Revision Notes

Analysing Images

Analysing Images: The way in which an audience ‘reads’ the meaning of a media text image.

Polysemic: Open to many interpretations.

The meanings of an image depend on 2 things:

• The way the signs and symbols are ‘read’
• The cultural background of the person ‘reading’ the text

Meaning is conveyed through media languages which can be verbal and non-verbal, visual and aural.

Non-verbal communication: Seeing characters in a moving image. This includes the gestures, facial expressions, clothing and props in a film as well as where the characters are placed in the frame.

Media languages include the way the camera sees the scene through shot size and camera angle, and the way the actors interpret the script.

• Typically the camera shows a scene from the position of an observer watching action as it happens.
• The camera can take the position of a character and show his or her point of view – this is a POV shot, as we see the action through the eyes of that character.
• The camera can see the action from any number of different viewpoints depending on how the director wants us- the audience – to perceive meaning in the scene.
• The camera can move on a dolly to give a smooth tracking shot, or the lens of the camera can move to zoom in or zoom out. The effect is that the character is shown in a variety of shot sizes.

Denotation and connotation

These are two important words concerned with the way an audience analyses an image, and comes from semiotics the study of signs and symbols.

Denotation: is the basic, literal meaning of what is in the picture or scene.

Connotation: different interpretations suggested or implied by the text, often associated with additional meaning, values, and context.

The connotation depends less on the facts as shown in the picture, and more on our interpretation of the scene depending on our cultural knowledge and signs shown.

Mis-en-scene

Mis-en-scene: elements of acting, location, set, production, design, cinematography, costume and make-up, which are put in a scene to contribute to the meaning.

This adds to our enjoyment of a movie or television programme as it looks naturalistic- that is it represents real life. It can also add meaning to a scene.

Things to look for in lighting:

• Is the lighting hard – lots of dark shadows and hard edges as in film noir
• Or soft were the scene appears cosy and the light is diffused and may be slightly misty
• Where does the main or key light come from? Does it come from more less where the camera is placed or from the side? It may come from an obvious source such as a street light (the umbrella sequence in ‘singing in the rain’) or from the back to give silhouettes, or the side to be dramatic and emphasise facial features
• Some genres have lighting conventions such as horror where monsters and bad characters are lit from underneath
• A toplight can produce a spotlight effect that does with musicals. In fantasy films a toplight suggests a character has superior magical power
• Naturalistic lighting. A police or cop drama, and most soaps, will try to create a very flat, strip-light look to an office setting.
• The sun
• Colour. Film makers like to use filters on their camera lenses for a variety of reasons.
• Three dimensional lighting. Most characters in a scene from a good quality fiction film will be lit up from 3 sources (three pointing light)

Make-up can be used for:

• Emphasising importance
• Realism
• To suggest the look and feel of the time
• Creating a parody

The Acting

• Is the actor creating a believable role? Not necessarily realistic
• Appearance – how the actor appears in the role – large, small, the right size. Costume and make-up can help an actor build a character
• Movements – an actor’s movements can enhance the believability of the character, and increase the information the audience is receiving about the character
• Gestures – gestures are helpful to creating the character
• Facial expressions – important in whether a character is sympathetic or not, and for reading emotions such as love, fear and pain.
• Vocal delivery – very important in delivering the lines so that comprehensive meaning is understandable to the audience

Soundtrack

Media language involves the use of sound and music to convey meaning and often to work on the emotional impact of the scene. The soundtrack of a film is a mix of:

• Dialogue recorded on location
• Dialogue recorded after filming – and dubbed in sync with lip movement
• Diegetic sound or music
• Non diegetic sound or music
• Sound FX
• Commentary

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features in music videos. They are:
- A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
- A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
- Genre-related style and iconography present.
- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
- Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.


Britney Spears's video -

I think that Andrew Goodwin's music video theory applies to Britney Spears's music video because Britney Spears is the 'star' of the music video and is always the central focus throughout the video. The shot types are often close ups of Britney too.
There isn't much relationship between the visuals and the lyrics apart from the small part in the middle where it is suggested that Britney is singing about the boy that she is in love with and he appears on the screen.
There voyeurism throughout the whole video because the audience get to feel like they can sit and watch Britney in a guilt-free context. The fact that she is a female would also encourage male voyeurism.