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The Baby’S Guide To Media Study

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G
Guy Stanley

Media studies involves both appreciating and technically examining media texts. It requires looking at and responding to media, as well as finding evidence to support interpretations. While media saturation since childhood has unconsciously taught people the "language" of media, media studies provides a critical vocabulary to discuss media consumption and production. Analyzing media texts involves decoding their constructed meanings and breaking down signs, images, and actions to understand positive or negative connotations beyond literal denotations.

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The Baby’s Guide to Media Study Media Studies is unusual in that it is both an art and a science. Media Studies is about appreciation – your opinions and interpretations - Media Studies is about technical examination – finding evidence and facts to prove those opinions and interpretations -
So what is it about! This means that Media Studies is about: Looking and listening Responding and Commenting Finding and Proving
The Good News The advantage of Media Study is that you already know how to do it! You have all been consuming the Media for at least 13 years This means you have grown up in an environment of media saturation
A new language? By being metaphorically drenched in Media consumption - you have unconsciously learnt the ‘language’ of Media creation. Our classes will be about providing you with a critical vocabulary so that you will be able to discuss on paper what you have been doing in your head for 13 years!
So what’s next? So the task of our early lessons is to teach you how to talk and walk like a Media Studies baby Just as you need to learn the words, grammar and rules of French, German or English…in class you will learn how to ‘speak’ Media
Let’s get started The Simpsons is in many ways the peak of media production in terms of its popularity, notoriety and global recognition. Homer Simpson was recently voted the greatest American of all time
A Trivial Question? What town do the Simpsons live in?
The answer to all Media Questions? They don’t ‘live’ in Springfield. Homer for example is a flat, 2 dimensional fictional father voiced by a younger man – the persistence of vision and one image laid on top of another in rapid motion give the ‘impression’ of action. Dialogue and artistry make us believe the world of Springfield is real…It isn’t!….Sorry to break the bad news.
So what are you saying? What this means is that a programme like the Simpsons is like most Media products It replicates the world around us so effectively we get caught up in that fiction but is still a version of reality that is prone to bias and false impressions
The Most famous example of this point! On the next slide is Rene Magritte’s painting – Ceci n’est pas une pipe (translated – This is not a pipe) What do you think the artist is trying to say?
Media the gatekeeper In other words – the Media ‘re-presents’ the world to us. The Media ‘mediates’ how we view the world and in many ways can dictate if we respond to types or ‘stereotypes’ of things in a positive or negative ways
Consider the Shark In the Media, sharks are considered to be ruthless, eating machines that should be feared by humanity This message is mediated by Media Institutions to us the Audience
So how do we fight this? The best way to see through this process of Media encoding is to approach Media Study in a clinical and structured way A Media student will distance themselves from emotional involvement in a text and rather focus on how it creates its effects on the audience
The Media Text To create this distance, this means that we call most media products a media text Our task is to decode a Media text and search for the meanings behind it We deconstruct what has been constructed by the Media for audience consumption. We decode what has been encoded
Media Signs Another way to distance our analysis is to break down the elements of a text into ‘signs’ A ‘sign’ is image, object or action that carries meaning or ‘significance’
Consider these ‘signs’ What do you think are the positive or negative meanings of this sign?
Your first media method One way to organize your thoughts about a sign or series of image is to break them up into two levels of analysis
2 levels of analysis Denotation – to discuss a text at a denotative level you describe what you see Connotation – after this you discuss what these elements may mean – or signify
A helpful list Here are some words that mean the same as connote: SUGGEST, SIGNAL, SYMBOLIZE, SHOW, HINT, IMPLY, INSINUATE, INDICATE, MANIFEST, MEAN, COMMUNICATE.
To conclude.. Understand that media studies is about looking for: ‘ The Message behind the Medium’
Remember to learn a language you must use it!

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The Baby’S Guide To Media Study

  • 1. The Baby’s Guide to Media Study Media Studies is unusual in that it is both an art and a science. Media Studies is about appreciation – your opinions and interpretations - Media Studies is about technical examination – finding evidence and facts to prove those opinions and interpretations -
  • 2. So what is it about! This means that Media Studies is about: Looking and listening Responding and Commenting Finding and Proving
  • 3. The Good News The advantage of Media Study is that you already know how to do it! You have all been consuming the Media for at least 13 years This means you have grown up in an environment of media saturation
  • 4. A new language? By being metaphorically drenched in Media consumption - you have unconsciously learnt the ‘language’ of Media creation. Our classes will be about providing you with a critical vocabulary so that you will be able to discuss on paper what you have been doing in your head for 13 years!
  • 5. So what’s next? So the task of our early lessons is to teach you how to talk and walk like a Media Studies baby Just as you need to learn the words, grammar and rules of French, German or English…in class you will learn how to ‘speak’ Media
  • 6. Let’s get started The Simpsons is in many ways the peak of media production in terms of its popularity, notoriety and global recognition. Homer Simpson was recently voted the greatest American of all time
  • 7. A Trivial Question? What town do the Simpsons live in?
  • 8. The answer to all Media Questions? They don’t ‘live’ in Springfield. Homer for example is a flat, 2 dimensional fictional father voiced by a younger man – the persistence of vision and one image laid on top of another in rapid motion give the ‘impression’ of action. Dialogue and artistry make us believe the world of Springfield is real…It isn’t!….Sorry to break the bad news.
  • 9. So what are you saying? What this means is that a programme like the Simpsons is like most Media products It replicates the world around us so effectively we get caught up in that fiction but is still a version of reality that is prone to bias and false impressions
  • 10. The Most famous example of this point! On the next slide is Rene Magritte’s painting – Ceci n’est pas une pipe (translated – This is not a pipe) What do you think the artist is trying to say?
  • 11.
  • 12. Media the gatekeeper In other words – the Media ‘re-presents’ the world to us. The Media ‘mediates’ how we view the world and in many ways can dictate if we respond to types or ‘stereotypes’ of things in a positive or negative ways
  • 13. Consider the Shark In the Media, sharks are considered to be ruthless, eating machines that should be feared by humanity This message is mediated by Media Institutions to us the Audience
  • 14. So how do we fight this? The best way to see through this process of Media encoding is to approach Media Study in a clinical and structured way A Media student will distance themselves from emotional involvement in a text and rather focus on how it creates its effects on the audience
  • 15. The Media Text To create this distance, this means that we call most media products a media text Our task is to decode a Media text and search for the meanings behind it We deconstruct what has been constructed by the Media for audience consumption. We decode what has been encoded
  • 16. Media Signs Another way to distance our analysis is to break down the elements of a text into ‘signs’ A ‘sign’ is image, object or action that carries meaning or ‘significance’
  • 17. Consider these ‘signs’ What do you think are the positive or negative meanings of this sign?
  • 18. Your first media method One way to organize your thoughts about a sign or series of image is to break them up into two levels of analysis
  • 19. 2 levels of analysis Denotation – to discuss a text at a denotative level you describe what you see Connotation – after this you discuss what these elements may mean – or signify
  • 20. A helpful list Here are some words that mean the same as connote: SUGGEST, SIGNAL, SYMBOLIZE, SHOW, HINT, IMPLY, INSINUATE, INDICATE, MANIFEST, MEAN, COMMUNICATE.
  • 21. To conclude.. Understand that media studies is about looking for: ‘ The Message behind the Medium’
  • 22. Remember to learn a language you must use it!