This blog post is a combination of answers and suggestions made by U2 and Q blocks. Aside from the odd prompt to include more media language or to focus on media language, no teacher help or suggestions were given at all. There is absolutely no way you could include all of this information in your own mock exam response, so you are going to have to get selective!
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| Ed Sheeran's transformation from middle of the road pop star to a working class queer-coded vampire may allow this video to target completely new audiences who previously had no interest in Sheeran at all! |
What is media language?
Media language is the terminology used in media studies. The specific terminology that makes up a media product
What are some examples of media language in an audio-visual product?
- Colour
- Shot type (extreme CU to an Extreme long shot)
- Lighting (low key and high key, natural)
- Binary oppositions
- Mise en scene (what is in the scene!)
- Zoom
- Lexis (choice of language)
- Codes
- Costume
- Editing (rapid fire, fast paced, slow paced)
- Lip syncing
- Performance
- Modes of address (direct mode of address, indirect, how the product speaks to it's audience)
- Setting
- Sound (diegesis, is the sound in the world of the narrative?)
- Breaking the fourth wall (where the characters are aware of the audience)
- Mise-en-scene - anything in the frame
- Close up, long shot, ECU, ELS, Mid shot
- Camera angles, birds eye view, front facing, high angle, low angle
- Diegetic sound (in the world of the narrative)
- Non-diegetic sound (soundtrack)
- Editing (fast paced, slow paced)
- Modes of address (how a media product talks to the audience)
- Audience positioning (where the audience is placed by media language)
How do we write about media language in an exam or essay?
Paragraphs are structured in a PEE structure. This stands for 'point', 'evidence', 'explain'. The point is always rephrasing the question. The evidence always comes from the unseen or the seen case studies. The explain allows you to elaborate and to use theory if required.
Point - related to the question
Evidence - taken directly from the unseen or 'seen' media product
Explain - where you explain why this is important. How does it construct an ideology?
If there is no 'wrong' answer in media language/textual analysis questions, then why do some students get higher marks than others?
You will be marked on both your knowledge and understanding, and your ability to apply this knowledge and understanding.
What is Barthe's semiotic theory and how can we use it in textual analysis?
Codes
Anything in a media product that means something. This is 'encoded' by the producer of the media product. However, the audience are free to interpret this as they wish. In the 1970s Barthes wrote his most famous article, 'the death of the author', where he argued that once a product is released, the producer no longer has any say in how it is interpreted, and it is completely up to the audience. This is related to the idea of polysemic interpretation.
The hermeneutic - something that suggests a mystery or a question. Something which asks a question of the audience. EG a mysterious shadow
The proairetic - action code, something is going to happen! EG CU of cracking knuckles + ipending fight scene
The symbolic - something that holds a deeper meaning. For example the MES of a red rose symbolises love, death, anger, sex, romance
The semantic - the basic, surface level meaning of something. For example 'Ed Sheeran is a man wearing a pink suit'
The referential - something which refers to something else
Anchorage is where a meaning is weighed down y context. The combination of media language can make it clear to the audience what is happening
Polysemy is where a media product has many meanings
Myths are stories and legends that tell us about our world. The stories we learn as a child often give us important lessons on how to live our lives. For example, while vampires do not exist (sorry), the message that we should not trust creepy guys who break in to our bedrooms at night is a pretty good one! The music video to bad habits uses the myth of the vampire as a shortcut to tell an exciting story
What is Levi-Strauss's structuralist theory and how can we use it in textual analysis?
Binary oppositions/diametric oppositions: where two things contrast completely with one another. This creates conflict and interest for the audience
Media language and Bad Habits
Please note that ALL of these points were suggested by students in U2 and Q block media. Yes, there is some repetition. There are also lots of things that I wanted students to talk about, but I am not allowed to give you any answers. But the suggestions here are great!
- The MES of Sheeran's pink costume functions as an hermeneutic code, and symbolises both femininity and romance. This is further anchored through the title of the song, 'Bad Habits', and reinforces the notion of love fore the target audience.
- The MES of the setting being a pink nail constructs a binary opposition between the dystopian setting of the run.-down shopping centre
- The run-down, inner city setting is relatable to the working class target audience
- Is the video a criticism of toxic masculinity? A shot of Sheeran assertively fixing his shoe with his chest out creates a binary opposition with his pink costume, constructing a complex representation of masculinity
- The symbolic code of the dying rose symbolises death and destruction. This communicates to the audience that vampires are associated with death
- The rose also symbolises the ending of love. By shifting from pink to grey, it suggests the conclusion of a relationship, which is relatable to the target audience. This allows the producer to market their music and to increase profitability
- Conflicting colours connotes a conflict between happiness and depression, which has symbolic themes which might symbolise the emotional state of the audience
- MES of the costumes of Sheeran's cool and threatening vampire gang. Connotations of violence are anchored through the MES of the dark colours of their costumes, the proairetic code of the CU of Sheeran's fangs
- The costumes of the vampires are modern and make reference to punk music, which may appeal to a more alternative target audience, and also gives Sheeran a subcultural appeal
- Connotations of poverty and working class lifestyles are symbolised through torn clothing, chains and mismatched costumes. The ketchup is a polysemic symbolic code that symbolises both working class lifestyles and blood, which creates an appealing mode of address for the target audience
- Direct mode of address
- Low key, harsh, unnatural lighting
- Pace of editing
- Shot types
- The MES of Sheeran's costume is comical, and creates a binary opposition and the idea that vampires are scary. This constructs an unsettling mode of address for the target audience
- The uncoloured, pallid rose is a symbolic code for the loss of love. What once was red is now dead, and this could symbolise death and a loss of life. It could also signify being heartbroken
- The MES of ketchup also functions as a symbolic code, representing blood. This reinforces the idea that vampires drink blood, but it also reinforces the comical elements of the music video. It also allows the video to stick to regulation guidelines, and allows children to watch the video
- The MS of the child functions as a binary opposition between innocence and monsters. This constructs an interesting mode of address for the target audience
- The performance of bystanders being thrown around functions as a hermeneutic code, as there is no real reason for this happening
- The urban inner city setting functions as a symbolic code of working class lifestyle. This is anchored through the MES of the cheap Thai food and the flickering lights. The run down inner city setting connotes violence, which is a clear example of stereotyping
- By being associated with working class iconography, Sheeran can appeal to working class target audiences
- CU of Sheeran's vampire teeth, is further anchored through the MES of the magnifying glass, reinforcing the primary theme of this music video: vampires and the horror genre
- ECU black cat lives up to the horror genre, and further anchors the themes of the video
- Representation of drag culture and costume allows the producer to target a wider, LGBT audience
- The video is radically different to Sheeran's other videos and forms a binary opposition. Allows him to target a new audience
- LA of all the vampires making direct eye contact with the camera. A direct mode of address, positions the audience below the vampires, and reinforces the themes of intimidation and horror
- Sheeran's bright pink suit means that even though we are presented with many exciting scenes, the audience are anchored in to believing that he is the most important and exciting
- The MES of being surrounded with a gang represents that Sheeran is in a position of power
- Sheeran is conventionally unattractive, yet he surrounded by a range pf attractive, cool characters, which function as a proairetic code for excitement and sex
- Many intertextual reference s to other vampire films, including the Chinese takeaway box, which could be a reference to the lost boys
- The queer coded drag like costumes may be an intertextual reference to RuPaul's Drag Race
- The run down urban setting could be an intertextual reference to a UK hip-hop video