jackaranda - media new ways and meanings - 3rd edition

new ways and meanings

med

ia

3rd Edition

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 1 16/8/07 10:53:31 AM

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 2 16/8/07 10:53:31 AM

new ways and meanings

Colin Stewart

Adam Kowaltzke

med

ia

3rd Edition

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 3 4/6/08 9:53:55 AM

Third edition published 2008 by

John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall Street, Milton, Qld 4064

First edition 1990

Second edition 1997

Typeset in 9/ 12.5 pt New Aster LT

Colin Stewart and Adam Kowaltzke 2008

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted.

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-publication data

Stewart, Colin.

Media : new ways and meanings.

3rd ed.

Includes index.

For secondary school students.

ISBN 978 0 7314 0544 2 (pbk.).

1. Mass media Textbooks. I. Kowaltzke, Adam. II. Title.

302.23

Reproduction and communication for educational purposes

The Australian Copyright Act 1968 allows a maximum of one chapter or 10%

of the pages of this work, whichever is the greater, to be reproduced and/ or

communicated by any educational institution for its educational purposes

provided that the educational institution (or the body that administers it)

has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL).

Reproduction and communication for other purposes

Except as permitted under the Act (for example, a fair dealing for the

purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted

in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries

should be made to the publisher.

Cover design: Adam Kowaltzke

Cartography by MAPgraphics Pty Ltd, Brisbane

Illustrated by Steve Hunter, Paul Lennon and the Wiley Art Studio

Printed in China by

Printplus Limited

10 9 8

All activities have been written with the safety of both teacher

and student in mind. Some, however, involve physical activity or

the use of equipment or tools. All due care should be taken when

performing such activities. Neither the publisher nor the authors

can accept responsibility for any injury that may be sustained

when completing activities described in this textbook.

Cover design rationale

The book design is based on pixels. The media are

transitioning to a fully digital form delivered entirely on

screens that reproduce media content through millions

of pixels and in millions of colours.

Media are also transitioning to a model in which

user-generated content becomes a key aspect. New

media especially encourage participation. This idea

is illustrated on the cover by the bright, new pixels

emerging from underneath the greyer pixels above,

which represent the stale and dusty facade of old

media. Participation makes the media more reflective

of society. The design uses elements of reflection to

reinforce this idea.

Media are ubiquitous and play a part in almost

everything we do in the complete spectrum of our

lives an idea represented in the design by the

colour spectrum. The spectrum also refers to the test

patterns used for colour televisions, illustrating that

not everything about the media is likely to change so

rapidly.

Preface vii

About the authors viii

About eBookPLUS ix

Acknowledgements x

1 Introductiontothemedia 1

Traditional media and new media 1

2Languageproductionelements 4

Media language 4

Genres 7

Language elements of lm and television 10

Editing: shot-to-shot relationships 21

Language elements of radio 27

Language elements of the print media 28

Computer-based language elements 30

3Representation 35

Representing reality 35

Representation of gender 40

Representation in television comedy 45

Representation in news and current affairs 49

Docudrama and truth 53

Law and order on television 56

Advertising and stereotypes 58

Representation in soap operas 60

Representation in video games 61

Representation and the internet 64

4Technologies 69

A culture of technology 69

The democratisation of information 74

The impact of new media on traditional media 76

Privacy 81

Digital imaging 83

Mobile media technology 85

5Mediaindustryproductionissues 90

New media industry issues 90

Working in the video game industry 92

Copyright and the internet 94

Music and movie piracy 95

Internet censorship 96

6Australianmediainstitutions 102

Media institutions 102

Public and private institutions 108

Regulation and self-regulation 110

Australian content 114

Australian media ownership 116

The structure of the television industry 120

The structure of the radio industry 129

The ratings system 132

7Narrative 135

Story elements 135

Narrative structure 138

Characters 141

The heros journey 144

Setting 146

8Audience 147

Characteristics of audiences 147

Individual meaning makers 148

Constructing audiences 151

Targeting audiences 152

9Mediainuence 155

Theories of media in uence 155

Protecting audiences 165

The violence debate 168

Do advertisements really work? 174

Effects of playing video games 180

Positive and negative media effects 183

Contents

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 5 4/6/08 9:53:56 AM

VI

10 Social values and discourses 186

Texts and contexts 186

Social values 190

Discourses 192

Discourses and social values by decade 196

11 Cross-media genres 203

Television and film documentaries 203

Documentary writing 209

Docudrama 214

12 Film 220

The medium of film 220

Film response and promotional texts 222

Film movements 227

Australian film 235

World cinema 244

Film noir 254

Gangster movies 261

Horror movies 265

Martial arts movies 273

Musicals 279

Road movies 284

Romantic comedies 290

Thrillers 295

Westerns 299

Science fiction (by Darren Sinclair) 304

Film adaptations of novels 310

13 Television 316

The medium of television 316

Television news 321

News writing 325

Soap operas 333

Television comedy 344

Situation comedies 348

Sketch comedies 353

Crime drama 356

Music videos 364

Television advertising 369

Reality television 376

14 The internet 383

The medium of the internet 383

The structure of internet communication 388

The internet audience 391

Internet institutions and industry issues 393

Web design 400

Internet advertising 404

Social networking and social media 409

Blogs 418

Citizen journalism 420

15 Video games 425

The video games medium 425

Video game genres 429

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) 433

Narrative in video games 436

Games and movies 440

Advertising and advergaming 442

Developing a successful game 443

Audience issues 447

16 Radio genres 450

The medium of radio 450

Radio music formats 453

Talkback radio 457

Radio comedy 460

Radio plays 463

Radio advertising 466

17 Newspapers 469

The newspaper medium 469

The online newspaper 474

The editorial 477

The social comment cartoon 480

The news story 487

The feature story 490

18 Magazines 495

The magazine medium 495

The magazine feature article 501

Magazine fiction 503

Magazine display advertisements 506

Key terms 511

Index 519

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 6 16/8/07 10:53:33 AM

VII

Preface

Welcome to the third edition of Media: New Ways

and Meanings, a book that has helped inform

Australian media teaching for the past eighteen

years. During this time, teaching about the

media has evolved as senior school curriculums

have taken account of the dramatic changes

wrought by the digital media revolution.

Each edition of Media: New Ways and Mean-

ings has been published on the cusp of a new

stage in media teaching. Each development has

required a new approach to the support mat-

erials provided to teachers and students. Writing

back in 1972, David Layton saw the development

of school subjects as occurring in three stages:

beginning with the introduction of the subject

on the grounds of relevance to students, through

the development of a disciplinary basis to the

mature stage where the subject area has its

own established conventions and values. Within

media education, this text has developed in par-

allel to the increasing maturity of the fi eld.

The fi rst edition was published in 1990 as

media education was coming in from the fringes

of educational thinking and gaining wide accept-

ance as an important new discipline. There

followed a period of exponential growth in the

teaching of media both as a separate subject and

within the study of English.

The second edition was published in 1997

as the internet came to prominence as a new

medium of communication. It was the fi rst high-

school media studies text to take account of the

digital media. By this time media studies had for-

malised its discipline base, with its central core of

key concepts embedded in curriculum documents

across Australia. These new ideas were refl ected

in the additions and revisions to the second

edition. Simultaneously, the idea of literacy itself

was being redefi ned to include an expanded range

of skills outside the narrow tradition of print

literacy. An array of social, technological and

economic factors was moving the visual image to

the centre stage of communication, and the domi-

nance of the screen was beginning to be asserted.

At the time of writing the third edition during

2007, the most profound change was the huge

movement towards citizen involvement in media

creation and distribution. This was expressed in

Henry Jenkins notion of a participatory media

culture, an idea that has been taken up by Aus-

tralian media educators generally. The growth of

video sharing and social networking sites allowed

for more democratic distribution of media

texts. The proliferation of relatively inexpensive

cameras and editing programs gave everyone the

ability to become a media producer. Implicit in

this third edition is Axel Bruns conception of

the produser: belonging to new online commu-

nities, the new media participant in the digital

age is both a producer and a user of media.

Media: New Ways and Meanings, third edition, may be the fi rst high-school media studies text

to have been developed using the potential of

online communities. Substantial numbers of

teachers across urban and regional Australia

responded to online surveys into the topics of

study. Material was also developed in response

to topics generated on several discussion lists

on games and media in conjunction with focus

groups of teachers in several states.

