Media Vocabulary

This is Cambridge’s own glossary — 56 terms, every one defined. This page is the reference sheet for the live glossary you maintain from week one.

Conceptual framing for these terms: Technical Elements and Media Language.

Appendix 1 — Glossary

Term	Definition
Media forms	Different types of media products, such as films, TV programmes, magazines, radio programmes.
Media platforms	A term which has arisen to account for the various convergent combinations of old and new media, for example, Amazon, Netflix and iPlayer are internet platforms for distributing and exhibiting TV and film. A platform is a technological space in which media can be consumed.
Synergy	The process through which a series of media products derived from the same text is promoted in and through each other.
Representation	The processes (and end results) by which reality is subject to selection, exaggeration and repetition, so that certain representations (often of subordinated groups and associated places) become typical and taken for granted. Also used, more neutrally, to refer to aesthetic representation.
Mise-en-scène	The visual information in a scene or shot, such as, setting, lighting, colour, shape, costume, make-up, expression, movement, symmetry. Mise-en-scène tends to refer to the content of a shot, but this will be inflected by the shot-type.
Media franchise	The capacity to extend the life of characters, settings or trademarks by producing further products, usually in popular genres such as super-hero or action.
Iconography	Icons are particular signs that are powerfully associated with something else, such as religious icons. By extension, in media, icons are signs we associate with particular genres (e.g. technology for sci-fi, saloon doors for westerns).
Intertextuality	Within a text, visual or audio references are made to other texts. It is expected that audiences will recognise such references, although more obscure references will require different repertoires of experience in the audience
Genre	A term of classification which groups media texts of a particular kind together – usually particular kinds of film or TV narrative, but styles, stars and production companies may all be used to make generic distinctions between texts
Convergence	The coming together of media technologies so that the boundaries blur. Usually this refers to technologies of distribution and reception (e.g. TV and the internet).

Appendix 2 — Camera shots and angles

Shot type	Description
Extreme long / Establishing	Used to set the scene or as an establishing shot, often outside. This shot can be taken from as far away as a quarter of a mile.
Master	This shot, like the Establishing Shot also sets up the scene through showing key signifiers, however, whilst the Establishing Shot leans towards showing the setting and location, the Master Shot contains the main characters for the length of the shot.
Long	This shot shows images in ‘life size’ in the context of the distance between the cinema screen and the image: for example, the height of a child might appear to be 3-4 feet. Usually this contains a full body shot.
Medium / mid	A shot that shows a character from the waist up. An alternative to this shot is a two shot (includes two people) and a three shot (includes three people).
Over the shoulder	This shot is taken from ‘over the shoulder’ of a character and is often used to make the audience feel as though they are actually included in the conversation/action. It is a form of point of view (POV) shot.
Point of view (POV)	This shot is taken from the view of the person looking/speaking. POV may be literal (as in this image) or it may be implied when, for example, a character looks off-screen and we then see what they are looking at.
Close up	This shot shows a part of something, for example, someone’s face and is used to draw attention to the thing / person or emotions.
Extreme close up	This shot is even closer than the last one, and creates an image larger than the eye would usually see.
Wide	A shot in which an actor might appear very small against the landscape as the image as a whole gives a much wider view than the individual.
Aerial	A shot taken from a high viewpoint, as though it is taken from a drone showing a bird’s eye view.
High angle	A shot that is taken from above a character / setting to create a sense of empowerment for the character with Point of View, as it diminishes the figure in the frame.
Low angle	A shot taken from a low angle, this helps to reinforce intimidation or disempowerment for the character with Point of View, as it creates an overwhelming perspective.
Canted angle / Dutch angle	This is a shot taken with a tilted horizon, often used to signify imbalance or uncertainty, but sometimes for aesthetic effect.

