�� ��������: �Stewart C., Lavelle M. Media and Meaning. L., 2001

 

 

Representation

 

In the summer of 1999, a series of striking advertisements appeared on billboards around the United Kingdom. With plain white backgrounds, they featured people with a variety of disabilities accompanied by a 'carer'. Beside them was a simple statement in large, bold black type.This text appeared to offer observations that we would expect to apply to the people featured. In one, a man is shown in a wheelchair, with a woman by his side:'Sex can be a bit of a problem' reads the caption. Automatically, we decode this message as a comment on the difficulties confronting this man, in this most private and fundamental area of human intercourse. However, a further piece of text, in much smaller type, on the other side of the figures, completely reverses our perceptions of what is being said:'Sarah's a screamer', in this case. The man does have a ' problem, only not with the act of sex itself!

This particular advertisement works in several ways to subvert our expectations. It leads us into thinking we know what is going on, then artfully pulls the rug out from under us. So, our precon�ceptions are challenged. At the same time, it also uses sex - a mainstay of all advertising today, it often seems - both to attract our attention and to engage our sympathies. When the twist is revealed, we are surprised - and invited to reconsider our understanding of the original image. Moreover, the warmth and wit of the revelation offers us one last delight: a non-exploitative use of sexuality. It is presented as a universal and positive aspect of human life - just as people with disabilities are.

The ability of the media to manipulate our perceptions is amply demonstrated in this example. On this occasion, the process is a positive one: it is used to challenge our preconceptions and to induce a rethink about a stereotype (see below). The same cannot be said about the majority of media images.

After nearly forty years of feminism, more than 30 per cent of advertising still portrays women as slim blonde 'bimbos' under the age of thirty. A different standard applies to men. At least half the men were allowed to be over thirty, according to a survey by the Broadcasting Standards Council.

Male actors are nearly always dark-haired, in contrast to the typical blonde female. In advertising, only 11 per cent are slim and muscular 'himbos', the remainder being a variety of body weights. While a male ideal definitely exists, men are allowed a greater range of body types.

Women are almost never shown in the driving seat when men and women travel together, says the Broadcasting Standards Council. Whatever the reality of what is taking place in the actual world, media representations continue to follow certain well-established patterns.

It is not only gender analysts who are protesting over their characterization in the media. Native American Indian Gertrude Minnie-Ha-Ha Custalow had this to say about the Disney film Pocahontas (USA, 1995):'They have her as this beautiful woman when, in fact, Pocahontas was about ten years old when the English arrived. To look at the film you would have thought Pocahontas invented the push-up bra!'

 

Defining representation

The media do not present reality; they 're-present' it. When things happen, out there in the world, these events are said to 'present' themselves. It is relatively rare for any form of media to capture this first presentation (and, even when they do, they are still mediated to us in various ways: see pp. 6-7).The media are only representing things once they have occurred.

This is the theory, at least. The actual practices of many media outlets mean that often it seems to be they who are generating the reality on which they are reporting. Many tabloid stories, in particular, have homed in on personal miseries that they themselves have been instrumental in bringing about.

One of the regularly recurring negative images we are exposed to is that of the football hooligan. This social phenomenon has been with us for quite a long time now. Often, it seems to flare up particularly badly during European encounters. It would be interesting to know whether the Romans ever had any problems with unruly crowds after their chariot races - or after the lion-feeding sessions that early Christians used to suffer. Most media, however, have little concern for what has happened in the past.

In the case of England's public shaming during the Euro 2000 competition, something rather more complex appears to have happened. Following the activities of a tiny number of 'fans' prior to the match with Germany, in the town of Charleroi, numerous television and newspaper outlets in the United Kingdom were very quick to cry 'foul!' Pictures of hooligans and riot police, water cannons and so on were used to cover the sensational story of outbreaks of ugly violence in public places. This is by now a very sad, and very familiar, story. According to one commentator, however, it is just a little too familiar: so much so, in fact, that the media seem to have been predetermined to find it.

 

It was a small fight, some chairs were overturned and a big water pistol was used. Charlie Whelan says television reporting of the football 'riots' in Brussels and Charleroi was staggeringly inaccurate.

Media Guardian, 26 June 2000

 

At least fifty television cameras were counted in the main square of the town, all conveniently poised to capture highly usable images of the 'riots' when they started. Local police had already given out the tip that they intended to make some arrests. When a small handful of inebriated hotheads duly obliged, with a small scuffle involving some chair throwing and chanting, the cannon was turned on and the story was finally written.