Taking account of these new developments,

in this text we have set ourselves the goal of

supporting teachers in developing a diversi-

fi ed critical literacy that encourages students

to access, analyse and create media in new and

participatory ways.

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 7 16/8/07 10:53:33 AM

VIII

Colin Stewart

Colin Stewart is Head of Department Visual

Arts and Media at Kenmore State High School

in Brisbane. He has taught media subjects for

more than 25 years, including Film and Tele-

vision, English, Animation and most recently

Film, Television and New Media. He has acted

as a media education advisor, served on assess-

ment moderation panels and also been on the

writing teams for several state media curriculum

documents. He has degree majors in journalism

and is currently undertaking doctoral studies in

media education.

Adam Kowaltzke

Adam Kowaltzke is a user interface and user

experience designer at Avanade, a global IT con-

sultancy established by Accenture and Microsoft.

Adam specialises in visual and experience design,

usability and art direction for web-based media

and applications, as well as computer applica-

tion interface design. His role also encompasses

accessibility, information architecture and

branding. Before his IT and design career, Adam

gained degrees in media and art education, and

in fi lm and television production.

About the authors

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 8 16/8/07 10:53:34 AM

ix

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X

There are many people we would like to thank for

their help with this book.

Firstly we would like to thank our families. It has

been their time as well as ours that has been taken up

to produce this book. Colin Stewart: Thanks to my

daughters Tully and Bridie who have grown up with

this text over twenty years and as Generation Y are

now old enough to suggest programs or movies, make

corrections and add valuable ideas. Thanks also to my

mother Norma and brother David for help of various

kinds and for providing occasional pieces of infor-

mation or precise dates. Adam Kowaltzke: Thanks

to my wife Ariane for her support, especially during

the many nights Colin and I worked together on the

book, and for the many months spent assisting and

supporting me while I researched and wrote. Special

thanks for her intrepid exploration of the Second Life

world as Thursday Moody.

Secondly we would like to thank the production

team at John Wiley & Sons Australia who have worked

with us to produce this text. We would especially

like to thank Senior Publisher Jan Cousens for her

support, guidance and faith in the project. We would

also like to thank our editor Jem Bates for his preci-

sion, his incisive critique and the many extra hours

he put into the book. Our thanks also to Jill Tait for

all her work on the multimedia support materials.

Thirdly a range of people have given important

help at different stages. Their contribution is very

much appreciated.

Thanks to Darren Sinclair for his section on science

fi ction fi lms and also for his timeline suggestions and

general input on a whole range of matters related to

new media, television and fi lm. Thanks to Russell

Gilmore for his critique of the text at different times

during the writing.

For their critique of the cover designs by Adam

Kowaltzke, we would like to thank Cathy Magi, Derek

Johnston, Barbara Shapcott, Damian Legoullon and

Darren Sinclair of the Visual Arts and Media faculty

at Kenmore State High School in Brisbane.

For his support and engaging exchange of ideas we

would like to thank the president of ATOM Queens-

land, Michael Dezuanni, lecturer in fi lm and media

studies at Queensland University of Technology. We

would also like to thank Jackie Cook of the School of

Communication at the University of South Australia

for general input and specifi c research suggestions.

We would like to thank the members of the Vic-

torian focus group, Glenda Morris, Jamieson Kane,

Polly McCarthy and Mia Tolhurst, who gave up their

time to assist with the development of the contents

and advise on the requirements of the VCE Media

study design. For their critique of the second edition

and suggestions for the third, we would like to thank

Melanie Beal and Jacqueline Heath in Victoria, Neal

Harris in Western Australia and Kristi Street in

New South Wales. Thanks to the members of ATOM

Queensland and ATOM Victoria for collegial discus-

sions online and sometimes in person. Special thanks

to those many ATOM members who responded anony-

mously to the online surveys used to develop topics

for the text. We hope we have lived up to expectations

and apologise for any omissions.

Thanks to Sarah Malcolm of Adelaide University

for access to her PhD thesis on reality television.

Thanks also to Christina Pollard for information on

the Go for 2&5 campaign; Ian Ross for anti-smoking

campaign information; Eddie Leeon for his review of

the world cinema section; Matthew Clayfi eld for use

of parts of his commentary on Australian cinema;

Gary Wilson of Cutting Edge Post Production for

advice and referrals.

The willingness of people in the media to assist

in media education was one of the many enjoy-

able aspects of writing this book. We are especially

indebted to Larry Engelmann for his help on Bol-

lywood cinema; Ian Garland of ASTRA for help

on subscription television; Jane Foster on crime

drama/ police procedurals; Jason Romney and Eliza-

beth Osder on electronic newspapers; Lee Spurway,

John Stock and Damien Ryan on the news sections;

Peter Pinne and Julia Smith on soap operas; Edward

Rowe, Matt Braid, Geoff Wild and the late Peter

Heathwood on television advertising; Wesley Enoch

on advertising representation; Jon Robbins, Bill Kelly,

Acknowledgements

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 10 16/8/07 10:53:36 AM

XI

Phil Lentz, Barry Bissell and Bob Gallagher on radio

formats; Murray Olds and Roy Jamieson on radio talk

shows; Gareth Evans and Tom Duggan on newspaper

editorials; Geoff Eldridge and Pip Wilson on maga-

zine feature articles; Sean Leahy and Patrick Cook

for newspaper cartoons; and Eric Sibly and Chris

Heazlewood for providing programming and Vista

images for the new media chapter.

Thanks to the Film, Television and New Media stu-

dents and also the English students of Kenmore State

High School who provided the original raison dtre

for this book. Special thanks and best wishes to the

cohort of 2007.

Thanks fi nally to the hundreds of academics, text-

book writers, magazine and newspaper journalists,

website content creators and media educators whose

work has formed the basis of the research for this

book.

Colin Stewart

Adam Kowaltzke

The authors and publisher would like to thank the

following copyright holders, organisations and indi-

viduals for their assistance and for permission to

reproduce copyright material in this book.

El Periodico/ Jordi Cotrina: fi gure 1.1 Mercedes-Benz:

fi gure 2.1 Judy Horacek, www.horacek.com.au: fi gure 2.4

Corbis: fi gures 2.15, 3.1(b); / Sygma, fi gures 2.2, 12.42;

/ Digital Stock, fi gures 2.10, 12.14(a); / John Springer

Collection, fi gure 2.12; / Bettmann, fi gures 3.1(a), 12.34;

/ zefa/ Brigitte Sporrer, fi gure 3.1(c); / J. Howard Miller,

fi gure 3.5; / MGM, fi gures 7.1, 12.50; / Artkey/ Chen

Banding, fi gure 12.20; / John Springer Collection, fi gures

12.27, 12.51, 12.54; / Underwood & Underwood, fi gure

12.29; / Sunset Boulevard, fi gure 12.32; / Bai Xiao

Yan/ Sony Pictures Classics/ Bureau L.A. Collection, fi gure

12.36; / Bureau L.A. Collection, fi gure 12.57 Austral

International Press Agency: fi gures 2.5, 2.18, 2.22, 3.4

(Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig), 6.7, 7.5, 9.9,

10.2, 11.4, 11.8, 12.4, 12.7, 12.21, 12.22, 12.31, 12.39,

12.45, 12.46, 12.55, 12.56, 13.13, 13.20, 13.32; / Comedy

Central/ Entertainment Pictures, fi gure 3.3; / Photo by Rex

Features, fi gure 4.8; / Entertainment Pictures/ 20th Century

Fox/ Photo by David James, fi gure 12.52; / Camera

Press/ Jerry Watson, fi gure 12.53 Magnum Photos/ Cornell

Capa: fi gure 2.8 Shamley Productions, Inc.: fi gures 2.9,

2.13, 2.14, 2.20, 2.21, 2.24 (both) Getty Images:

/ Thomas E. Franklin/ The Bergen Record, fi gure 2.11;

/ Time & Life Pictures, fi gure 3.4 (George Lazenby);

/ Hulton Archive, fi gure 3.11; / The Image Bank/ Michel

Tcherevkoff, fi gure 6.1; / Patrick Rivire, fi gures 6.18, 6.19;

