Terminology - Question 1 a) and 1 b)

Antagonist - The character whose function is to oppose the protagonist. Straightforward hero journey stories may have the antagonist playing the role of villain, but in dramas, the antagonist may merely be someone who stands in the way of the protagonist and their goals.

Archetype - A universal type/model of character found in text and myths throughout the world (e.g. trickster, mentor, hero).

Audience - The recipients of a media text. People who are the intended target of a media text.

Binary Opposition - The contrast between two mutally exclusive things (e.g. good/evil, young/old). This creates conflict in media texts.

Censorship - Regulation and restriction of content in media texts.

CGI - Computer generated imagery used to enhance visual effects.

Code - A system of signs used to create meaning. Techinical codes (the way a text is constructed, e.g. camera angles), verbal codes (language, written or spoken) and symbolic codes (based in connotational meanings) are the vital areas to look at.

Connotation - Way in which meaning is created. Meaning by association, the deeper meaning (e.g. the red of the flower represents passion).

Demographic - Factual characteristics of a population sample (e.g. age, gender, nationality).

Denotation - Way in which meaning is created. The surface meaning (e.g. red is the colour of the flower).

Enigma - A question that is not immediately answered, thus drawing audiences in.

Genre - A way of categorising a media text according to form, style and content. This categorisation is useful for both producers and audiences.

Globalisation - Process by which cultures across the world have come to share the same media texts.

Ideology - A set of ideas or beliefs which are held to be acceptable by the creators of a media text. For example, if a text had a feminist ideology, it would promote the idea of gender equality.

Intertextuality - The influence media texts have on each other. Can be either direct cross referencing or indirect.

Narrative - The way a story, or sequence of events, is put together within a text. All media texts have some sort of narrative. The general summary of a narrative is: equilibrium - disequilibrium - new equilibrium.

POV (Point of View) - A first-person camera shot showing a scene from an individual character's view point.

Prefered Meaning - The meaning of a text which the producers intended. An aberrant reading is the opposite, such as when a person deliberately misinterprets a text to further their own agenda.

Protagonist - The character who drives the narrative forwards with their choices and actions.

Realism - The techniques by which a media text represents ideas and images that are held to have a true relationship with the actual world around us.

Representation - The way in which media texts represent the world through codes and signs.

Signs and Signification - A sign is a symbol understood to refer to or mean something other than itself. Signification is the process of reading signs.

Stereotype - A negative representation of a person or group based on preconcieved ideas.

Trope - A common or overused theme or device.

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