Only the broadcasters on BBC Radio 5 Live seem to have reported on the many thousands of fans who had been peacefully enjoying themselves for hours leading up to this incident. That kind of pleasantness, of course, does not make for exciting news.

In a similar vein, faked documentaries and made-up identities/predicaments on chat shows have added to this notion of 'constructed reality'. Members of the public and programme-makers alike, it seems, have become very adept at mani�pulating the media for their own purposes.

Moreover, it could be argued that, for many people, the 'world' that they perceive through the media is more real to them - and certainly a lot more exciting - than the one in which they actually live. Hollywood, for instance, churns out much more action/romance/fear/danger/sex ... than most of us could ever hope to experience first-hand. Even British soap operas offer more incident and intrigue, night after night, than we encounter in our own daily round (or, ironically, than we would probably find comfortable if we did have to live through them ourselves).

Therefore, in both reportage (coverage of actual events) and drama (self-confessed fiction), there are problems centring on our perceptions of what the media reveal to us. There are strong grounds for claiming that the media in fact invent a world - or, worse, worlds! - all of their own, and that these have little to do with the lives that their consumers in fact lead.

The best claim that can be made is that they only present a selection of reality. Edited highlights, we might say.This presentation is altered each time a selection is made. In the case of television, the scriptwriter, camera operator, the editor and the producer all make selections and changes. Newspaper stories go through a similar process of selection involving the journalist, the sub-editor and the editor.

Media products are not the same as lived experience, but only consist of a selection of experiences. These manufactured versions of reality are based on the values of the producers and, in turn, the values of the larger society and culture.

A media representation is a depiction, a likeness or a constructed image of something in real life. A representation can be of individual people (e.g. the US president in Independence Day, USA, 1996), of social groups (e.g. age groups, gender, racial groups), ideas (e.g. law and order, unemployment), or of events (e.g. a royal wedding or the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, or JFK, as he was known).

A representation can be a single image, a sequence of images or a whole programme; written words, spoken words or song lyrics.

 

How representations work

Representations invite audiences to understand them and agree with them in certain preferred ways. Different interpretations are possible to some extent, depending on the audience.

■���������������������������� A representation is composed of repeated elements

The more we see these elements repeated, the more the representation will appear natural or 'normal'.

■����������������������������� We are invited to either identify with or recognise the representation

Producers of the media representations may have a view of the world that is similar to our own. If their representation fits in with our view of who we are, we may choose to identify with it.This happens, for example, when a film invites us to imagine ourselves in the role of an appealing character. On the other hand, the producers may see a person, idea or event as somehow foreign or different to them. We will be invited to recognise the representation from our own experience. A programme might invite us to identify with the lawyer hero, for example, but will invite us to only recognise the lawbreaking young thugs.

■���������������������������� The media make categories of people, events or ideas

Categories include labels such as 'the unemployed', 'the aged' or 'businessman'. Representations are generalisations about categories and why events, ideas or people belong in them. These categories then become part of our thinking processes.

■�������������������������������� Representations contain a point of view

The meaning in a representation is selected and constructed, containing value judgements already in-built. All representations contain the point of view of the people who made them.

■ �����������������������������Representations have a mode of address

Hidden behind the apparent naturalness of the representation will be some assumptions about who you are. For example, a news item about skin�heads will probably address you assuming you are a middle-aged businessman, not a skinhead yourself!

 

Stereotypes

A stereotype is a 'typical' or mass-produced image, repeated so many times it seems to have established a pattern. It is a simplified and highly judgmental type of representation.

One well-known female stereotype is that of the dumb blonde. On the other hand, there is the male stereotype of the foolish sitcom father. Throughout media's history, there has been a long list of stereotypes - the housewife, the nuclear family, the action hero and so on.

The word stereotype comes from the printing trade. Printers would make a papier-mache model and then cast a metal printing plate from it. Next, they would ink the plate and hundreds of identical printings could then be reproduced. Just as the image on the metal typesetting plate is fixed and endlessly repeated, so the stereotype is often applied whatever the circumstances.

Stereotypes are an extreme form of representation. Like representations, they are constructed by a process of selection - but the

process is excessive. Certain aspects are focused on and then exaggerated. At the same time, an evaluation is made and the audience is invited to make a judgment. The judgment is often on the basis of prejudice. Repetition establishes stereo�types and over time allows them to appear'natural'.