/ M. Mckeown/ Stringer, fi gure 9.17; / Keystone/ Stringer,

fi gure 11.6; / Time & Life/ Stringer, fi gure 12.24; / Silver

Screen Collection/ Hulton Archive, fi gure 12.30; / Time &

Life/ Al Fenn, fi gure 12.49; / CBS, fi gure 13.31; / Karen

Bleier, fi gure 14.15 Universal City Studios, Inc.: fi gures

2.16 (both), 1999 Newspix: / Adam Head, fi gures 2.17

(both); / Steven Moore, fi gure 9.11; / News Ltd Advertising,

fi gure 9.14; / David Geraghty, fi gure 12.1; / John Wilson,

fi gure 13.1; / News Ltd, fi gure 13.3; / AFP, fi gure 13.11;

/ Matthew Bouwmeester, fi gures 13.22; 13.25; / Kelly

Barnes, fi gure 16.2; / Bob Finlayson, fi gure 17.5 The

Kobal Collection: / Warner Bros, fi gure 2.25; / Sony Picture

Classics, fi gure 2.26; / Danjaq/ EON/ UA, fi gure 3.4 (Sean

Connery, Timothy Dalton); / 20th Century Fox, fi gures 3.6,

12.26, 13.23; / Tri-Star, fi gure 3.8; / HBO/ Worldwide Pants

Inc., fi gure 3.10; / Warner Bros/ David Lee, fi gure 3.16;

/ Paramount, fi gure 3.17; / Universal TV/ Wolf Film, fi gure

3.18; / Tri-Star/ Rafy, fi gure 3.20; / Warner Bros, fi gure 6.8;

/ Sony Picture Classics/ Bernd Spauke, fi gure 7.2; / Manga

Entertainment, fi gure 9.8; / Universal/ Francois Duhamel,

fi gure 9.10; / Warner Bros/ Sidney Baldwin, fi gure 9.12;

/ Republic, fi gure 10.1; / Warner Bros/ Jasin Boland, fi gure

10.7; / Dog Eat Dog/ Miramax, fi gure 11.1; / Cannon, fi gure

11.7; / Universal/ Jonathan Hession, fi gure 11.9; / Decla-

Bioscop, fi gure 12.5; / Produzione De Sica, fi gure 12.6;

/ Arte France/ Blind Spot, fi gure 12.8; / Longford, fi gure

12.12; / R&R/ AFC/ South Australian Film Corp/ Paramount,

fi gure 12.13; / Picnic/ BEF/ Australian Film Commission,

fi gure 12.15; / Videofi lms/ Mact Prod, fi gure 12.23; / London

Films, fi gure 12.25; / Monarchy/ Regency, fi gure 12.28;

/ New Line, fi gure 12.33; / Concord/ Golden Harvest, fi gure

12.38; / Vestron, fi gure 12.40; / MGM/ Path, fi gure 12.44;

/ Paramount, fi gures 12.47, 15.1; / 20th Century

Fox/ Christine Loss, fi gure 12.48; / NBC-TV/ Paul Skipper,

fi gure 13.12; / Columbia, fi gure 13.24; / CBS-TV/ Touchstone,

fi gure 13.26; www.zoodango.com: fi gure 2.29 Microsoft

Corporation: fi gures 2.31, 14.9, 14.11. Screen shots

reprinted with permission Heiwa Alpha Co.: fi gure 2.32

Mixart.com: fi gure 2.33 Yale University World Wide

Web Style Guide/ Sarah Horton: fi gures 2.34, 2.35

Guerrilla Girls Inc.: fi gure 3.2 AAP Image: / AP Photo,

fi gure 3.7; / Famous, fi gure 3.9; / Elizabeth Hanna, fi gure

7.6; / Shannon Morris, fi gure 12.19; / Double PR/ Nick

Obank: fi gure 13.33; / AP/ Alexander Chadwick, fi gure 14.24

Glasgow University Media Group Really Bad News: / Colin

Wheeler, fi gure 3.13; / Dominic dAngelo, fi gure 3.15

Patrick Cook: fi gures 3.14, 6.6, 13.17, 13.18, 13.19, 17.7,

17.16 The Age Online: fi gure 3.21 Central Intelligence

Agency: fi gure 3.22. Map redrawn by MAPgraphics Pty

Ltd, Brisbane Al Jazeera English: fi gure 3.23 United

Features Syndicate Inc.: fi gures 4.1, 4.9, 5.1. Distributed by

Auspac Media Wikipedia: fi gure 4.3 OzSpy: fi gure 4.4

E Ink Corporation: fi gure 4.5 www.eepybird.com: fi gure

4.6 Last.fm Ltd: fi gure 4.7 Nokia: fi gure 4.11 SMS

Movies: fi gure 4.12 Reporters Without Borders: fi gure

5.3. Map redrawn by MAPgraphics Pty Ltd, Brisbane Jon

Kudelka: fi gures 6.2, 6.10 Ward ONeill: fi gures 6.3,

13.16 Tony Edwards: fi gure 6.5 David Rowe: fi gure 6.9

Illustration by Harry Afentoglou: fi gure 6.11 Fairfax

Photo Library/ Ninian Carter: fi gure 6.12 Allan Stomann:

fi gure 6.13 ABC Library Sales: fi gures 6.14, 6.15, 6.16,

13.10, 14.19, 16.6 Ron Tandberg: fi gure 6.17 AGB

Nielsen Media Research: fi gure 6.22 B&T Weekly

Magazine/ Reed Business Australia: fi gure 6.23 In Without

Knocking (oil on canvas), Charles Marion Russell

(18651926)/ Private Collection, Peter Newark/ Western

Americana/ The Bridgeman Art Library: fi gure 7.3 Jenny

Coopes: fi gures 8.2, 13.34 Sturt Krygsman/ News Ltd:

fi gure 9.4 Brandon Centerwall: fi gure 9.6 Androniki

Christodoulou: fi gure 9.7 Commonwealth of Australia:

OFLC classifi cation logos, pp. 1667. Reproduced by

permission Volvo Car Australia: fi gure 9.15 Ubisoft

Entertainment: fi gure 9.16. From Tom Clancys Splinter Cell

Chaos Theory. 2005 Ubisoft Entertainment. All rights

reserved. Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Sam

Fisher, the Soldier Icon, Ubisoft, Ubi.com and the Ubisoft

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 11 16/8/07 10:53:37 AM

xii

logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/ or other countries. Unilever Australasia R. J. Matson: figures 9.18, 10.10 The Australian Womens Weekly (18 March 1959)/ ACP Publishing: figure 10.6 The New Yorker Collection 1997/ Ed Frascino/ www.cartoonbank.com: figure 10.8 E. A. Manning, The Bodgie, Angus & Robertson, an imprint of HarperCollins, 1959: figure 10.9. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers Discovery Channel: figure 11.2 Film Australia: figure 11.5 Fairfax Photo Library/ Jacky Ghossein: figure 12.2 Australian Film Commission: figures 12.9 (both), 12.11. From the collection of The National Film and Sound Archive (a division of the Australian Film Commission) Cinesound Movietone Productions: figure 12.10 Australian War Memorial: figure 12.14(b) Film Finance Corporation Australia: figure 12.16 Jonathan C. Torgovnik: figures 12.17, 12.18 Columbia Pictures: figure 12.43. From Easy Rider, 1969, renewed 1997, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved Autocue Group Ltd: figure 13.7 Punch Limited: figure 13.8 SBS: figure 13.9 Network Ten: figure 13.11 (three images), transcript of 198586 news story, page 329 Seven Network/ Photographer Tarsha Hosking, figure 13.14 Fremantle Media Australia: figure 13.15 British Broadcasting Corporation: figure 13.21 Fremantle Media UK: figure 13.29 Ateco Automotive Australia: figure 13.35 SunRice: figure 13.36 Brett Lethbridge: figure 13.37 Tak Bui/ artattack studio: figure 13.38 World Wide Web Consortium: figure 14.1. All rights reserved CERN: figure 14.2 www.internetworldstats.com: figures 14.5, 14.6 News Limited: figure 14.7 The Coca-Cola Company: figure 14.12 (top). Trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company are used with permission. The Coca-Cola Company is not the producer of this textbook, nor does it endorse the contents GM Holden Ltd: figures 14.12 (bottom), 18.5 Dairy Farmers: figure 14.13 Qantas:

