Lecture 21Outline of Current LectureI. What is a text?II. Levels of Textual AnalysisIII. Interpreting the Imagea. Describe the Image Denotativelyb. Now Describe the Image ConnotativelyIV. Textual Analysis of Media ImagesV. A Television Examplea. Describing a TV Scene DenotativelyVI. Why do Textual Analysis?Media and Cultural Production – TextsI. What is a text?-Any gesture, even, or object that is meaningful, that can be read or interpreted.-E.g. 1: a “text message” – an easy and familiar example with its own conventions, e.g. “4u” meaning “for you”-E.g. 2: but what about a chair. When or for whom is a chair a text, something that can be interpretedo For anyone who enters a room with 8 chairs and isn’t sure “where to sit”; a furniture design studentII. Levels of Textual Analysis- Denotation: description, literal meaning- Connotation: non-literal, qualities and ideas evoked by features of the textIII. Interpreting the Imagea. Describe image denotatively• A picture, probably a photograph or digitally-generated image• Of a flower variety, a rose• A red rose, including an open blossom with nested layers of red petals, a partial stem pictured from the bottom of the blossom to the bottom of the frame, with 3 green leaves sprouting mid-way from the back of the stem• White background, evenly-lit image, some shadow at the center of the blossom Comm 121 1st Editionb. Now describe the image connotatively• What ideas or qualities does it suggest?• An image of “cultivation,” “refinement”• “Romantic”• “Passionate”• “Love” All possible and common, none necessary This is our interpretive Work: identifying the range of meaning and the likely interpretation in a given text Connotations may change over time and may vary from one context to another. Does a red rose signify “love” in all places or times? No.IV. Textual Analysis of Media Images- Careful denotative description is hard – it is a skill!!- You can always provide more detail, e.g. “the heavy blossom tilts slightly toward the viewer or camera, on a stem whose upper curve from left to right suggests the weight of the blossom”- Scholars use careful textual analysis to understand (1) denotative, (2) connotative and (3) ideological meanings1. What is there?2. What does it suggest or tell us?3. How do elements interact to produce pictures of the world?V. A Television Example• From “Louie,” Season 3, Episode 3, from 16:00 to close (not on Moodle – can’t clip from streaming signal) – Louis and Ramon at the bar talking about why Louis stayed on in Miami after his stand-up engagement had endeda. Describing a TV Scene DenotativelyPay attention to: • Casting (who appears? What are they like?)• Camerawork (close-up, wide-shot)• Dialogue (what gets said, how, and by whom?)• Action (what do characters or objects do?)• Lighting (bright, dim, shadowy, indoor, outdoor)• Editing (many cuts? Few?)• Sound and music• Graphics• Setting and costume• Make-up- Describe the scene between Louie and Ramon denotatively in order to answer the following questions: “What story is being told”“In what genre” Comm 121 1st Edition“How”With what ideological or “world view” significance about friendship between men?VI. Why do Textual Analysis?• To answer questions about representation, a key issue in media studies• Croteau & Hoynes, p. 188: “The question of how media representations of the social world compare to the external “real” world also raises several issues…”• Who is represented, how, and by whom? Comm 121 1st