2.Describe the structure of media products.

For this task we were given sheets and had to fill in the missing words. I also decided to write more to give more information on each subject.

Iconography and codes and conventions.

We see iconography as the repetitive usage of something. It is reading and understanding the use of imagery. For example a in a soap it would help us to understand the cultural and social issues and values. One other things iconography is useful in is film as a poster or advertisement would help us understand what genre it is and tells us what kind of story line we can expect.

In a soap the opening titles for the programme can say a lot about what you can expect for example the opening of coronation street connotes its a small village and all the houses are the same and equal. However the denotation would be that it shows many rows of houses all the same size, dark, dull and miserable and they buildings look as if they are never ending. It also swoops past a tall building of flats this shows that it is a bigger world outside of these small streets but our focus is on this small village. The connotations of this would suggest that there isn't any excitement in the village and it is an ordinary place. The meaning behind the never ending houses would be that they are all equals in the street and no-one is wealthier or better off than others. They are all the same as us.

This poster for 'The ledge' tells us that is is a dark action film. Using its catchy slogan of ' One step can change your life' suggests that its attention gripping especially since its written in capital letters. The positioning of the characters on the poster suggest that its a dangerous film as the two on the outer side don't look happy and the man in the centre looks like he could be suicidal because of the gun. The dark images show that its a dark subject that the film has been based around further more the two characters on the edge seem to be over looking a scene added with the title it would suggest that at some point in the film they go to great heights.

The denotation of the poster is dark images, gun and three characters. This conotes that its a dark gripping film using weapons to create excitement. Not only this because there are three different characters this would explain that maybe one feels left out and there are arguments over the only girl in the film?

Linear and non-linear narratives

Linear narratives are when the soap or film runs in time true to real life. Non-linear is when they jump around in past and present tense and isn’t true to real life. One example of a non-linear narrative would be flashbacks and time travel.

The constant cross-cutting from past to present builds tension in the film and creates a dangerous and action adventure feeling. Soaps generally don’t use non-linear as they run at a constant and even speed allowing us to feel as if their time is running along side with ours.

The Source code is an example of a non-linear film because the main character keeps having to go back in time to complete a misson. He has eight minutes to change the past and stop the future bombing from happening. This is the trailer for The Source Code.

Series and Serials

A series is a programme or film that runs under the same title for example the Harry Potters would be considered as a series of films. When looking at television programmes the storylines may come to an end at the ending of a series before the next series this could be programmes like waterloo road, desperate housewives and skins.

On the other hand serial is where a story line in soap runs continuingly threw the episodes but doesn’t have a set amount of time it runs for. These would be things such as Eastenders, Coronation street and Hollyoaks. An advantage of this is so that everyone continues to tune in every time there is a cliff hanger but also because there are so many different storylines going on at once it is easy for anyone to just start watching and they will slowly understand the storyline. On the other hand the storylines and background stories matter in series like waterloo road as you can then understand their background and character.

Depending on how popular a programme is they then reduce or increase the amount the episodes per series. For example waterloo road went from showing between 8 and 12 episodes a series to 20 and now in series 7 they will start showing 30 episodes per series. Series have a definite ending allowing someone who hasn’t seen the previous episodes to begin watching at the start of the new series.

Realism and realist

An example of realism is soaps as they explore a more dramatic yet realistic point of our lives. This draws in the viewer’s attention as they become more engaged with the everyday drama of relationships and social issues. As a soap is based around one area or set it becomes more realistic to us as we see the same area of where we live everyday. However on the reverse of this we don’t usually see the outside world whilst in the world of the soap.

Open and closed narratives

An open narrative is where a storyline is continuous and a closed narrative is where a film or story has a definate ending. For example a film like Harry Potter is left as an open narrative allowing their to be a sequel movie. One adavantage of doing this is so that they can make another movie without too much costs and they know people will enjoy it as they become a loyal audience.

Multistrandded narratives

Multi strand narratives means the amount of characters focused in a movie, soap or story. All soaps are considered multi stranded as they swap from continuous story lines involving several different characters.

Superman would be a single-stranded movie as the story is only based around one character and how he is saving the world for the bad guys. There are other characters but they aren't shown to be a Superior as superman.
On the other side of this a multi-strandded movie would be The inbetweeners as it is based on 4 very different characters as a group of friends going on an adventure together.

One good thing about multi-strandded narratives would be the amount of interest caused by all the different personalities from the characters which hits a range of target audiences.
However a positive point about single-strandded narratives is the loyality to that one particular character.

Denotations and connotations

Denotation is what is obvious to the eye and a connotation is the reasoning behind it and the meaning it creates. For example the dennotaion of this photo would be a colour popped image. The right handside there is a bubble positioned on someones hand. In this bubble the photo is warped to look like we're seeing through an actual bubble. However the inside of the bubble has been colour popped this means that there is colour in the bubble but the rest of the photo is in black and white.

The connotations woudl be isolation because someone or something is in their own bubble. This would create a feeling of them being in their own world. As there are photos hanging on the left it might connote painting your own story because of the colours.

Signifiers, signified and signs

The idea of signifiers, signified and signs was introduced by Ferdinand De Saussure.

Anchorage
Anchorage is something that helps explain something else. A caption might be an example of anchorage.The use of captions is usually used for photographs. It helps explain the photograph a little bit more and gives the photo more of a meaning. It's like giving a photo a emotional name but adding extra on to it so people can further understand it. Captions can also be used to make something more emotional or even to give it some humour.

Key advances in print. on Prezi

There are many different camera shots for example POV, Long shot, Medium shot and Close up.

There are may different camera angles that you can use and many of them fit different purposes. To help me explain my shots i have picked up a video someone made on YouTube.
The video explains different shots such as Establishing shot, Medium shot, Tracking shot and Dolly shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwbsYgZ7d-8 In the discribtion of the video it allows anyone to reuse his video as they please.