figure 14.14 AttentionCompany, Inc., www.attnco.com: figure 14.16 The Feminist Press at CUNY: figure 14.17. The book can be ordered from www.feministpress.org Yahoo Inc.: figure 14.18. Reproduced with the permission of Yahoo! Inc. YAHOO! and the YAHOO! logo are trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. www.eMarketer.com: figure 14.20 Zadig Voltaire, http:/ / beirutnotes.blogspot.com: figure 14.21 (top) Amos Bitzan: figure 14.21 (bottom) Technorati: figures 14.22, 14.25 Newsvine, Inc.: figure 14.26 (top) www.digg.com: figure 14.26 (bottom) The Arcade Flyer Archive: figure 15.2 RedOctane: figure 15.3 Persuasive Games: figure 15.4 Disney Enterprises, Inc.: figure 15.5 Remedy Entertainment Ltd, 2004: figure 15.6 Universal Pictures Company: figure 15.7, 2005 Rooster Teeth Productions: figure 15.8 Jeff Busby: figure 16.7 Jules Feiffer: figure 17.1 Ralph Steadman/Los Angeles Times: figure 17.2 NON SEQUITUR: figure 17.3, 1996 Wiley Miller. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved OhmyNews International: figure 17.4 Peter Nicholson: figure 17.8 Bruce Petty: figure 17.10 Ralph Steadman: figure 17.13 Michael Leunig: figure 17.15 Sean Leahy: figure 17.17 Creators Syndicate/ Leigh Rubin: figure 17.20 The Sydney Morning Herald (1415 October 2006, pp. 289)/ Louise Williams: figure 17.21. Artwork by Simon Letch www.CartoonStock.com: figure 18.1 OK! Magazine: figure 18.2 Renault Australia: figure 18.4.

Every effort has been made to trace ownership of copyright material. Information that will enable the publisher to rectify any errors or omissions in subse-quent reprints will be welcomed. In such cases, please contact the Permissions Section at John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

5_61_05447_MEDIA_Prelims 12 14/3/11 11:39:58 AM

Introductionto the media

Welcome to the datasphere, writes media analyst

Douglas Rushkoff. Here, good news, bad news, any

news travels in the blink of an eye. And not just news,

but information, ideas, fashions, fads, truths, lies and

propaganda.

A generation ago, state-of-the-art television

newsrooms did not have as much media gathering

equipment as many ordinary homes have today. Cable

or satellite digital television, 24-hour multichannels,

music and video downloads to mobile phones, and

access to the global information superhighway are

now commonplace.

According to Rushkoff, the datasphere or media-

space is the new territory of human interaction,

where new and old media combine to take up more

and more of our time. And people are beginning to

interact with the media in exciting new ways. We are

in the middle of a cultural revolution that will change

society forever.

In the datasphere, new media and traditional

existing media now interact together. New media

have clustered themselves around the core of tradi-

tional media and are offering transformations in the

way the media are both produced and consumed.

Traditional media and new media

What are the media?According to the strictest meaning of the word, a

medium is a channel of communication. Media, as

the plural of medium, simply refers to more than one

channel. The media also refers to the institutions in

which teams of people work to produce the commu-

nications we consume. The term is broad enough in

its usage to also include the actual cultural products

of the media texts such as newspapers, movies and

computer games.

Traditional media developed in the nineteenth and

twentieth centuries. This term refers to the types of

media through which a small number of producers

communicate with a mass audience. Traditional

media are sometimes called one-to-many media.

New media developed in the late twentieth century and

have come of age in the twenty-fi rst century. New media

are computer-based media with a more complex pattern

of interaction between producers and consumers. New

media are sometimes called many-to-many media.

Since the turn of the twenty-fi rst century, the term

media has come to include both the traditional media

and the emerging new media of computer-based and

digital communication.

5_61_05447_Media_ch01.indd 1 10/8/07 3:36:24 PM

NEWWAYSANDMEANINGS

MEDIA

Purposes of the mediaAccording to communications professor Denis

McQuail, the new and traditional media fulfil the

following roles in society:

Political role. The media perform an essential

political role in all societies, whether democratic

or non-democratic:

They provide debate and supply information.

They make politicians widely known in the

general community.

They allow governments to exercise power because

politicians have easy access to the media.

They promote new ideas, social change and global

understanding.

Cultural role. The media are now among the most

important communicators about culture.

They are agents of socialisation. Like schools, the

media educate the young about the meanings of

our culture.

They provide an experience that we can share.

Media programs and images allow many people

to have a shared sense of belonging. This is why,

for instance, many comedians make jokes about

politicians or television shows because weve

all seen them.

They provide important pastimes and leisure

activities for many people.

Economic role. The traditional media are large

industries. The developments in new media have

increased the importance of the media to the

overall economy.

Traditional mediaThe traditional media the so-called mass media

include television, movies, radio, newspapers and

magazines. Because their production is so expensive

it is very centralised. As a result, the communication

tends to be from a privileged few to many.

The traditional media have all or some of the fol-

lowing features:

Large numbers of people are reached. The audience

may truly be a mass audience, or it may be a much

smaller narrowcast audience (see page 127). With

the exception of movies in cinemas, traditional

media products are usually produced centrally but

consumed privately.

Media products are often multimodal. Language

has a variety of modes of delivery. These include

speaking, writing, audio, nonverbal and visual

modes of communication. Media products com-

monly combine several modes.

Some form of technology is employed. Although the

technology used may be simple, most traditional

media use advanced technological processes.

Industrial corporations are involved in production.

With the traditional one-to-many media, large-

scale government or commercial organisations

control the production processes.

There is often multiple authorship. Since media

production is an industrial process, workers often

have specialised roles, as on an assembly line.

Government regulation often applies. The media

industry is usually regarded as a special case

and is subject to some degree of government

regulation.

New mediaThe new media are loosely defined and in a process

of constant change. Large numbers of people are

involved in both the production and the consumption

of new media. Anyone with a computer and a multi-

media program can be a producer. Rapid changes in

technology have affected media production and con-

sumption more than most other areas of society.

Technological change is ecological, says American

cultural critic Neil Postman. He uses the term in the

same way as environmental scientists. If you add

caterpillars to a given habitat, you do not have the

same environment plus caterpillars. You have a whole

new environment. According to Postman, a new tech-

nology does not add or subtract something. It changes

everything!

New media have all or some of the following char-

acteristics (the list has been added to and adapted

from one by Professor Martin Lister and his associ-

ates at the University of West England):

Digitality. The new media convert information

from real-world lived experience into numbers

stored on a computer hard drive. This is different

from the old analog systems where lived experi-

ence was converted into another real and visible

product, such as a videotape. The change means

that it is easy to manipulate and alter the data.

Interactivity. New media allow the consumer to

interact with the product to make certain choices.

This produces a change in the way the audience

behaves for instance, viewers may become

users.

Hypertext. The Greek hyper means above or

outside. Hypertext is therefore a system of links to

other texts outside the first text. Hypertext in new

media differs from the linear style of storytelling

by allowing people to jump around from text to

text and within a text.

5_61_05447_Media_ch01.indd 2 10/8/07 3:36:24 PM

CHAPTER)NTRODUCTIONTOTHEMEDIA

Dispersal. Traditional media are very expensive

to set up. A television station costs many millions,

for instance. Computers have created new media

forms that are much cheaper to participate in.

New media allow widely dispersed many-to-many

communication.

Shared. New media involve user participation and

encourage user-generated content. This allows

wider involvement in the production processes.

Social. New media allow groups of people with

shared interests to collaborate.

Virtuality. According to Martin Lister and his

associates, the new media have created electronic

places and spaces. In these virtual worlds, people

can immerse themselves in two opposing experi-

ences. Using digital new media, they can either

simulate reality or generate fantasy.

Global and local. New media provide instant com-

munication across vast distances, but also make it

easier to socialise and communicate with friends

locally.

Everywhere at once. New media are embedded in

everyday objects and in our daily lives in such a way

that media forms are merging into one another.

Figure 1.1:4HEMEDIASCRUM"EHINDEACHCAMERAANDMICROPHONECANBEMILLIONSOFVIEWERS

Media: new ways and meaningsTo come to an understanding of the media, whether tra-

ditional or new, more than just the medium itself needs

to be considered. The media embody social customs and

relationships, as well as buildings and hardware such as

fi bre-optic cable, steel transmission towers and printing

presses. The media consist of the following elements.

Products or texts. Media texts are the cultural

products of the media. A television program, a DVD

and an online newspaper story are all media texts.

As new media combine with traditional media, new

types of texts are emerging. And some texts can

appear in many forms for instance, The Matrix

(1999) is a movie but also a computer game.

