene. The juxtaposition of the shots – in the script and the edit completes their understnding of what’s happening.
Often scenes have and need an establishing shot – which is not necessarily the first shot of the scene – to establish the place and context of the action. The decison whether to use an establishing shot and when will be made at the editing stage of the process – even though it will be suggested in the shooting script. An establiging shot is often (but not always) a long shot so that the audience can see enough to understand the context of the action.
Here we can see a young couple walking along a forest path – the soundtrack will further help up to establish the context. For instance if scary music was playing we would understand that something bad was about to happen to them. In this case they are simply lovers. This s establish in the next part of the scene wehere we see them stop and kiss.
Most typically the camera shows a scene from the position of an observer watching action as it happens. Many students make teh mistake of notb using enough close-ups (CU), or medium close-ups (MCU)
Here is a medium close-up shot MCU (also in this case a two shot – 2s) and is typically used when two characters are talking or interacting.
It concentrates the viewer on the important action.
Look at any soap to see the camera working to tell the story as an observer.
The close up tells us something about what the character is thinking. The director selects the size of the shot to help the audience unravel the meaning of a scene.
The camera angle is the exact position of the camera. e.g. a low angle shot is where the camera is looking up on the scene from below.
And the the camera can take the position of a character(s) and show their point of view.
This is a POV shot, as we see what those characters are seeing – it is also the reverse angle of the previous shot.
more about POV shots
This shot, because it is looking down at the subject is a high angle shot. It is traditionally used to make a subject seem small and perhaps vulnerable, whereas a shot from below will give power to a subject and strengthen it.
We (the audience) can be directed see the action from any number of different viewpoints depending on how the director wants us to perceive meaning in the scene as well as what action he wants us to see..
How close is the camera to the action?
Whether the camera (and hence the audience) watches the action from an objective viewpoint or from a subjective position will have a direct result on their perception and emotional reaction to the scene.
In this shot (below) we watch the fight from a distance and we are not too sure what’s going on – this increase the suspense but also presents the action from a neutral, objective point of view. At this point the audience cannot take sides.
The this shot we see the action but remain with the girl so siding with her emotional viewpoint. The camera is also closer and involved in the action in a very subjective way.
The camera can move on a dolly or be carried in a Steadicam harness to give a smooth tracking shot, or camera can remain still and the lens of the camera can be moved to zoom in or zoom out.
View this complete video here:
The camerawork and the lighting in a film is known as the cinematography.
Denotation and connotation
These are two important words concerned with the way an audience understands the meaning of a media text.
Denotation is the basic, literal meaning of what is in the picture or scene. Connotation means different interpretations suggested by the text, often associated with additional meaning, values, or ideology. The connotation depends less on the facts as shown in the picture, and more on our interpretation of the scene depending on our cultural knowledge and the signs shown. (see this exercise)
Mise-en-Scène
We can call everything that is put in a scene by a French word mise-en-scène, which literally means put on the stage. This is a handy phrase once you know how to spell it because it includes all the elements of acting, location, set, production design, costume and make up, that are put in a scene to contribute to the meaning of the scene. How do you analyse mis-en-scène?
We see the world through our two eyes, and our brain interprets what we see as a three dimensional image with depth and perspective. A camera only sees the world as a two-dimensional image, which means the picture on the screen is noticeably flatter than it would be in real life.
Film and television industries have evolved techniques of lighting, framing, set design and shot composition to produce the impression of depth and perspective. This adds to our enjoyment of a movie or television programme as it looks naturalistic – that is it re-presents real life. It can also add meaning to a scene.
As Media students we have to work out what extra meaning is added by these techniques including how the acting, location, costume and make up also add to meaning.
Location and Setting
The set or location of any filmed drama is created to give meaning to the text. A documentary will also attempt to film contributors in locations that are relevant to the story or meaning of the text.
Lighting
Things to look for in lighting:
Is the lighting hard,lots of dark shadows and hard edges,as in film noir, or soft where the scene appears cosy and the light is diffused and may be slightly misty.
Where does the main or key light come from? Does it come from more less where the camera is placed or from the side? It may come from an obvious source such as a street light or from the back to give silhouettes, or the side to be dramatic and emphasise facial features.
Some genres have lighting conventions such as horror where monsters and bad characters are lit from underneath – try it with a torch under your chin in a dark room – you look like a monster’s sidekick.
A toplight can produce a spotlight effect that goes with musicals. In fantasy films a toplight often suggests a character has superior or magical power.
Naturalistic lighting. A police or cop drama, and most soaps, will try to create a very flat, strip-light look to an office setting. They will make the scene look realistic with few highlights or shadows – a bit like a classroom. Using daylight through windows also creates a naturalistic look.
The sun. The best light source of all is the ‘current bun’ as gaffers (chief lighting technicians) call it. It is full spectrum light with all the colours perfectly in proportion, and it is very powerful – at midday too powerful as it gives dark shadows, so sunlight is often used as a light source by using a reflector. This gives a softer light with softer shadows.
Colour. Filmmakers like to use filters on their camera lenses for a variety of reasons. They may want to take out some of the reds and yellows to give a more naturalistic ‘washed out’ effect, or to heighten the reds and intensify the colours to create a happy mood or emphasise the significance of a scene.
Three dimensional lighting. Most characters in a scene from a good quality fiction film will be lit from three sources. This is known as three point lighting and gives a person shape, solidity and depth. A key light usually from the front lights the face and body, a fill light from the side fills in the shadows created by the key light, and a back light lights the back of the head and body. Look for this in any dialogue scene in a film or TV show.
