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Media language (the theoretical framework)

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do genres work, and why does Steve Neale argue that genre is a process of repetition and difference rather than a fixed set of rules?

Media language: genre theory (Steve Neale). Genre as a repertoire of elements, repetition and difference, the role of audience expectation and economic risk, hybridity and the way genres change over time.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to genre theory and Steve Neale. Covers genre as a repertoire of elements, repetition and difference, audience expectation, economic risk for the industry, hybridity and how genres evolve, with the application skills the media language essays reward.
15 min answer →

How is narrative structured in media products, and what do Todorov, Propp and Levi-Strauss each tell us about how stories make meaning?

Media language: narrative. Todorov's equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium; Propp's character functions; and Levi-Strauss's binary oppositions as the structural carriers of meaning and ideology.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to narrative theory. Covers Todorov's equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium, Propp's character functions, and Levi-Strauss's binary oppositions, plus how narrative structure carries ideology, with the application skills the media language questions reward.
16 min answer →

What are the technical, visual and audio codes of media language, and how do you analyse them to show how a product makes meaning?

Media language: the codes and conventions of analysis. Camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound; layout and typography in print; conventions of each form; intertextuality; and how to build a close analysis.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to the codes and conventions of analysis. Covers camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound, print layout and typography, the conventions of each media form, intertextuality, and how to build a close media language analysis that scores in the top band.
16 min answer →

How do media products use signs to make meaning, and how does Barthes explain the difference between what we see and what it connotes?

Media language: semiotics (Roland Barthes). Denotation and connotation, signs and signifiers, codes (the symbolic, technical and written codes) and the way repeated connotations harden into myth and ideology.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to semiotics and Roland Barthes. Covers signs, signifiers and the signified, denotation and connotation, symbolic, technical and written codes, anchorage, and how repeated connotations become myth and ideology, with the analysis skills the media language questions reward.
16 min answer →