In the extreme, stereotypes can become an exaggerated caricature resembling a cartoon. In fact, cartoons and comedies rely on stereotypes because they are instantly recognisable.'Seen one, seen 'em all' could be the familiar cry for all stereotypes.

Many groups in society have stereotypes associated with them.These contain limited and distorted views. For example, in a study of the image of scientists, Dr Roslynn Haynes came up with six stereotypes that have existed since the l500s.These are: the evil scientist or alchemist (e.g. Dr Strangelove), the noble scientist (e.g. Einstein-like characters), the stupid scientist, the inhuman researcher, the adventurer and finally the crazed scientist whose projects get out of control (e.g. Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll).

Stereotyping is often evident when there is a power imbalance between members of society. Relations between men and women, for example, could encourage the development of stereotypes on both sides. In the same way, disadvantaged minority groups often have stereotypes associated with them.

 

Ideology

O'Sullivan tells us how, underpinning much of the output of the media, various powerful vested interests operate to ensure particular representa�tions of the world are manifested. Thus, in the West anyway, communism (before it expired) was always presented as inherently bad. Capitalism, on the other hand - by and large, and despite much evidence to the contrary - was always good.� ■ Ideology is an organised system of beliefs and values that inform the basis on which a particular society operates.

However, like all else in the media, it is a construct. Although it often appears 'natural', in fact it is created.

Noam Chomsky is most forthright on this when he says:'the media serve the interests of state and corporate power, which are closely interlinked, framing their reporting and analysis in a manner supportive of established privilege and limiting debate accordingly.'

In support of this statement, he goes on to identify five 'filters' that operate in the area of news reporting, which determine the kinds of material that is presented to us:

►����������������������������� the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms

►������������������������������� advertising as the primary source of income

►������������������������������� reliance of the media on information provided by government, business and 'experts' funded and approved by these primary sources and agents of power

►������������������������������� 'flak' as a means of disciplining the media

►������������������������������� 'anti-communism' as a national religion and control mechanism.

Of course, this latter has been more identified with the United States in its more extreme forms, but British society has not been entirely free of prejudice against this system of government. Where are our thoughts and attitudes on this matter shaped, but through what we see and read in the media?

If this notion now seems a little out of date, we need only to consider whether the collapse of communism has led to a complete absence of national enemies - or whether others have appeared, fortuitously, to take its place? The Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's role would bear scrutiny for this purpose. George Orwell, in his famous novel / 984, was very clear about how vital to social control was the creation - and occasional reshuffling - of an external opposition.

Occasionally, as in Margaret Thatcher's unique description of the striking British miners as 'the enemy within', this device can even be turned on a state's own populace.

 

Questioning representations

To be more critically aware of representations, the following questions need to be asked:

►������������������������������� Who made it?

►������������������������������ When was it made?

►������������������������������� Where was it made?

►������������������� ������������What are its social/political/cultural origins?

►������������������������������� What are its purposes?

►������������������������������� Who benefits from the representation or whose point of view does it support?

►���������������������������� ��Who does not benefit or whose point of view is not considered?

►������������������������������ Who or what is not shown?

 

 

 

 

 

Genre

 

In essence, genre is a very simple concept.The word itself derives from the French word meaning 'type', or 'kind'. It could in theory be applied to the study of any form of media product, since they all have identifiable categories. In actual practice, however, it has tended to be associated mostly with analysis of film and television programmes.

In essence, genre is a straightforward means of classifying products according to the elements they have in common - most notably narrative form, setting, characters, subjects and themes.

So central is the concept of genre to the study of the media, the organisational approach adopted in this book has been built upon it. Each medium has its own distinctive strands of programme, or article, or visual style, and close examination of these is the chief means used to analyse key features of their production.

A great deal more will be said on this topic in each section of this book. It is not therefore something that will be dwelt on in detail at this point. At least, not in terms of its impact on the products themselves. However, there are some more general observations that are worth making.

Above all else, the point needs making that genre has always been first and foremost an issue of institutional and production choice, and not least for the satisfaction and pleasure of audiences. It was not something invented for the convenience of study.

 

Genres and institutions

There is a powerful incentive towards genre-identification for any organisation seeking to engage in media production, in the very obvious area of attracting an audience. Proven interest in particular kinds of product leads inexorably to further creation of more of the same. In the realm of film, especially, where production costs can be extremely high, clarity of genre can be crucial in establishing audience appeal. A certain level of return may be expected, or at least projected, on the strength of previous successes.