Languages and discourses. The media have their

own way of looking at the world. Each uses a spe-

cialised language, whether visual or written. Media

products have distinctive ways of telling stories;

they have particular narratives and recognisable

genres. Media discourses are ways of talking that

we hear over and over again.

Representations. What we see through the media

is not reality, but a re-presentation of reality. It is

constructed from various selection decisions made

by the producers. The way the media construct a

view of the world provides an insight into their

relationship with society.

Technologies. The technologies of production, dis-

tribution and reception are integral parts of the

media themselves. How we receive a communica-

tion determines how we use it and has an impact

on what it means.

Industries and institutions. Media products are

infl uenced by the organisations that produce them.

Roles involved in assembling the products have

an impact on the style of the product. Patterns of

ownership and government regulation also have a

signifi cant effect.

Audiences. While members of the audience may

not immediately think of themselves as part of the

equation, without them the media would have no

meaning.

Activities1. Neil Postman says that technological change is

ecological. In small groups, brainstorm some recent

technological changes in media and apply Postmans

theory. Has it changed the whole environment in

some way? As a starting example, consider ways in

which the invention of the iPod has changed the

music and broadcasting industries.

2. Survey the class on the time they devote to the

traditional media and to the main varieties of new

media. To do this, fi rst make a list of the media

you will include. Then ask each class member to

estimate the number of hours per week they spend

on each medium. Express the results as total hours

and also as percentages of time.

5_61_05447_Media_ch01.indd 3 10/8/07 3:36:26 PM

NEWWAYSANDMEANINGS

MEDIA

Language production elements

The rules of spoken or written language cannot be

used to understand the sound effects or visual images

in movies and video games. All that unites these

modes is that they are all acts of communication.

This uniting factor provides a starting point for

analysis. At the most basic level, communication

takes place through signs gestures, sounds, grunts

and drawn images. It is possible to analyse at this

level, although it is reducing media language to tiny

particles of communication. However, the reduction

to signs does allow all print, sound and visual aspects

of media communication to be studied together.

This study of systems of signs and symbols is called

semiotics.

SignsAll communication can be seen as messages created

out of signs. A sign can be a smile, a rude hand gesture,

a photograph, a laugh or a letter of the alphabet. The

audience for a message derives meaning from the

message by interpreting the signs.

Signs refer to something other than themselves.

They work as pointers or directions, guiding the audi-

ence towards thinking in a certain way. For example,

the collection of marks on a page that is the word apple

bears no resemblance to an actual apple. All the marks

do is point us in the direction of thinking about a real

Media languageapple. While a photograph does bear a resemblance to

the object it signifi es, it is not the object itself. There-

fore a photograph is only directing us to think the

thought, in the same way as letters on a page do.

The meaning of a sign depends on its cultural

context. Communications professor John Fiske gives

the example of an ox. In an English-speaking context,

an ox may suggest a beast of burden or something

served between two buns with French fries. For a

Hindu in India, where killing this sacred animal can

be punishable by a jail term, the word ox carries a

very different meaning. Following are terms defi ning

or relating to signs:

Signifi ers are the signs. For example, the word apple

is a signifi er. What is signifi ed are the many mean-

ings of apple these could include associations

such as primary school teachers and education

systems, or the poisoned apple from Snow White.

Signifi ers can also be called connotations (see

opposite).

Icons are signs that resemble the object they refer

to. Photographs are icons because they are images

of things that do exist. Icons can also be words,

however. Onomatopoeia works like an icon because

it makes language sound like what it signifi es. For

example, the word crash sounds like the noise it

refers to.

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 4 10/8/07 4:10:41 PM

CHAPTER,ANGUAGEqPRODUCTIONELEMENTS

Symbols are signs that do not resemble the thing

they refer to. They derive their meaning from asso-

ciations built up over generations of habitual use.

The olive branch representing peace or the cross

representing Christianity are easily recognised

symbols with roots in antiquity.

Denotation is the term given to the naming and

describing level of a sign. This level defi nes or

denotes what the sign refers to. For example, the

word dove denotes a small bird from the same

family as the pigeon.

Connotation refers to the associated thoughts that

any particular sign brings to mind. These might be

anything connected, suggested or implied by the

sign. For example, a white dove brings to mind the

concept of peace, while a turtledove is connected

with the imagery of love.

Polysemy refers to the capacity of all signs to be

many signed (polysemous); that is, to have more

than one meaning. A dictionary is a good place to

discover this. The average number of meanings for

a single word (or sign) in English is four to fi ve.

The word range is one of the most polysemous, as

it has 17 different meanings. Within a particular

culture, signs are not usually regarded as endlessly

polysemous. The variations that occur are within

limits set by the social and cultural context.

Figure 2.1:4HISPHOTOGRAPHDENOTESA-ERCEDES#,34HE-ERCEDESISAPOWERFULSIGN#ONNECTEDWITHIT

ARECONNOTATIONSOFWEALTHLUXURYANDSTATUS"UTTHE

-ERCEDESISPOLYSEMOUS)TCANMEANARANGEOFOTHER

THINGSTODIFFERENTPEOPLE&ORSOMEITCOULDALSOSIGNIFY

UNFAIRNESSGREEDANDRUTHLESSNESS)NPARTSOF!FRICA

FOREXAMPLEABLACK-ERCEDESISOFTENASSOCIATEDWITH

CORRUPTIONANDVIOLENCE4HEVARIATIONSOFMEANINGARENOT

ENDLESSHOWEVER4HEYDEVIATEWITHINLIMITS

CodesCodes are systems of signs put together (usually in

sequence) to create meaning. As with a spy code, a

set of rules governs the way the code is assembled

and the linkages that will be made. Members of the

community who use the code consent to the rules

and in this way make sense of the communication.

Codes are therefore a product of the social and cul-

tural context.

Writing is a code that allows us to represent

thoughts on paper. Carefully schooled agreement

among users allows the code to be understood. In the

same way, sequences of images in a television drama

are a code that allows us to participate in the narra-

tive genre. Code systems may be classifi ed as either

technical or symbolic:

Technical codes are codes of the craft or the pro-

fession. They are technical in the sense of being

techniques of construction. Technical codes include

camera techniques, journalistic techniques and

editing techniques.

Symbolic codes are systems of signs that are

embedded within the text itself. These signs have

strong associative or connotative meanings con-

nected with them. Symbolic codes include actors

clothing and body language.

Table 2.1 lists the technical and symbolic codes of

the media.

Table 2.1: 4HETECHNICALANDSYMBOLICCODESOFTHEMEDIA

-EDIA 4ECHNICALCODES 3YMBOLICCODES

Television, fi lm, photographs, computer-based multimedia

Select from:framingcompositionshot typecamera anglelightingspecial effectseditingcamera movementsound volumesound fades and cutssound layeringwritten (structural; e.g. division into parts, words on the screen such as later)computer screen designcomputer interactivitycomputer sequencingcomputer navigation

Select from:symbolic objectsset designactors body languageactors appearancelightingdialoguesound effectsmusicchoice of language

Radio, CDs etc. Select from:fades and cutssound volumesound layers

Select from:dialoguemusicsound effectssilence

Newspapers, magazines, computer-based multimedia (text) etc.

Select from:sentence constructionheadlines etc.columnspage designstory placementlayout.

(Also refer to the codes for photographs.)

Select from:choice of emotive wordssymbolic typefaces or fonts(e.g. Medieval).

(Also refer to the codes for photographs.)

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 5 10/8/07 4:10:42 PM

NEWWAYSANDMEANINGS

MEDIA

As with all systems of signs, coded communi cations

must be constructed (encoded) by the sender and then

interpreted (decoded) by the receiver:

Encoding refers to the process of making codes. Pro-

ducers of texts encode their messages using systems

of signs. Institutional issues infl uence this process.

Decoding refers to the reading of coded messages

by the receiver. Issues related to audience have an

impact on this process.

ConventionsConventions are habits or accepted ways of doing

things. Through repeated experiences, often over

generations, audiences become familiar with the pro-

cedures of conventions.

The media have hundreds of conventions. Each of

them has been built up over so many years that the audi-

ence believes they are just common sense. In television

and fi lm, for example, a fade to black may indicate the

passing of time. Had Hollywood developed differently,

it could just as easily have been a fade to white (which

instead tends to suggest death or a dream).

Conventions operate by general agreement with the

audience. They are therefore the social and cultural

component of signs and codes.

