1. Importance of media language Every medium has its own ‘language’ – or combination of languages – that it uses to communicate meaning. Television, for example, uses verbal and written language as well as the languages of moving images and sound. We call these ‘languages’ because they use familiar codes and conventions that are generally understood.

2. “We only think in signs” Charles Sanders Pierce 1931 Sound, image, odours…Anything can be a sign but only when we invest them with meaning.

3. Semiotic Terminology In semiotics, denotation and connotation are terms describing the relationship between the signifier (the form it takes) and its signified (the concept it represents). As John Fiske (1982) puts it “denotation is what is filmed, connotation is how it is filmed”.

4. Semiotics (Saussure 1974) Signifier = dog Signified = looking cute Sign= cute dog

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8. Barthes (1977) Significant role in extending the study of semiotics from linguistics to cultural phenomena. Moved from denotation / connotation to codes – which are cultural, so they change over time and according to society and social groups. First Order of Signification: Denotation or signifier Second Order of Signification: Connotation or signified Third Order of Signification: When the sign meets the shared values and discourse of a culture. Myths serve to make dominant cultural and historical values, attitudes and beliefs seem entirely 'natural', 'normal', self-evident, timeless, obvious 'common-sense' - and thus objective and 'true' reflections of 'the way things are'.

9. Producer and consumer A code is a learned rule for linking signs to their meanings. A message is often described as being "encoded" from the sender and then "decoded" by the receiver. Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producer and audience. But… sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system. They are polysemic, have multiple meanings.

10. Making connections? Evaluating media language is an evaluation of all micro elements and how they have created meaning to inform us about genre, narrative, representations/ ideology, targeting of audiences. This requires us to use semiotic terminology to explain our encoding of elements and codes and conventions within our texts. We must also remember to discuss the preferred meaning (Hall, 1980) that we wanted our audience to DECODE.

11. “Media is communication”. Discuss the ways that you have used media language to create meanings in one of your media products. How do YOU as a producer ENCODE meaning? Question

12. According to Barthes, images reinforce cultural myth. Explain how you have used media language in one of your production pieces to address dominant ideas in society. Question