Many other factors play a part in securing this, of course: the quality of the script, and of the filming; the actors and the performances they give; the locations used and so on.� Working within a genre in itself is no guarantee of anything. However, films which do not have a clear generic identity may find they have even larger hurdles to clear in their pursuit of success.

 

Attracting production funding - in the world of commercial film, at least - is very much harder if the genre is unclear, for precisely this reason. Television production is not quite on the same scale, of course, but does require the investment and coordination of considerable resources. Commissioners of new proposals want some reassurance as to likely success.

The ability to 'pitch' an idea is crucial. A pitch is a presentation that summarises in an extremely compressed form which simultaneously makes the idea sound exciting and draws on previous successes. Alien (USA, 1979) was apocryphally reported to have been pitched as 'Jaws in a spaceship'.

At the same time, the marketing of films is very much simpler when the genre is clear. Both posters, with their direct visual appeals, and trailers, with more emphasis on narrative, work much more effectively when audiences can readily recognise the general kind of product that is being sold. Going to see a film constitutes a significant effort, and financial outlay, all things considered: people need to be reasonably certain of enjoying the product if they are to be coaxed into making that commitment.

Although less common today than in the classic days of Hollywood, the multi-picture contract still features with many studios, and particular stars.Actors who can be readily identified with certain kinds of film are reckoned to be 'money in the bank'.

 

Genres and audiences

Genres are repeated sets of codes and conventions, or systems of signs (see p. 46). Their habitual usage has tended to mean that their structure stays the same, at least for as long as they are a useful way of doing things. Consequently, genres have predictable patterns.There are many well-known media genres, such as the horror film, the newspaper feature article, the situation comedy and so on.

Audiences, too, depend on the notion of genre - and not only for the financial reasons outlined above. Part of our pleasure in watching a film comes from our sense of being able to predict its direction and likely outcome.We like to make informed guesses about what is going to happen and derive satisfaction or pleasure when we are proved right. We take our clues from a variety of facets that have come to be associated with particular genres: the 'baddie' wears black, the hero has an innate moral sense, the 'vamp' is not to be trusted, the alien wishes to appropriate us or our planet, and so on. Once we can tune into the broad outlines, much fun comes from trying to anticipate the detail.

Of course, there is a fine line here: the script needs to give us enough to engage us, and allow for recognition/anticipation, but not so much that we can work out everything well in advance. We also like, contrarily, to be surprised. Genre simultaneously provides the comfort of familiar outlines and the scope for individual variations.

Another important feature of genres is that they are a means of selecting and constructing a certain view of the world. As such, they are closely related to audience 'reading' practices.

The language educator Brian Moon believes the relationship of various genres to people's reading practices can be seen in the David Lynch television series Twin Peaks. Released in the late 1980s, it was read by some as a comedy, by others as a soap opera and by a large cult following as a satire. For each of these groups, it appears to have helped their understanding in some way for them to feel they were watching a comedy, or a soap opera, or a satire. The question of which group, if any, is right seems not to matter particularly.

Audiences often find the various genres reassuring.According to Moon, texts are always read through genre and genres 'are like coloured spectacles we can change but never remove'.

 

Features of genre

Audiences can usually identify genres because the have recognisable features and step-by-step structures. Audience enjoyment of them is often derived from the repetition, with just enough variation to add 'spice'.

■ Genres have a step-by-step structure

Genres have a relatively predictable structure of stages that follow each other in a sequence. In terms of narrative, the classic Hollywood formula for musicals was said to be:'boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl'.This is an example of the familiar three-act narrative structure of orientation, complication and finally resolution.

 

■ �Genres are a development of the cultural context

In a particular culture, people become used to [ interacting in certain ways. The rituals of the traditional Maori greeting developed out of the habitual interactions of that culture. Within a culture, people also like hearing stories with familiar subject matter. In Japan, a favourite genre is the samurai story. Respect, loyalty and the importance of tradition are important to this genre.

The values and beliefs of the culture will affect the types of stories they prefer. For example, Western culture generally favours stories where good triumphs over evil. There is little demand for stories where evil is rewarded, or where rewards randomly go to either good or evil. These preferences lead the audience to expect particular characters and familiar plots. The interest lies in the twists and turns along the way to resolution. The cultural context of the United Kingdom did not call for the development of the Western. With a few exceptions, it has remained a largely American genre. On the other hand, the cultural context of Australia appears to have been favourable to the development of the television soap opera. Australian soap operas are now shown around the world.

