• Sign – Anything that can convey meaning (e.g Road signs indicate/convey/mean danger)
• Signifier- Means / connotations to something else (the signified) e.g image or facial expression
• Signified- The thing that the signifier mean / is relating to
• Index – Describes the connection between signifier and signified
• Ideology – Set of opinions or beliefs (e.g Religion)
• Syntagm – Group of symbols / signs that form meaning when together

CSP’S – https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/media23al/wp-content/uploads/sites/58/2022/04/2023-A-level-Media-Studies-Close-Study-Products-v1.5.pdf

Semiotics:

• Sign – an object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else
• Signifier – a sign’s physical form (such as a sound, printed word, or image) as distinct from its meaning
• Signified – the meaning or idea expressed by a sign, as distinct from the physical form in which it is expressed
• Signification – the representation or conveying of meaning
• Dominant signifier – any material thing that signifies
• Icon – a sign that looks like its object
• Index – a sign or measure of something e.g smoke is an index of fire
• Code – symbolic tools used to create meaning
• Symbol – anything that can be used to represent something else
• Anchorage – words with an image to provide context
• Denotation – the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests
• Connotation – the literal or primary meaning of a word, contrasting the feelings/ideas that the word suggests
• Myth – a widely held but false belief or idea
• Ideology – the science of ideas; the study of their origin
• Paradigm – a collection of signs that are related
• Convention – a way in which something is usually done
• Syntagm – an orderly combination of interacting signifiers which forms a meaningful whole 

Propps character types:

• The villain
• The donor
• The helper
• The princess
• The dispatcher
• The hero
• The false hero

• Equilibrium – where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored
• Sub-genre – a smaller and more specific genre within a broader genre
• Hybridity – is a methodology of viewing the world in a comprehensive, dynamic and dialectical view that acknowledge the heterogeneous nature of world or phenomenon
• Hegemony – the dominance of certain aspects of life and thought by the penetration of a dominant culture and its values into social life

Theory of Semiotics

Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes, C S Pierce (1916)

study of signs and symbols

Semiotics in the media doesn’t necessarily require an obvious sign. For example, it could be a camera angle, colour, background or print type. It is anything that can initiate a call to action.

They carefully select what they put in their messages — objects, images, words, sounds, even color — while taking into account the signifying value of each.

Semiotics:
• Sign= something that can stand for something else
• Signifier= the thing item of code that we read
• Signified= concept that is portrayed them interpreted by the audience
• Dominant signifier= The main sign in a picture, audiences eye is drawn towards
• Icon= the thing that is being represented
• Index= shows evidence of what is being represented
• Code= the system of signs that create meanings
• Symbol= something that can stand for something else
• Anchorage= words that accompany an image
• Ideology
• Paradigm
• Syntagm.

Barthes’ ideas and theories on semiotics:
• Signification= representation or conveying of media
• Denotation= the literal or primary meaning of a word in contrast to feelings of emotions
• Connotation= feelings invoked rather than the literal meaning
• Myth= made up

3.4.1.2 Narratology
Narratology:
• Narrative Codes= messages within a story. framework for structural analysis
• Narration= the commentary of a story
• Diegesis= narrative/plot in a story
• Quest narrative= when the author describes tehir desires/experiences
• ‘Character types’= Propp- the villain, the donor, the helper, the princess, the dispatcher, the hero, and the false hero
• Causality= relationship between cause and effect
• Plot= what happens in the story/the journey
• Masterplot= a technique for creating a story that is recreated through plot and retold differently over time because of its cultural significance

Todorov’s ideas and theories on narratology:
• Narrative structure= how the narration in a story is created
• Equilibrium= start of a story- opposing forces are balanced
• Disruption= disturbance or problems which interrupt an event, activity, or process
• New equilibrium= forces are balanced again

3.4.1.3 Genre theory as summarised by Neale
• Conventions and rules
• Sub-genre
• Hybridity
• Genres of order and integration
• ‘Genre as cultural category’.

3.4.1.4 Structuralism
Lévi-Strauss’ ideas and theories on structuralism:
• Binary oppositions= eg. good vs bad
• Mytheme
• Cultural codes
• Ideological reading
• Deconstruction.

3.4.1.5 Postmodernism
Postmodernism:
• Pastiche
• Bricolage
• Intertextuality
• Implosion.

Baudrillard’s ideas and theories on postmodernism:
• Simulacra
• Simulation
• Hyperreality.