Entertainment Media Category 1 Plot communicated Ask The arrangement of material in a story Goal to better understand how meanings are produced and 01 26 2015 o What is the storyline o What are the pivotal points o What are the dominant narratives or the stories that directly or indirectly explain the world o How is it resolved Story Arc Freytag s pyramid 1 Exposition background on characters and setting 2 Rising action conflict becomes complicated and often a secondary conflict begins 3 Climax point of highest tension that marks a change for better or worse 4 Falling action conflict unravels and the protagonist wins loses a May contain final suspense moment that casts the final outcome in doubt Additional Plot Elements 5 Resolution conclusion and resolution of conflict for better or worse Time linear Real time Tension where does it come from and who is in between o Internal force within a person or dyad o External force Dialog who gets to talk and who doesn t Characters Have characteristics Physical dress age dis ability class gender race Social roles relationships occupations Psychological personality behavior Narrator Interpersonal traits dialect who talks to whom and how Defines the audience s point of view 1 Omniscient sees everything like God s perspective 2 Limited one person s point of view within the plot 3 Unreliable told from one person s point of view but their view is skewed for some internal reason Setting Locations in which a story occurs Watch for what is on the screen o Sets what we see in a scene o Blocking character movements placement Where they stand within a scene and what that means o Objects o Symbols realism or fantasy Semiotics Codes Sign elementary element that stands for something else Made up of 2 equal parts o The signifier a material thing o The signified the subjective meaning Sign the elementary unit of a code Code a system of meaning or a systematic organization of signs o Learning the code means learning to use and interpret signs o Codes of meaning represent and produce the world Historical Shifts Polysemy a sign can have multiple significations Determined by context and history Production Elements The composition and style of the message Camera selects point of view o Angles identifies narrator implies dominance submission emotional engagement Editing techniques and pacing o Smooth and slow suggest order o Rapid and jerky suggest disarray Sound ambient or sound effects Lighting reveals good bad safe dangerous Dominant meanings or messages o What is the lesson Themes Genre Class of texts that have something in common Provides familiar meaning structures o Romantic comedy o Action o Horror o Sci fi o Musical Ways to define a genre Drama Mystery Shared conventions o An element of plot is missing whodunit o Serious crime triggers story o Major character uses available info to solve the crime o Suspense in solving puzzle Mystery themes o Victim killer sleuth Thematic elements of a mystery o Greed jealousy lust revenge justice forgiveness good vs evil individual vs collective sacrificing for the greater good Genres change Historically culturally specific Reveal more about what a culture values And less about historical realities Identities Gone Wild Media and Consumption 01 26 2015 The problem media producers manipulate self worth to produce consumers The process o Media informs us about the world o Media constantly programs the way we think about ourselves o Media fills the void when our knowledge is limited Medias representation of idealized images How do we feel about ourselves o Critical always room for improvement main function is place in social world and relationships What are media messages telling us o Make us feel self conscious how we should feel main function in life is to consume and target our self worth How it works Sexuality and aggression draw attention o Unfamiliar and dramatic info grab attention o Children take images in media at face value o Sex and belonging are basic needs Effects Undermines healthy sexual development Narrows options for self worth and esteem Gender sex and dissatisfaction Undercuts girl s esteem o Women are objects and interchangeable o Worthy when serving others o Eating disorders depression low self esteem shame anxiety unhealthy sexual image Undercuts boys esteem Race and dissatisfaction If you have face to face interactions with a group different from you you rely more on media to tell you about that group o Rap music o dangerous black o women portray themselves as sex objects dehumanized in the hip hop scene Imaginal Confirmation Occurs when people believe they have seen instances of a stereotype in real life Perpetuates negative stereotypes Fantasy becomes reality Signs of hope Media literacy can blunt these effects College students o Took negative media cues seriously o Rejected clothing Where do you stand Regulatory approach public good Market approach o We should regulate the media because it is there to serve the o The public sphere should not be regulated because people should be able to choose empower people to make the right choices 01 26 2015