Costume and Make-Up
This can sometimes assume importance to the viewer only in a period TV drama such as BBC’s The Tudors (Oct 2007), where the magnificent and period accurate costumes give the modern looking characters a historical presence. The sense of period realism is created purely by the costumes and original 16th century locations such as Hampton Court. The actors’ faces deliberately look modern to appeal to a 21st century audience, and show that people have not really changed, just the period in which they lived. A period film such as Grease which was made in 1978 but set in the 1950s, uses costume and make-up and props like classic cars to suggest the look and feel of the time. The acting and language and to a certain extent the settings are modern, so the most obvious signifiers of period have to be the costume and make-up, which includes hair style as a very important signifier of period. Certain genres like Sci-fi and Horror require heavy use of prosthetic make-up to create the monsters and aliens that the audience expects. All actors use make-up in even the most realistic and modern scenes.
Lighting and Close Ups mean that actors need some make-up to keep their skin tone, facial features and the continuity from one scene to the next. If an actress turns up on the set of a romantic comedy with a large pimple on her face which was not there yesterday, then make- up have to make it disappear, which they do very effectively.
Costume and make-up can be used as a form of parody as in Pirates of the Caribbean (2003– 2007) where the setting is ‘fantasy pirate land’ around about the 18th century. The costume and props suggest the traditional time of pirate stories that goes with Capt Hook in Peter Pan.
The Acting
Analysing the acting in a media text is possibly the hardest part of text analysis. It is too easy and not at all analytical to say the acting is either realistic or wooden. Describing an actor’s performance is subjective. It is possible to see if an actor is creating a believable role – believable in the sense that you as a member of an audience can believe in that character existing in the real world. Much of that has to do with the writing of the script and the direction as much as the acting. Many media texts do not set out to be realistic or to have believable characters. Think of the Wizard of Oz (1939). We have to first believe that Dorothy is real and lives in a real house in a real place, Kansas – so part 1 is in black and white. Then we can accept the story in colour where all the characters are deliberately unbelievable, and non-realistic although with some human characteristics. The story is highly entertaining, and it is an allegory about finding your own lion-like strength within yourself. So ‘realistic’ acting is not what is required to be the Tin Man. The notion of what is natural and realistic changes with time. We can analyse actors performances under these criteria:
- Appearance – how the actor appears in the role – big, small, the right size. Costume and make up can help an actor build a character – Johnny Depp in Pirates.
- Movements – an actor’s movements can enhance the believability of the character and increase the amount of information about the character.
- Gestures – gestures are helpful to creating the character – check Johnny Depp in Pirates.
- Facial expressions – important in whether a character is sympathetic or not.
- Vocal delivery – very important in delivering the lines so that comprehensive meaning is understandable to the audience.
Sound
Media Language involves the use of sound and music to convey meaning and often to work on the emotional impact of a scene. The soundtrack of a film is a very complex mix of: dialogue recorded on location.
- dialogue recorded on location
- dialogue recorded after filming, and dubbed in sync with the lip movement of the actors – virtually all the dialogue on major movies is post- synched in a dubbing studio to get a very clean high definition sound.
- diagetic sound or music. Sound or music that is recorded on location as it happens.
- non-diagetic sound or music. Pre-recorded music or sound that is added to the soundtrack during the audio editing process.
- sound effects(FX) – these may be recorded on location and added later or they may be created for a scene such as a gun shot, the sound of a man being punched, cars crashing etc.
- Commentary (or narration) – documentaries of all types have a commentary recorded as a ‘voice over’ the pictures, explaining what is happening or moving the story forward.
Sound is very important and the mixing of the soundtrack may well take longer than the shooting of the film.
Editing
The editing of a moving image product is the final area of media language to look at. Modern editing of film and video is on computer editing software such as Avid or Final Cut Pro.
This is a non-linear digital process allowing the editor to put pictures and sound together in any order and in any way he or she chooses.
There are a huge number of video effects that can be used, and because everything is in the digital domain Computer Generated Images (CGI) can be added.
Editing is exciting and very satisfying when you see the finished product, but it does take a lot of time. Look for the basic cut between two shots, a dissolve where one picture mixes in to another and other video transitions where one picture changes to another picture via a digital effect.
In a traditional non-CGI television drama the editor has to build up the film from the shot material using dialogue recorded on location. The director will have covered most scenes by shooting them several times using different camera angles and shot sizes. This gives the editor, working with the director, various options to create meaning from a scene.
The juxtaposition of shots is particularly important for storytelling and the connotation of the whole piece. A quiet intimate romantic scene of two people together may be followed by a harsh cut to a fast moving car or other dramatic action. The pace and rhythm of the piece is also decided in editing.
Editing can play with time…
Some scenes are cut out and many scenes are shortened to keep up the pace.
A crook drives up to a house in his Hummer and in the next shot he is on the roof, and in the next he is breaking into the safe. Or if it is thriller based on the crook stealing the diamonds and he is up against James Bond, then this same scene could take ten minutes to ratchet up the tension.
Activity
Look at the first ten minutes of any film that you have not seen before. Think only about the media language.
Write quick notes under theses seven headings: setting, lighting, camera angles and shot sizes, costume and make-up, acting, soundtrack and editing.
What elements of media language does this film employ most? For a horror film it may be make-up, lighting and the set but it also could be soundtrack, camera angles and acting.
Any successful analysis of media language will require specific examples and clear reference to the codes and conventions of the form and genre.
AS Media Course Materials & Notes 