Binary oppositionsThinking in terms of oppositions (masculine/feminine,

black/white, active/passive, good/bad, rich/poor) is very

human. Many times we have to remind ourselves that

things are not always black and white, but rather many

shades of grey. Binary oppositions are an outcome

of our way of communicating through signs, codes

and conventions. Pairing opposites has an interesting

effect on our thinking about power. Educators Emma

and Sophie Robinson say oppositions have the effect of

including or excluding individuals or social groups.

Binary opposites are not usually equal to each

other. More often they are locked in a power struggle

for dominance. For example, the gender opposites

of masculine and feminine have been engaged in a

battle of the sexes since time immemorial.

CommutationThe meaning of a sign, code or convention can often

be discovered by commuting it into something else.

Movement, transfer or exchange of a code can result

in vastly different meanings. For example, if the white

clothes of the traditional melodrama hero were com-

muted to black, there would be a change in meaning.

This change communicates to us the cultural signifi -

cance of white clothes.

Figure 2.2:)N*UNIOR!RNOLD3CHWARZENEGGERBECOMESPREGNANTDURINGAMEDICALEXPERIMENTk-YBODY

MYCHOICElSAYS3CHWARZENEGGERWHENADVISEDTOEND

THEPREGNANCY4HEHUMOURINTHISMOVIECOMESFROMTHE

INCONGRUENCEOFTHISBIOLOGICALCOMMUTATION)TILLUSTRATES

HOWEVENTODAYMALEANDFEMALEROLESREMAINDIVIDED

MeaningMeaning derives from the cultural and social context

just as much as it does from the text. Indonesian

shadow theatre would have little meaning to a western

audience because they do not have access to the cul-

tural context.

Even within the same culture, different meanings

can be read into one text. A text provides information-

rich sequences that are rather like building blocks.

Most people would use the blocks to build understand-

ings that look similar, but each persons ideas would be

a little different. Life experiences, gender, race or class

may all be factors infl uencing a persons construction.

Some people could build quite unusual structures, yet

still be using the same set of building blocks. In the

same way, people make different interpretations of the

blocks of meaning that are media texts.

Producers meanings

personal experiences

social context cultural context

Audiences meanings personal experiences social context cultural context

Context

Text

Figure 2.3:!TEXTFOREXAMPLEATELEVISIONPROGRAMEXISTSWITHINASOCIALANDCULTURALCONTEXT0RODUCERSANDAUDIENCES

WITHINTHESECONTEXTSEACHCONTRIBUTETOTHEMEANINGOF

THETEXT#ERTAININUENCESAFFECTTHEPRODUCERSANDTHE

AUDIENCEISSUBJECTTOARANGEOFOTHERINUENCES0UT

SIMPLYMEANINGISMADEONBOTHSIDESOFTHETEXT

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 6 10/8/07 4:10:46 PM


Genres and codesThere may be many codes linked to and operating within

the larger conventional code of a large or small genre.

For example, the semiotician Roland Barthes suggests

the narrative genre consists of at least fi ve key codes:

character codes, in which signs relating to person-

ality, appearance and speech are grouped

suspense codes, in which information is hidden

from the reader until the end

plot codes, which use familiar patterns of story

development

structural codes, featuring oppositions such as good

versus evil or city versus country

cultural codes based on cultural knowledge, beliefs

and values.

Barthes argues that by varying these codes, par-

ticular genres such as romance or horror movies are

produced.

Activities1. Title sequences of movies and television programs

are often rich in meaningful signs, as producers

show the key elements of the program and

the audience they are appealing to. Analyse a

title sequence in terms of the denotation and

connotation of its introductory sign systems.

2. Collect images (or words) you believe are clearly

more polysemous than most. The meaning of

these signs will depend on context. Use captions to

anchor the meaning to a particular interpretation

you wish the audience to make. Discuss the results

with your class.

3. Make a list of well-known visual media conventions

and outline their meanings. Examples of

conventions might include cuts, fades, wipes, split

screens and dissolves.

PRODUCTION TASKSSelect one of the following production tasks.

4. Prepare the script for a 20- to 30-shot video

sequence that relies on the powerful connotative

effect of selected images to present an emotional

appeal. The topic can be of your own choice.

Remember to specify your audience. In a column on

the side of the script, explain the connotative effect

you hope to achieve on your target audience with

each of your chosen shots.

Choosing a topic that allows you to take a strong

view about something may make it easier to think

of ways to manipulate associations and images.

For example, emotive images are readily available

for topics dealing with environmental issues.

Advertisements are another suitable choice.

5. Create a magazine advertisement. Cut connotative

images from magazines and assemble them into

a composite image to sell a product. Explain the

totality of the effect and give detailed explanations

of the connotations of each individual image.

WRITTEN TASK6. In 600 words, analyse a television advertisement in

relation to the following aspects:

(a) denotation and connotation

(b) polysemy (where noticeable)

(c) technical codes and symbolic codes

(d) use of recognisable conventions.

Genres

Genres are like coloured spectacles that we

can change but never remove. They are rules

which always limit the way writers and readers

construct meaning in texts but which are

essential in enabling us to read at all.

Brian Moon, language educator

Genres (from a French word meaning type, classi-

fi cation or category) are repeated sets of codes and

conventions (see pages 57). In the media they are

ways of putting texts into categories according to

the characteristics they share. Similar plot lines,

characters or settings in different fi lms, for example,

suggest they belong to the same genre. The habitual

use of genre conventions tends to mean their struc-

ture stays the same, at least for as long as they are a

useful way of doing things. Consequently they have

predictable patterns.

However, unlike the classifi cation systems of

biology, for instance, genre classifi cation is vague and

blurry. Boundaries between genres are not strictly

defi ned. Hybrid texts change those boundaries all

the time. Indeed, fi lm genre specialist Stephen Neale

argues that each new text extends or changes the

genre by adding something new or altering one of the

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 7 10/8/07 4:10:46 PM

NEWWAYSANDMEANINGS

MEDIA

Report genres are based on the retelling of factual

information but can use aspects of narrative as

they relate events. News stories fall within the

report genre.

Exposition or expository genres aim to convince or

argue a point of view. Documentaries and newspaper

feature articles are regarded as expositions.

Non-narrative genres are those that do not tell stories.

For instance, a single-frame newspaper cartoon

does not have any plot development and so is a non-

narrative text. Music videos that dont rely on a story

and use jumbled imagery are another example.

Smaller genresMost people use the smaller categories of genre

when they think of genre texts. These may be

divided into:

Specifi c genres. There are many well-known

media genres, such as the horror movie,

the newspaper feature article, the situation

comedy and so on. Each of these will fi t into

one or other of the larger categories.

Subgenres. Genres are often divided into

subgenres. For example, the horror fi lm genre

has at least fi ve smaller subgenres slasher,

supernatural, and so on (see page 265).

Features of genresGenres have the following characteristics.

Genres have a step-by-step structure. In

other words, they have a relatively predictable

structure of stages that follow one another in a

sequence. In the narrative genre, the Hollywood

formula for musicals was said to be boy meets girl,

boy loses girl, boy gets girl. This is an example of the

familiar narrative structure of orientation, complica-

tion and resolution.

Audiences can usually identify genres because they

have recognisable features and step-by-step struc-

tures. Audience enjoyment of them is often derived

from the familiarity of repetition, with just enough

variation to add spice.

Genres are a development of the cultural context.

In a particular culture, people get used to interacting

in certain ways. The rituals of traditional Maori

greeting, for example, developed out of the habitual

interactions of that culture. Within a culture, people

like hearing stories with familiar subject matter. In

Japan, a favourite genre is the samurai story. Respect,

loyalty and tradition are important to this genre.

The values and beliefs of the culture will affect the

types of stories it prefers. For example, western culture

conventions. In this way, says communications aca-

demic John Hartley, the creation of just one western

fi lm changes the whole genre.

Genres are based on shared knowledge held by the

producers and the audiences. Genres are a means of

selecting and constructing a certain view of the world.

As such, they are closely related to audience reading

practices (see page 149). An important feature of

all genres is the tendency to progress in stages. For

example, the narrative genre typically begins with an

orientation stage before moving to a complications

stage, possibly an evaluation stage and, fi nally, a reso-

lution stage.