 

■ Genres can change

Genres change at about the same pace as the overall culture. Being closely tied to the culture, they reveal the concerns of the time and also who has the most power in that culture. For example, nineteenth-century British novels presented a class-based society that also denied women access to power. This is shown in the film of the novel Sense and Sensibility (UK/USA, 1995).

Genres are changing relatively quickly at the moment.Technology has produced a rapid pace of change in the overall culture, changing the previously accepted ways of doing things.

(For more on genres, including hybrid or multi-generic texts, see codes and conventions, pp. 48-9.)

 

MULTI-GENERIC/ HYBRID TEXTS

Many texts mix and match a range of genres to suit new purposes created by a changing society. For example, programmes such as the police drama The Bill combine elements of soap opera in their own format. Documentaries, often regarded as belonging to the larger exposition genre, can also display features of the report genre. Docudrama combines both of these genres with the storytelling features of the narrative genre.

Mixing elements of different genres together draws on formats that have proven popularity. At the same time, of course, they also prevent those formulas from becoming stale.

Genres and codes

There may in fact be many codes linked and operating within the much larger conventional code of the particular genre. For example, the semiotician Roland Barthes suggests that the narrative genre consists of at least five key cote

►�������������������������������� CHARACTER CODES in which signs relating to personality, appearance and speech are grouped

►�������������������������������� SUSPENSE CODES in which information is hidden from the reader until the end.

►������������������� ��������������PLOT CODES using familiar patterns of story development.

►�������������������������������� STRUCTURAL CODES featuring binary oppositions, such as good versus evil or nature and culture.

►�������������������������������� CULTURAL CODES based on cultural knowledge, beliefs and values.

Barthes argued that, by varying these codes, particular genres such as romances or horror films can be produced.

 

 

Language

 

Nobody who has an interest in modern society, and certainly nobody who has an interest in relationships of power in modern society, can afford to ignore

Norman Fairclough Linguist

Our language can be seen as an old city; a maze of little streets and squares, of old and new houses, and houses with additions from various periods; and this surrounded by a multitude of modern sections with straight and regular streets and uniform houses.

Ludwig Wittgenstein Philosopher

 

The world we live in, says the linguist Norman Fairclough, is a massive human-created world.This becomes increasingly so as the natural world is transformed to support larger and larger popula-tions.This human world cannot help being a world of values, attitudes and beliefs -or ideologies. Ideologies are systems of values. They are closely linked to the cultural and social context. Examples of ideologies include beliefs about gender roles, about the economy (such as economic rationalism, or its opposite - Keynesianism), about the virtues of technology, and so on.

Ideologies are closely linked to power. In medieval times, the Church was the most powerful institution in society and the ideologies of religion predominated.

Today, consumerism seems to be the driving force behind social organisation: stoked up by advertising and serviced by manufacturing industries, our desires and dreams are inspired by media images and controlled by international conglomerates with interests in every facet of leisure pursuits. We may cling to the belief that we are free individuals, distinct and in control of everything we do. In fact, our taste in clothes, in soft drinks, in music, in modes of transport, in food and a in whole range of other aspects of our daily lives are closely scrutinised by the manufacturing and marketing industries. The information gathered is then used to manipulate and guide our subsequent purchase choices. Some influential thinkers, such as Noam Chomsky, would even assert that even in ideological outlook we are just as much driven by the media as in anything else that we do.

Using language is the most common form of social behaviour in the human world. Fairclough argues ideologies are closely linked to language. This is because language is a tool for thinking and believing. If language carries ideologies, then it also is a vehicle for carrying power.����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������

 

Consider the many accents of England, for example. The accent of the upper class, called 'received pronunciation' (received ultimately from the royal family) immediately bestows power and status. In its early years, the BBC relied exclusively on this accent, in line with its perception of itself as an institution of authority and influence in public life.Today, of course, a much wider range of accents can be found there, as the nature and purpose of broadcasting has developed. Programmes aimed at young people, for example, would not draw many viewers if the presenters spoke only in the accents of Prince Charles!

Feminists would also agree that language carries ideologies and gives power. The use of gender-specific language, such as 'man' to stand for all people, has helped to exclude women from power.

