GENERAL
TERMINOLOGY
Agenda – A plan or belief
system within a group, normally hidden from others. For example there is a belief that the BNP
have a racist agenda.
Antagonist – The leading
villain in the show (or the one the protagonist has to go up against)
Archetype – A easily
recognised type of character that can be found in many stories. For example, the hero, the princess, the
damsel in distress, the loyal friend, the villain, the temptress.
Binary Opposites – Two contrasting characters or scenes that are
seen in one show, that are clearly meant to be total opposites. For example there may be a sweet innocent
girl who is scared and weak, paired against an evil powerful man. They would be binary opposite
characters. Binary opposites could be
concepts such as good/evil, light/dark, male/female, old/young
Connotation – Hidden
Meaning.
Conventional – Something that
is seen to be “normal”. So a
conventional female character would be quite weak, girly, and may be a mother
or a housewife.
Dominant Ideology – A set of beliefs
that are widely accepted as being the most normal, or the most accurate. For example, the dominant ideology of men is
that they are strong, brave and work to provide money for their families.
Homophobia - Actions,
behaviours, feelings or words which seem to discriminate against people because
of their sexuality. This is normally
because the person who is being homophobic believes there is a difference
between sexualities and thinks that one sexuality is better than the other.
Juxtaposed – Two different
things placed next to each other to create meaning. For example a shot of a baby may be
juxtaposed with a shot of a funeral to emphasise the circle of life.
Male Gaze – A theory by a
lady called Laura Mulvey which suggests that all media products encourage the
characters and audience to “leer” at and “look” at women. For example, “the camera angle looking down
Sarah’s cleavage encourages the audience to take a ‘male gaze’ over the female
character”
Media Language – Simply means the
combination of technical elements such as camera shots, camera movement,
editing, sound and mise-en-scene.
Patriarchy – A type of
society where men are dominant over women.
Many feminists believe that we live in a patriarchal society where women
are forced to be weaker and subservient.
Positioning – how the audience
are encouraged to interpret a particular situation. For example, “the audience are positioned to sympathise
with the female character.”
Protagonist – The leading
character in the show
Realist / Realism – A style of tv
show / film which attempts to be as “realistic” as possible. For example, “Shameless is considered a
realist programme.” Being a “realist”
programme doesn’t necessarily mean the show IS realistic or accurate.
Racism – Actions,
behaviour, feelings or words which seem to discriminate against people because
of their skin colour. This is normally because
the person who is racist believes that there is a difference between people who
have different skin colours and they believe one skin colour to be better than
another.
Sexism – Actions,
behaviours, feelings or words which seem to discriminate against people because
of their gender. This is normally
because the person who is being sexist believes there is a difference between
the two genders and that one gender is better than the other.
Stereotype – An overly exaggerated
representation of a type of person that is normally negative. For example a teenage stereotype would be a
hoodie wearing, knife carrying, criminal.
Unconventional – Something which
is seen to not be “normal.” For example
am unconventional female character might be powerful, the boss of a company,
and very dominant over other characters.
Verisimilitude – A feeling of
reality / real life created by particular elements. For example, “The series
Outnumbered creates a feeling of verisimilitude for the audience by using a
real house, every day storylines that would affect an average family, and
improvised dialogue.”
Xenophobia - Actions, behaviours, feelings or words which seem to discriminate against people because of their country of origin. This is normally because the person who is being xenophobic believes there is a difference between the countries and that one country is better than the other
No comments:
Post a Comment