Media Language

Definition: Media Language refers to the ways in which meaning is created in media texts. 

Below is a range of  Film Construction Terminology, that I have learnt during Media Studies:

Camera

Establishing Shot: An Establishing Shot is a dramatic opening shot which establishes the disposition of a Geographical Marker and people/objects in the mise en scene. As such it is usually a wide shot, and it is likely to be followed by a succession of closer shots.

Two-Shot: A shot in which two figures appear in the frame.

Point of View Shot: A camera angle in which the viewer seems to see with the eyes of the character in the scene.

Over the Shoulder Shot: A camera shot in which the subject of the shot is filmed from behind a person's head and shoulders, which are framed to one side the foreground. 

High-Angle Shot: A camera shot taken from a higher level than the subject, and angled down towards them. This shot can have the effect of diminishing the authority of the subject, making them look weak.

Low-angle shot: A camera shot taken from a lower level than the subject, and angled up at them. This shot can have the effect of enhancing the authority of the subject, making them look powerful.

Canted-angle: A cinematic device where the camera is physically placed at an angle so that vertical and horizontal surfaces appear diagonal.

Pan: A horizontal camera movement left-to-right or right-to-left on a fixed axis. The word is short for ‘panoramic movement’. A pan following a moving object suggests that we are viewing it from the point of view of an observer.

Tilt: A camera movement up or down on a horizontal axis.

Tracking shot: A camera movement achieved by mounting the camera on a dolly and moving it along a track. Typically, tracking shots are used to follow characters or other objects in motion.

Sound

Diagetic Sound: Sound that can be heard by the characters in the world of the film.

Non-diagetic Sound: Sound that cannot be heard by the characters in the world of the film.

Synchronous Sound: Sound that is directly matched with what is being viewed.

Sound Bridge: Editing technique in which visual cuts are deliberately not matched with audio cuts. For example, the editor may cut to a completely new scene, but allow sound from the preceding scene to run on for a short time. Alternatively, we may hear the sound of the next scene before we can see it.

Dialogue: The conversation that happens between characters in a work of fiction, or the lines spoken by actors.

Voiceover: A type of non-diagetic, asynchronous sound in which the audience hear a voice that does not have a source either within the frame or within hearing distance and which is not heard by people on screen.

Incidental Music: Music used in a film as a background to create or enhance a particular atmosphere.

Stings: A short musical phrase primarily used as a form of punctuation.

Ambient Sound: Sound which is natural to a setting.

Mise-en-scene: The look of a film, derived from its use of sets and settings, lighting, colour, costumes, hair and makeup, props, actor movement, and the overall placement and visual composition of these elements by the director.

Location: A 'real' place, as opposed to a studio, in which something is filmed or otherwise recorded. A location might be a New York City street or a desert.

Mise-en-scène

Mise-en-scène: The look of a film, derived from its use of sets and settings, lighting, colour, costumes hair and make-up, props, actor movement, and the overall placement and visual composition of these elements by the dis

Location: A ‘real’ place, as opposed to a studio, in which something is filmed or otherwise recorded. A location might be a New York City street or a desert.

Set: An interior that has been constructed to look like a real place when filmed; the set helps to identify the time and place in which a narrative will unfold.

Costume: The clothes worn by characters in a fictional text. The costumes are part of the mise en scène and as such are an important part of signification (for example, as a generic or period identifier).

Make-up: Cosmetics used to change the appearance of a performer.

Prop: Short for ‘property’. A small item used in a film or TV production to add realism, assist with the narrative or act as a motif. 

High-key lighting: Lighting which eliminates most of the shadows.

Low-key lighting: Lighting which emphasises shadows.