The concept of 'political correctness' sought precisely to examine assumptions contained within language and to eradicate the in-built biases against minority groups.The hostility and ridicule poured over this term is hardly surprising, given the vested interests it attacks.The attitudes and interests of those hurling the abuse would make for an interesting study in themselves.

Some of the chief characteristics of language and ideologies include:

■ Naturalisation

If an ideology or belief system comes to dominate all others it will be seen as 'natural' or 'the only way'.This is in spite of the often arbitrary nature of ideologies. In language, ideologies are most effective when they are invisible. Until the 1960s, for example, it was perfectly normal to use 'he' to mean 'he/she'.This seemed to be common sense and few saw any problem.That is, until women became aware that the language was sustaining an ideology of male superiority at their expense.

 

Today, a capitalist, consumer-orientated system seems to be the only natural way to organise a technological society. It appears there could be no other way, especially since the collapse of communism. Capitalism has become naturalised.

■�������������������������������� Repetition

The media is a powerful naturalising force because its effects are cumulative. A single media text on its own may have a very minor effect. However, with repetition, a point of view or an ideology comes to appear as common sense. Failure to present or explore alternatives leads to the unchallenged assumption that this is the only way of doing things.

■������������������������������� Media texts are often multi-modal

Media texts commonly contain pictures and print in the case of the print media, for example; or voice, sound and visuals on television and film. The language of the media works in a complex mix of modes which can reinforce particular viewpoints. For example, the soundtrack of a documentary can work emotionally while the voiceover can make logical appeals.

 

The semiotic approach to media language

Within the past century, there has been a profound shift in Western societies from a culture that is based on the written word to one that is increasingly founded on the visual image.The mass media of film, television and advertising especially are now the dominant forces in shaping and controlling social attitudes and aspirations. When we consider that it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that the ability to read became universal, the pace with which things are moving becomes striking. On the other hand, it is not that written language is being superseded: supplemented, rather.

The rules of spoken language, or written language cannot be used to understand sound effects or visuals. All that unites these modes is that they are each acts of communication.

However, this uniting factor provides a starting point for analysis. At the most basic level, communication takes place through signs - gestures, sounds, grunts and drawn images.

It is possible to analyse on this level, alt it is reducing media language to the plane of sun atomic particles of communication. However, the reduction to signs does allow all print, sound and visual aspects of media communication to be studied together. This study of signs and sign systems is called semiotics.

The genesis of this discipline originates from two influential writers from the early part of the twentieth century, Ferdinand de Saussure and the American Charles Peirce.Another major French philosopher and theorist, Roland Barthes, later made significant developments to their initial contributions on linguistic models. In particular, he developed systems for examining how the abstract models devised by the earlier theorists could be applied to the social context of language, and how usage depended on individual interpretation. He was responsible for devising the system whereby two orders of signification were identified:

- the signifier is the sign which refers to an

object or concept - the signified is the object or concept to which

is referred.

 

THE SIGN

All communication can be seen as messages created out of signs. A sign can be a smile, a rude hand gesture, a photograph or a letter in the alphabet. The audience for any message gives it meaning by interpreting the signs.

Signs refer to something other than themselves They work as pointers, giving directions to think in a certain way. For example, the collection of marks on the page that is the word 'apple' bears no resemblance to an actual apple. All the marks do is point us in the direction of thinking about a real apple. While a photograph does bear a resem-blance to the object it signifies, it is not the object itself. Therefore, a photograph is only directing us to think the thought, in the same way as letters �n a page direct us.

The meaning of a sign depends on the cultural context in which it is used. John Fiske gives the example of an ox. In an English-speaking context, an ox may suggest a beast of burden or something served between two buns with French fries. For Hindu in India, where there can be a jail sentence for killing this sacred animal, the word 'ox' would have a very different meaning to that of a European, for instance.

ICONS are signs that resemble the object to which they refer. Photographs are icons because they are images of things that do exist. Similarly, many visual representations adopt an outline resemblance to the objects referred to: road signs of cars and motorbikes are obvious examples. Icons can also be words, however. Onomatopoeia works like an icon because it makes verbal language sound like what it signifies. For example, the word 'crash' sounds like the noise to which it refers.

SYMBOLS are signs that do not resemble the thing to which they refer.The meaning they have is through associations built up over generations of habitual use.The olive branch representing peace or the cross representing Christianity are easily recognised symbols with their roots in antiquity.

