Year 12 Media Studies

Roland Barthes - Semiotics Semiotics is  the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.  A sign refers to something that  conveys  meaning , any image, word or sound e.g. when we see a  traffic  light go red we know it means  stop ,without it actually saying stop.  A sign is made up of the signifier and the signified; the signifier is the 'thing' you are reading (e.g. red traffic light) , the signified is the meaning of the  signifier (e.g. red traffic light means stop).  Denotation is the literal meaning of the sign (identifying/describing the sign) and c onnotation is the metal association we think of with the sign.  Barthes identified that there were five codes of semiotics:  Hermeneutic code is if the text is mysterious/unexplained, making the reader question it, p roairetic code is when text builds suspense ,through anticipation of an action, s emantic code refer to a sign that has extra-literal meaning (semes are elements of the semantic code where t

Fatboy Slim- Ya Mama Using Media Language, Explain how representations have been constructed in the music video 'Ya Mama' by Fatboy Slim. The music video shows people playing the song and dancing uncontrollably in chaos, it has a linear narrative as we can see the music tape being delivered and then once played people dance dramatically and then he goes and sells/shows other people. However, it is also a cyclical narrative as the postcard that can be seen when he's painting his models is then seen in the end but with him in the postcard this time. In the beginning of the song you can see Tom and Jerry being watched ,by what appears to be a house of rednecks, which is an example of intertextuality and is a slapstick comedy show which is humorous ,similar to the music video. It also shows the people in the house as immature, as they haven't grown out of children's programmes reinforcing our opinions of them being rednecks. When the music tape gets played in

Key Words:   Naturalistic Mis-En-Scene - follow assumed laws of nature and society and have consistently logical relationships to one another. Linear Narrative -  the order in which events are portrayed corresponds to the order in which they occur. Stories told using this narrative structure will have a clear beginning, middle and end. They might begin with a description of the setting, have events leading up to a climax (the point where there is the most tension or drama in the story) and end with a resolution in which all the problems that arose during the narrative are either resolved or accepted. Narrative Disruption -  events are portrayed, out of chronological order or in other ways where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern. In the video 'unfinished sympathy' by Massive Attack, why would you describe the Miss-En-Scene as naturalistic? Why would you then describe the Mise-En-Scene in Fatboy Slim's 'Ya Mama' as less naturali