Media Term Thursday #11

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Poster Art

Originated in France in the late 1800’s. Posters were a new, low cost method of advertising for theatrical productions and department store merchandise, and at the time attracted a lot of aspiring painters who needed to earn a living.

The huge popularity of posters meant great commercial success for the artists, widespread use across Europe and the US and before long they began to be exhibited in galleries.

The arrival of the movie theatre opened up the market for mass produced poster art.

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Media Term Thursday #9

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German Expressionism

Highly symbolic, stylised and surreal film movement from Germany in the 1920s. The plots dealt with madness, despair, intellectual topics and weird characters.

The set designs used geometric shapes and shadowy lighting.

It was influenced by the Dadaist and Surrealist art movements at the time. Fritz Land and F.W. Murnau were two Expressionist directors.

The Cabinet of Dr Calligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922) and Metropolis (1927)

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Media Term Thursday #8

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Japanese New Wave

A movement of Japanese filmmakers from the late 1950s to the early 1970s who brought a new creative burst in response to traditional Japanese cinema. They challenged traditional mainstream themes and values, and experimented with film styles and conventions to produce work that used sexual violence, radical politics and the aftermath of World War 2.


Examples are Crazed Fruit (1956), Black Sun (1964) and The Blind Beast (1969).

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Media Term Thursday #7

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Music Video

Video Clip

A short film of video that accompanies a song.

Music video content varies and includes: the musicians performing (or lip synching) the song, live concert footage, animation or other imagery, a visual narrative.

Music videos are made as marketing devices to promote the sale of CDs.

Typical elements of music videos: usually three to five minutes long, use quick cuts, highly stylised, use spectacular imagery, sex appeal and lots of special effects.

Music videos are subject to censorship if their content is deemed too offensive. As censorship laws differ from country to country, record labels will often supply censored and uncensored versions of the video. It has been known for music videos to be banned in their entirety for being too offensive to broadcast.

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Media Term Thursday #4

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Propaganda

propaganda film

A simplistic and obvious manipulation of information by selection, exaggeration and appeal to people’s fears, insecurities and basic instincts. It produces an emotional response rather than a rational one, creating a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ and so needs an ‘enemy’ to blame. If there isn’t an enemy, propaganda creates one. Complex issues are reduced to simplistic slogan and ‘blame’.

Generally refers to the manipulation of political beliefs.


A propaganda film is a film produced (often by governments) for the express purpose of convincing the viewer of a political point. In war time, propaganda films are produced by governments to support the war effort and convince the public that it is for the good of their country. 

Nazi propaganda films were commissioned by Adolf Hitler to chronicle his reign.


Triumph of the Will (1934), Olympia (1936), Reefer Madness (1938).

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Media Term Thursday #3

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Three act structure

Many Hollywood films are said to follow a basic three act structure. Basically the beginning, middle and end or setup, confrontation and resolution.

In act 1 the characters (and their main goals) and setting are introduced and ends with the first turning point or conflict (plot point 1).

Act 2 is the longest act, characters and conflict are further developed and the act ends at plot point 2 (quite often, the hero has overcome some kind of conflict something else has thwarted their progress, everything seems lost but a renewed drive compels them to forge on).

Act 3 is the shorted act and all of the conflicts are resolved.

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Media Term Thursday #2

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Mass Audience

The concept of mass audience began in the early days of cinema, radio and television. It is the notion of something being communicated to an enormous number of people from all walks of live with diverse values, beliefs and attitudes and the impact or influence it has on them.

It is commonly acknowledged that the theory of mass audience is in decline, our lives are more media-rich (we have more choices) and we are increasingly interacting with media on a one-to-one basis.

Excerpt from Media Key Terms and Concepts