DENOTATION is the term given to the naming and describing level of a sign, at its most literal level. This level defines or denotes to what the sign refers. For example, the term 'dove' denotes a small bird from the same family as the pigeon.

CONNOTATION refers to the associated thoughts that any particular sign brings to mind.These may be anything connected, suggested or implied by the sign. For example, a white dove brings to mind the concept of peace. A turtledove is connected with the imagery of love.

POLYSEMY refers to the capacity of all signs to be 'many signed' (polysemic): i.e. to have more than one meaning. A dictionary is a good place to discover this. The average number of meanings for a single word (or sign) in English is four or five. . With seventeen different meanings, the word 'range' is one of the most polysemic. Within a particular culture, signs are not usually regarded as endlessly polysemic.The variations that occur are within limits set by the social and cultural context.

 

CODES

Codes are systems of signs, put together (usually in sequence) to create meaning. As with a spy code, a set of rules governs the way in which the code is assembled and the linkages that will be made. The members of the community using the code consent to the rules and in this way make sense of the communication. Codes are therefore a product of the social and cultural context.

Writing is a code which allows us to represent thoughts on paper. Carefully schooled agreement� among users allows the code to be understood. In the same way, sequences of images in a television drama are a code which allows us to participate in the narrative genre. Media academics and educators Barrie McMahon and Robyn Quin have classified the codes of television and film into three categories: technical, symbolic and written codes.

TECHNICAL CODES are the codes of the craft or the profession. They are technical in the sense of being 'techniques' of construction. Examples of technical codes include camera techniques, journalistic techniques, editing techniques and so on.

SYMBOLIC CODES are systems of signs that are embedded within the text itself. These signs have strong associative or connotative meanings connected with them. Symbolic codes include the actors' clothing and body language, music and sound effects, and choice of language.

WRITTEN CODES apply to a range of contexts in which words are used in texts. These may include newspaper headlines, captions attached to photographs, the typography adopted or the house style of a particular publication.

ENCODING refers to the process of making codes. Producers of texts are said to encode their mes�sages using systems of signs. Institutional issues impact on this process.

DECODING refers to the 'reading' of coded messages by the receiver. Issues related to audience have an impact on this process.

 

MEDIA Television Film Photographs Computer-based media	TECHNICAL CODES Select from: ►����������� framing ►������������� composition ►������������ shot type ►������������� camera angle ►������������ lighting ►������������ special effects ►������������� editing ►������������� camera movement ►������������ sound volume ►����������� sound fades and cuts ►������������ sound layering ►����������� written (structural; e.g. division into parts, words on the screen such as 'later' ►������������ computer screen design ►����������� computer interactivity ►������������ computer sequencing ►���������� ��computer navigation	SYMBOLIC CODES Select from: ►����������� symbolic objects ►������������ set design ►������������ actors' body language ►����������� actors' appearance ►������������ lighting ►������������ dialogue ►������������ sound effects ►������� ����music ►������������ choice of language
Radio CDs etc.	Select from: ►���������� fades and cuts ►������������ sound volume ►������������ sound layers	Select from: ►������������ dialogue ►������������ music ►����������� sound effects ►������������ silence
Newspapers Magazines Computer-based multimedia (text) etc.	Select from: ►������������ sentence construction ►������������� headlines etc. ►������������� columns ►������������� page design ►����������� story placement ►������������ layout Also refer to the codes for photographs	Select from: ►������������ choice of emotive words ►����������� symbolic typefaces or fonts ►����������� (e.g. medieval) Also refer to the codes for photographs

 

 

CONVENTIONS

Conventions are habits or long accepted ways of doing things. Through repeated experiences, often over generations, audiences become familiar with the procedures of conventions.

The media have hundreds of conventions. Each of them has been built up over so many years that the audience believes they are just 'common sense'. In television and film, for example, a soft dissolve or 'melting' picture is used to signify a flashback; similarly, a fade to black may indicate the passing of time. Had Hollywood developed differently, it could just as easily have been a fade to white (which instead tends to mean death or a dream).

Conventions operate by general agreement with the audience. They are therefore the social and cultural component of signs and codes.

THE COMMUTATION TEST

The meaning of a sign, code or convention can often be discovered by commuting it into something else. Movement, transfer or exchange can often result in vastly different meanings. For example, if the white clothes of the traditional melodrama hero were commuted to black, there would be a change in meaning. This change tells us what the cultural significance of the white clothes was.