ML Revision Guide.

Media Language Terminology!

Technical

Shots:

• Close Up - Normally of the actors full face to show their expressions towards a situation.
• Extreme Close Up - Normally used in horror movies to show tense feelings but can also be used in other genres a a way of conveying a specific feeling (worry, etc) or to highlight a thing or object (a spider, eye, etc).
• Mid Close Up - This shot type captures the actors facial expressions but still leaves room to show body language and some background to show where they are set.

Angles:

• High - This is when the camera is above someone or something looking down on them which can often show how they are small or defenceless.
• Low - This is when the camera is below someone or something looking up at them which can often show them as intimidating, grand and or dominant.
• Canted - This is when the camera is angled to the side (so they have turned the camera to an angle) which can show a range of things.
• Birds-eye-view - This is when the camera shows us an elevated shot of a location as a way of setting the scene and telling its audiences where they are. It is called this as we resemble a bird flying.

Movement:

• Static - This is when the camera is stationary (it does not move) and portrays one shot of a scene without any significant movement.
• Hand-held - This is when the camera is carried by the operator and often shows an uneven movement which can show different emotions for a character or situation.
• Pan - This is when a camera is locked onto a tripod in a specific location.
• Tilt - This is used to follow a persons / actors movements (like climbing a ladder).
• Tracking - This is when a shot moves to the left or right which is often on a pre-laid track or a specialised truck.
• Crane / aerial - This is when the camera is fixed to a mechanical arm that looks like a crane which allows the camera to move in any direction and capture multiple shots.

Audio:

DIEGETIC V NON-DIEGETIC.

Dialogue:

• Vocabulary & Style - The way in which dialogue is said with different styles such as (angry, happy, sad, etc).
• Accent - The way in which someone uses an accent to perform a line to show what country or what area of the world they might be in.
• Dialect - This is versions of a single language that are mutually intelligible, but that differ in systematic way from each other.

Music:

• Style - This is the sort of vibe that it is such as (happy, sad, angry, suspenseful, etc).
• Mood - This too is how the vibe is portrayed in music (happy, sad, suspenseful, etc).
• Pace - This determines how fast or slow the music is to convey different meanings.
• Volume - This determines how loud the music is or how quiet it is to convey different meanings.
• Pitch - This determines how high or low the sound is too.
• Sound-bridge - This is a technique where a sound from a previous scene is carried to the next opening scene.

Sound Effects:

• Volume - This determines how loud the music is or how quiet it is to convey different meanings.
• Focus - This is a kind of media resource which uses recorded audio materials for communicating and delivering information.

Visual:

Mise-En-Scene

• Costume - The kind of outfit chosen for a character that helps to portray what there characteristics may be like or who they are in general (wedding dress - getting married).
• Hair - The way in which the actors hair is styled to show different aspects of them (messy - lower class or complicated family life, maybe they have children, etc).
• Make-up - This shows who they are as a character (lots of make-up, red lipstick - possibly quite wealthy but it also tells us they might be going out somewhere special). It can give us an insight into the narrative.
• Props - The different props used can tell us a range of things (gun in bag - they may be weak and rely on a gun, could be a criminal, etc).
• Setting - This can show some aspects of a person (large city, huge homes (like Hollywood) - they may be wealthy or famous).
• Body Language -  This can show how a character responds to certain things (arms folded, tapping their foot - they are inpatient).

Lighting:

• High key - This typically uses a 'Three Point Lighting' set-up but with a very high amount of key light.
• Low key - This is typically just one key light, although sometimes some fill light may be used.
• Artificial - This is when the light from artificial light sources such as candles, fire, electricity, etc is used within shots.
• Natural - This is just when a shot shows the lighting of the sun y itself as a source of brightness.

Framing & Composition:

• Blocking - This refers to how one or more actors move around the space during a production or within a shot.
• Rule of thirds - This is an approach to framing which divides the frame into three sections across the horizontal and vertical lines.
• Audience position - This refers to where the audience are placed in a shot (behind the actor, eye level with the actor, etc).