1. Categories & Language

2. CATEGORIES
 purpose (e.g. to inform, entertain,
persuade, educate, make a profit)
 medium (e.g. print, radio, television, film)
 form (e.g. newspaper, light
entertainment, series, serial, outside
broadcast, feature film)
 genre (e.g. popular tabloid, soap opera,
sitcom, action movie)
 tone (e.g. comic, serious)
 others (e.g. stars, director)

3. LANGUAGE
 Technical and cultural codes & reasons for
their use.
 sign: word, image, sound which conveys
meaning
 denotation: the description of a sign
 connotation: the meanings associated
with a sign
 referent: when the sign or picture refers
to something else i.e. The ‘T’ in The Vicar
of Dibley.
 codes: systems of signs which can be
analysed in terms of denotation &
connotation; such codes may be technical
and / or cultural. They create meaning.

4. LANGUAGE
 motivation: the reason for the use of a specific
code, such as to aid meaning, to progress the
story
 polysemy: signs may have several meanings at
once
 anchorage: the narrowing down of the polysemy
of the text by its combination with other signs
(e.g. caption or headline with photograph,
music/sound with film)
 conventions: established (habitual) ways of
treating genre, narrative or representations

5. SEMIOTICS
 Semiotics is the language of signs.
 It argues that interpreting images often depends
on the individual’s cultural influences.
 A sign is made up of a signifier and a signified.
 A ‘signifier’ = the form which the sign takes
 The ‘signified’ = the concept it represents (or the
meaning )
 The ‘sign’ = the whole that results from the
association of the signifier with the signified.

6. Semiotics Example
 Signifier = dog
 Signified = cute look
 Sign = cute dog

7. TECHNOLOGY
 The effects of technology on text & integration with
other key aspects e.g.
 special effects/animation technology which
facilitates the telling of certain kinds of story,
fictional or non-fictional (e.g. fantasy films);
integrates with Categories, Language and
Narrative
 the effects of the technology of reception
available to audiences (e.g. DVD as opposed to
cinema); integrates with audience
 the effects of the technology of distribution (e.g.
electronic distribution of news); integrates with
institution

8. Denotation / Connotation

9. What does it denote?
 Five men against a height chart
 The horizontal lines of the chart run behind the men
 The men are grouped together staring at the camera
 They are not smiling
 The tallest man is in the middle
 The man to the left of him is wearing a cream suit
 The man on the right of him is holding his own arm
 The tallest man in the centre is wearing a black suit and red shirt
 The man on the left hand side of the centre is all in black
 The picture is slightly over-exposed – very light
 The tag line is at the bottom
 The title is in reversed out white type at the bottom
 All the type is reversed out of a black background
 There are shadows

10. What does it connote?
 The man wearing cream has connotations of a hero, of a good
protagonist
 This man also has a slightly defiant stance. His hand is on his hip.
His expression is angry
 The man wearing black has connotations of an antagonist
 The man wearing red signifies danger
 The man holding his arm looks weak and vulnerable
 The reversed out type is very stark and white. It looks a bit like a
stamp – its referent is a stamp and in later versions of the poster
and on the DVD this referent is clearly used
 The over-exposed light signifies a photograph, as if it is in the act
of being taken
 The signified is five men in a line up; the signifier is the context and
the expressions on their faces. The connotations of both are that
they are five criminals, but, culturally, we know that it is a line-up,
only one man is guilty and the question is, which one is it?