Media Term Thursday #32

Nickelodeon

One of the first cinemas opening in 1905 in Pittsburgh, USA by Harry Davis. It was a makeshift establishment and charged patrons a nickel (hence the name) to see a short, single reel film combined with a vaudeville act. Ninety-six people crammed into a storefront on wooden chairs.

Soon there were hundreds of Nickelodeon’s around the country and foreshadowed the mass viewing and money making potential of cinema. A cable television network that screens programs primarily for children and teenagers. This channel started in the US but now has channels in several countries. This was the first cable channel in the world to devote all of their programming to children/youth.

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Media Term Thursday #31

Stereotype

A generalised way of grouping people together by the way they look and/or behave. How the stereotype is represented will depend upon the values the community holds about the group. Therefore, stereotypes can be positive and negative.

Stereotypes can be based on occupation, gender, nationality, subcultures etc.

In order to identify a stereotype, you must be able to recognise the symbols and understand their meaning. Symbols may be items of clothing, physical appearance, facial expressions, gestures, speech, objects, setting and behaviours.

The instantly recognisable nature of stereotypes means that they are a very effective way of communicating to an audience. The mass media rely on this recognition as a shortcut for the development of characters.

Stereotypes are continually modified (and new ones created) by the mass media to suit the changing audiences and current value systems.

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Media Term Thursday #27

Uses and Gratifications Theory

This suggests that audiences have power over their media consumption due to them being active participants who will only seek out and consume those media that they find useful and which gratify their needs. These needs, from entertainment, information, news, education, are many and varied and the media ‘supplier’ needs to follow the needs of the ‘consumer’ or they won’t ‘buy’ the product.

This is why ratings are important to media institutions – if a television program doesn’t rate or a movie doesn’t rate at the box office, the institution loses money. Therefore, media producers spent vast amounts of money on audience research, demographics and surveys to give the self-aware audience what they want.

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Media Term Thursday #26

Thriller

A film genre that uses action and suspense and is frequently related to the crime genre. The narrative concentrates on mystery and suspense to build tension and keep the audience engaged (on the edge of their seats).

The film maker utilises presence beyond the frame to create the horror in the mind of the viewer rather than explicit images.

Jaws (1975), Rear Window (1954).”

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Media Term Thursday #24

Blacklisting

Refers to the list of workers in the film, television, media and arts industries in the 1950s in the United States who were either formally or informally prevented from working due to their personal, political, religious or social beliefs. This was a result of the House Un-American Activities Committee set up by the anti-communist Senator Joseph McCarthy.

This committee was formed during the Cold War when the West (Democracy) was in a superpower struggle and stalemate with the Eastern Bloc and U.S.S.R (Communism). Because both blocs were nuclear powers and mutual destruction would have occurred had these two enemies gone to war, each side became paranoid that the other would use subversive means of conquest.

In the US, the government believed the entertainment industry had a large influence on the population and so movies and other media would be ideal for the enemy to infiltrate and present anti-American, communist ideas. Because of this belief the FBI were ordered to hunt down "spies, subversives and others working in Hollywood, television and other media and who might be a threat.

Consequently, many actors, directors, scriptwriters and others lost their jobs and were prevented from working in the industry for many years - they were put on the blacklist

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Media Term Thursday #22

Motif

A recurring theme.

Any significant repeated element in a film is a motif. It could be an object, colour, place, sound etc. For example, the recurring image of the ring in the horror film The Ring (2002).

Our recognition of these motifs contributes to our enjoyment of the film.

A famous example is the word ‘Rosebud’’ in Citizen Kane (1941); a common Hollywood thematic motif is humankind vs nature in Armageddon (1998) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004) reminding us of our fragile existence as a species in the universe.

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Media Term Thursday #18

Point-of-View

positioning, subjective

In a film, the audience is positioned to view the narrative from the perspective of one or more of the characters. As events unfold, perspective may change several times. At any one time, we are seeing the story from one point of view. The audience is encouraged (positioned) to identify with that character at that time. We may not always approve of their actions or ideas, however, our value systems will almost always be reinforced by the outcome of the film.

Point of view is very dependent on the position of the camera, framing and focus. The camera can lead us to notice certain details in a scene.

If there is a narrator, the audience is told the story from the narrator’s point of view. Whether the narrator is a character or not, their narration may be very objective or just as easily very subjective.

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Media Term Thursday #17

Action film

A relatively new film genre which, as its name implies, has the central conflicts played out through spectacular action sequences such as high-speed car chases, explosions and gun fights. They are usually set in present day America and have a huge body count and massive destruction of property.

The typed characters are often one-dimensional: strong male heroes, feisty females with attitude, and a cold, ruthless villain wealthy enough to employ many expendable henchmen.

Examples are Die Hard (1988), Black Panther (2018).

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Media Term Thursday #16

iconic

Having the characteristics of an icon, a sign which represents the signified (photograph, portrait) and which has become instantly recognisable over a long period of time. This especially refers to film and popular culture where some actors, characters, objects and settings are connected to themes or meanings immediately identifiable in the minds of the viewer.”

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Media Term Thursday #14

Romantic Comedy

A film genre that deals with romantic mishaps and mismatches in a humorous way.

A basic plotline:

Despite obvious attraction, the would-be-lovers do not become romantically involved. After various comic scenes (social interactions laden with sexual tensions), they are parted, then realise they are made for each other, meet again and live happily ever after.

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