Figure 2.4:'ENRESAREMADEUPOFCODESANDCONVENTIONSASWELLASEXPECTATIONSOFTHEPRODUCERANDTHEAUDIENCE

4HERELATIONSHIPAMONGTHESEFACTORSISCIRCULAR!CHANGE

INAUDIENCEEXPECTATIONORINTERPRETATIONCANMEANTHE

NEEDFORAGENRECHANGE0RODUCEREXPERIMENTATIONTOO

MAYMEETAUDIENCEAPPROVALANDTHEREFORECHANGEAGENRE

Types of genresJust as cars, for example, can be roughly divided

between large and small models, genres can be clas-

sifi ed into larger and smaller varieties.

Larger genresBroad categories of genre are based on whether texts

are fi ction or nonfi ction and whether or not they use

story techniques. The large genres are as follows:

Narrative genres use storytelling codes and conven-

tions such as plot, character and setting. They are

fi ctional or literary genres. The narrative genre

includes most Hollywood movies.

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 8 10/8/07 4:10:48 PM


generally favours stories in which good triumphs over

evil. There is little demand for stories in which evil is

rewarded or good and evil meet with random conse-

quences. These preferences lead the audience to expect

particular characters and familiar plots. The interest

lies in the twists and turns along the way to resolution.

Particular communities and countries favour

certain genres. For example, the Australian cultural

context appears to have been favourable to the devel-

opment of the television soap opera. Australian soaps

are now shown around the world.

Genres can change. Genres change at about the same

pace as the overall culture. Being closely tied to the

culture, they reveal the concerns of the time, as well

as who has most power in that culture. For example,

some nineteenth-century British novels, mostly written

by women, portray a class-based society that denied

women access to power. This is shown in the 1995

movie of Jane Austens novel Sense and Sensibility.

Genres are changing relatively quickly at the

moment. Technology has brought about a rapid trans-

formation in culture, changing previously accepted

ways of doing things. As genres are ways of doing

things, they too are changing.

Multigeneric or hybrid texts. Many texts mix and

match a range of genres to suit new purposes created

by a changing society. For example, TV programs such

as the crime drama The Bill combine elements of soap

opera in the format. Documentaries, often regarded

as belonging to the larger exposition genre, can also

display features of the report genre. Docudrama com-

bines both genres with the storytelling features of the

narrative genre.

Intertextuality

All kinds of texts gain meaning through

similarities with other texts. If this were not

true, readers would be astonished and puzzled

by every new text.

Brian Moon, language educator

Intertextuality is best understood as the textual

equivalent of cross-referencing, says Queensland Uni-

versity of Technologys John Hartley. It refers to the

way in which any one text is woven into the whole

culture and operates as a link to many other texts. It

is also a reading practice carried out by audiences.

The ability of the audience to use their familiarity

with other texts is a skill built up as cultural knowl-

edge develops. By drawing on references to other

texts, audiences are able to derive more complex and

enjoyable meanings.

The animated television sitcom The Simpsons is

an obvious example of a text that uses intertextuality

to maximum effect. When young children watch the

program they are largely unaware of the hundreds of

in jokes and references to other television programs,

movies and books. As they become teenagers, more

of these references become apparent and so they

derive more enjoyment from watching the program.

For adults watching with their families, this effect

is often greater still, affording them extra pleasure

when they watch the show.

Types of intertextualityThe following are types of intertextuality, according

to John Hartley:

Genre relationships. Other texts within a genre

that the audience has seen can be used as a refer-

ence point to help understand and predict a new

text.

Character and actor relationships. Well-known

actors or characters provide a link to other texts

and a sense of familiarity.

Direct quote relationships. Sometimes a text

makes a direct quote from another text, using it in

some new way. This kind of recycling is common

in music videos and in television comedies such as

The Simpsons.

Figure 2.5:4HE3IMPSONSCROSSREFERENCES-ARK4WAINSMUCHLOVEDNOVEL!DVENTURESOF(UCKLEBERRY&INN

4HEREFERENCEISPROBABLYLOSTONYOUNGCHILDRENBUTMORE

EXPERIENCEDVIEWERSGAINAHEIGHTENEDSENSEOFPLEASURE

FROMRECOGNISINGTHEINTERTEXTUALITY

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 9 10/8/07 4:10:49 PM

NEWWAYSANDMEANINGS

MEDIA

Genres and audiencesThere has been very little research into how audi-

ences make sense of genres to construct meaning for

themselves. However, two possible approaches are

indicated.

Genres build audiences. A media genre is a way of creating an identifi able product for sale, says

John Hartley. This product will then attract a

certain sort of audience. In the case of television

genres, the audience attracted can then be on-

sold to advertisers. Genres also serve as a way for

producers to manipulate audience memories and

expectations.

Audience members use genre to build their own

identities. Some research has been attempted into

gender preferences for particular genres. There is

also some indication that people may use prefer-

ences for certain genres as building blocks to their

sense of self. For instance, someone who has seen

the romantic comedy Bridget Joness Diary (2001)

several times may possibly be using this movie to

tell themselves something about their own desires

or who they are.

Genres and industryIt probably isnt a coincidence that Antz (1998) by

Dreamworks and A Bugs Life (1998) by Disney/Pixar

came out in the same year. It just makes good eco-

nomic sense! Once a genre has been found to be

successful, various studios will produce more of them

to extract the most profi t.

Recycling genre products has several other eco-

nomic advantages. As Nicholas Abercrombie points

out, considerable savings can be made by reusing

props, sets and costumes. Teams of writers and tech-

nicians can be built up and their skills specialised

into particular styles of production. Producing more

of something eventually leads to what are called econ-

omies of scale cost effi ciencies created by mass

production.

Genres change relatively slowly compared with the

pace of production. Therefore media companies are

able to standardise their production within genres and

know that their techniques will suit the market for a

reasonable period of time. Different audiences can be

catered for using different genres; this increases prof-

itability because it leads to better targeting.

Activities1. As a whole class, make a list of all the media text

genres you can think of. Begin with movies and

then consider other media texts.

2. In small groups, list movies that came out in roughly

the same time period and seem to have dealt with

the same topic and used the same genre. Suggest

some reasons for the similarities.

3. View an episode of The Simpsons and make a list of

textual cross-references.

Language elements of fi lm and television

The shot and narrative purposeIn fi lm, the term shot has at least two defi nitions,

and in the early days of cinema they were clearly

distinguished. The arrival of computer-based media

has tended to blur the differences between the two.

In the fi rst defi nition (camera on/off), a shot is the

interval of time from when the camera is fi rst turned

on in a scene until the stop button is pressed. This

defi nition includes any continuous movement within

the shot. In the second, less common defi nition (posi-

tion change), the shot is the duration of time until the

camera is moved to another position. Depending on

how strictly it is interpreted, this defi nition may or

may not include continuous camera movement.

The shot is the prime vehicle for carrying the narra-

tive. In the visual language of photography, television

and fi lm, the shot is the smallest unit of communic-

ation. It is equivalent to a short sentence in prose. A

typical Hollywood movie has between 800 and 1200

shots or picture statements.

Like sentences, picture statements have subjects.

The picture statement may be saying, Look at these

great wide open plains. The next shot may say, Look

at this man on a horse see what he is doing. Picture

statements are usually changed for one of two reasons:

a new subject is being introduced, or something dif-

ferent about the same subject is going to be shown.

A fi lmmaker or photographer can consider fi ve var-

iables when creating a shot: shot size, framing, focus,

angle and movement.

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 10 10/8/07 4:10:50 PM


Close-up (CU): shows the detail of a subject.

A typical close-up may show only the face of a

person. The close-up is often used in narrative to

show emotion. It is common in both film and tele-

vision, but television narrative relies more heavily

on it. A face in close-up is what, before the age of

film, only a mother or a lover ever saw, says media

analyst Dennis Porter.

Big close-up (BCU): shows almost all of the detail

of its subject. On the face, a big close-up would

include from the middle of the forehead to just

above the chin. This would show the the social

triangle of the eyes and mouth. Big close-ups are

used to show extremes of emotion.

Extreme close-up (ECU): shows only a portion of

detail or magnifies something that is minute. An

example could be a dramatic focus on someones

eyes. Often an extreme close-up is used to create a

sense of mystery. It can be very effective in hiding

what something is until a dramatic camera pull-

back.

Extreme long shot (ELS) Long shot (LS)

Medium long shot (MLS) Medium shot (MS)

Medium close-up (MCU) Close-up (CU)

Big close-up (BCU) Extreme close-up (ECU)

Figure 2.6:4HEEIGHTSHOTSIZES4HEHUMANBODYISTRADITIONALLYUSEDTODENETHESIZEOFTHESHOT7E

MEASUREEVERYTHINGAGAINSTOURSELVES

Shot sizesThere are eight main shot sizes. Visual emphasis is

directly related to the size of the subject in the shot.

A big, close subject is more powerful. Therefore, the

choice of which shot to use is the most fundamental

decision every director makes.

The definition of shot sizes depends on the subject

of the shot. A close-up of an elephant is very different

from a close-up of an ant! Most definitions work

on a human scale. They define the size of the shot

according to how much of the human body can be

fitted into the frame. Figure 2.6 (below) illustrates the

eight different shot sizes. The main narrative purpose

of each shot size is as follows:

Extreme long shot (ELS): a wide view of the com-

plete setting, such as a coral reef in the middle

of a vast ocean. In human terms, a person would

be barely visible in the scene. In the narrative, an

extreme long shot gives a sense of scale and also

provides location.

Long shot (LS): closer than the extreme long shot

but still shows the complete scene. On a human

scale, a human figure is clearly visible and the

complete person fits easily within the frame. In a

typical long shot, the background still dominates

the human figure. A long shot is most often used

in narrative to establish the scene.

Medium long shot (MLS): a great deal of infor-

mation about the setting is still visible. Human

characters can be seen in detail and almost all of

the body (usually from just below the knees) is in

the frame. French filmmakers once called this the

American shot, as it was very common in Holly-

wood during the film noir period (see page 254). A

common purpose of this shot is to provide for both

dialogue and action. In noir films a detective may

be surrounded by a carefully arranged formation

of underworld characters.

Medium shot (MS): defined by some as not too

close, not too far. On the human body, a medium

shot would start at around the waist and include a

little space above the head. Gesture and expression

are now more clearly visible. The medium shot is

ideal for dialogue and some limited action.

Medium close-up (MCU): frames the subject mod-

erately closely. Medium close-ups used to be the

typical frame for a newsreader, but many are now

framed in medium shot. The head and shoulders fit

comfortably in the frame with a little room above

the head. The medium close-up is a common shot

size in television narratives. This is partly explained

by televisions history as a domestic medium (see

page 317).

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 11 10/8/07 4:10:51 PM

NEWWAYSANDMEANINGS

MEDIA

FramingThe photographic frame is not just a simple border,

according to American film academics David Bord-

well and Kristin Thompson. It is not like the margin

of a page. The frame produces a vantage point. It gives

a point of view, and it selects some details over others.

The frame lets us see some things and not others.

Bordwell and Thompson list four main ways that

framing can influence what the audience sees.

Aspect ratio. The size and shape of the frame is

called the aspect ratio because it is based on the

ratio of width to height (gained by dividing width

by height). The standard television ratio is 4:3 or

1.33:1, while widescreen television uses 16:9 or

1.78:1. Cinema uses a variety of ratios, but most

widescreen formats are slightly larger than 16:9,

with 1.85:1 the most common. However, some epic

films such as The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002,

2003) use Cinemascope with a ratio of 2.35:1.

On-screen and off-screen space. When the audi-

ence sees a shot on screen everyone assumes that

space and life continues consistently outside the

frame and all around it. How a director uses this

assumption can be important to the narrative. An

example of this is the use of looking space or talking

space. This is an area of negative or empty space

in front of a framed person that suggests someone

else is outside the frame. Another way of suggesting

space outside the frame is to use eyelines. A char-

acter can appear to look towards a point outside

the frame.

A

B

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HASNEGATIVESPACEBEHINDTHEPERSONSUGGESTINGACTIONIS

HAPPENINGOUTSIDETHEFRAMEBEHINDHIM

Angle, height and distance. The idea of the frame as a vantage point suggests that framing places the

viewer in a certain position perhaps above or

below the subject, or close or far in the distance.

Each of these positions affects the narrative in

some way.

Frame movement. As the camera moves, so too does the frame. How this happens in relation to

the events on the screen changes our involvement

in the story.

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5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 12 10/8/07 4:10:57 PM


CompositionComposing a shot is a matter of arranging the ele-

ments to create a desirable effect within the narrative.

The following two conventions are among the most

commonly used:

Lines and diagonals. Placing elements on imagi-

nary lines can create interesting effects. The lines

may be horizontal, vertical or diagonal across the

image. In the narrative, diagonal lines build a

sense of drama and may be used to direct atten-

tion towards a character or event.

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Rule of thirds. Some say the subject of a photo-

graph should never be placed in the centre of the

frame. Instead, the focus of interest should be at

the intersection of imaginary lines that divide the

frame into thirds.

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Depth of fieldIf an image is out of focus you wont want to bother

looking at it. A filmmaker can use focus to make the

audience pay attention to certain details within the

narrative. Selective focus can be used to draw atten-

tion to someones face, for example. The background

and other details can be downplayed by keeping them

out of focus. The area of the frame that is in sharp

focus is called the depth of field. The depth of this

area is determined by the length of lens and size of

aperture used. Generally speaking, a wide-angle lens

has a greater depth of field than a telephoto lens

that is, more of the image will be in focus with a

wide-angle lens.

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 13 10/8/07 4:11:01 PM

NEWWAYSANDMEANINGS

MEDIA

Types and uses

If I made big budget films I would have that

deep depth of field because it plays upon the

effect of surprise. It can give you a whole series

of little tricks, little hiding places, little hooks in

the image where you can hang surprises, places

where they can suddenly appear, just like that.

You can create the off-frame within the frame.

Benoit Jacquot, French film director, Seventh Heaven (1998)

There are two main types and usages of depth of

field.

Deep focus. The term deep focus is applied to films

that have everything in focus, from the foreground to

the distant background. Deep focus films need lots of

light, a small camera aperture, a fast wide-angle lens

and fast film stock. Deep focus tends to favour long

takes. With so much of the frame in focus there is more

information for the audience to absorb. Therefore there

is a greater need to linger on the shot. Deep focus also

favours the invisible style of continuity editing (see

page 25). Movies using deep focus include Citizen Kane

(1941), Jaws (1975) and The Untouchables (1987).

Because deep focus mimics the operation of the

human eye, it creates a greater sense of realism (see

page 229). The filmed image looks more like the real

world. Some critics say this allows the audience to

make up their own minds about meaning a lot more

easily just as in real life.

Selective focus. Many modern films use a selective

focus or shallow focus technique, where only some of

the shot is in focus. Selective focus or shallow focus

relies more on quick cutting and lots of close-ups. It is

therefore more suited to montage editing (see page 21)

and the quicker pace of many films.

Selective focus is often said to be less realist in its

approach, and more expressive and personal. Because

the audience seems to see less of the real world, the

directors personal view is strengthened. A film that

exemplifies the selective focus approach is Baz Luhr-

manns Moulin Rouge (2001).

Changing focusSometimes the focus is changed in the middle of a

single shot. The two main kinds of focus change are:

Follow focus. The camera follows the moving

subject, keeping the subject in focus while the

background changes.

Pull or rack focus. The focus suddenly changes to

direct attention away from one subject and towards

another. For example, a shot with wire net fencing in

sharp focus may suddenly be pull focused onto the

prisoners exercising in the enclosed yard beyond.

Figure 2.12:4HEDEEPFOCUSTECHNIQUEISEVIDENTINTHISSHOTFROM#ITIZEN+ANESHOWING+ANE/RSON7ELLESINTHEFOREGROUNDADDRESSINGARAPTAUDIENCEOFBUSINESSMENATALONGBANQUETINGTABLE

5_61_05447_Media_ch02.indd 14 10/8/07 4:11:03 PM


Camera angleThe camera angle helps set the relationship the

audience has with the subject of the shot. Camera

angle can also establish the power relations between

characters on screen. An example of this occurs in

the musical Dirty Dancing (1987), when Baby first

declares her admiration and love for Johnny. Having

played her hand, she is shown as vulnerable in a high

camera angle. He is powerful because he may reject

her. A low camera angle ensures he towers over her,

until he softens and then declares his love in return.

At that moment, the camera angle returns to normal

and equalises their power relations.

The main camera angles are as follows:

High camera angle. This angle is created when the

camera is positioned high and tilts down on the

subject. High camera angles tend to place the audi-

ence in the position of an adult looking down on

a child. The subject looks inferior or unimportant

and the viewer feels superior.

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Extremely high camera angle. If the camera is very

high, almost ove

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