Appendix 3 — Camera movements

Movement	Description
Pan	A camera movement along a horizontal axis, with the camera body turning to the left or right on a stationary tripod.
Tilt	A camera movement along a vertical axis, with the camera body turning up or down on a stationary tripod.
Track	Any shot in which the camera body moves forwards, backwards or laterally. This may be on a wheeled support (‘dolly’), or hand-held, possibly with a stabilisation device such as Steadicam.
Dolly	A camera support with wheels to facilitate tracking shots. The dolly may move on tracks, or freely on a smooth surface – hence ‘dolly shot’.
Crane	A crane shot involves the camera being mounted on a crane or jib. It enables a wide, high perspective to be achieved, and large-scale tracking shots to be accomplished.
Steadicam	Steadicam is the brand name for a particular kind of camera stabilisation device, which has become a generic term for any similar device. It enables smooth hand-held tracking shots, which would otherwise be shaky.
Hand-held	Hand-held camera work, without the use of Steadicam, is characteristically ‘unpolished’; it may involve slight movement, usually used to signify an immediacy and realism, or very erratic movement to communicate peril and excitement.
Zoom	Unlike a tracking shot, where the camera body moves in or out, a zoom shot is achieved by increasing (zoom in) or decreasing (zoom out) the magnification of the object with the camera’s lens.
Reverse zoom	The reverse zoom is a combination of a tracking shot and a zoom shot: the camera tracks towards the subject while zooming out at the same rate. The subject (usually a character) maintains the same position and size in the frame, while the background shifts around them – often used to signify a turning point in the character’s story. A similar effect is achieved by tracking backwards while zooming in.

Appendix 4 — Sound vocabulary

Term	Meaning
Diegetic sound	Sound which has its source in the scene, or ‘world of the film’ (even if it is applied in post-production). A test for diegetic sound is: would the characters be able to hear this?
Non-diegetic sound	Sound which does not have its source within the world of the film, for example, mood music, voice-over addressed to the audience.
Foley	Sound effects produced to enhance the realism of actions in the scene, for example, footsteps, the clink of ice in a glass, the sound of a kiss. Foley effects are always produced in post-production and are always diegetic.
Harmony	A term which refers to simultaneous or consecutive musical notes which (according to convention) sound pleasant. In film and TV harmonious music may suggest that all is well in the world.
Dissonance	The opposite of harmony: simultaneous or consecutive musical notes which (according to convention) sound harsh or unpleasant. In film and TV dissonant music is likely to suggest that something is wrong, or about to go wrong in the world.
Pitch	The frequency of a sound. High pitched dissonant strings will magnify the effect of aggression (as in Psycho, for example). Low pitches may sound ominous.
Rhythm	A recurring beat forming a pattern. Rhythms may be rapid or slow, regular or irregular, producing different emotional effects in the viewer/listener.
Room tone	A recording of the sound at the location of a shoot – may be used as part of the soundscape to provide depth and atmosphere.
Soundscape	A collection of background sounds which reinforce the realism of a scene – these may be augmented in post-production with, for example, library sound effects, such as crowd murmer. This might also be described as ‘atmosphere’.
Soundbed	In film and TV this may be used interchangeably with ‘soundscape’, but in audio work it usually refers to music played low in the mix in order to create mood or atmosphere.

Appendix 5 — Website terminology

Term	Meaning
Web banner	This is the title or header on a webpage and is the equivalent to a masthead in a newspaper, or a magazine title. It is used to attract the audience and can be used to indicate the genre of the music through the font selection.
Navigational features	These are the buttons that help you move around the website. They are clearly displayed on a web page and often change appearance when you hover over them.
Multimedia features	This term refers to the use of images, video, text and audio on a website. These features add variation, information and entertainment.
Advertisements	Many websites advertise products closely linked or connected to the main focus, this is often a good way of increasing revenue from hits on the interconnected websites.
Web links	When links connect you to elsewhere on the website this is referred to as ‘internal links’ whereas links to another website are called ‘external links’.
Interactive elements	These enable users to take part and contribute to the website and could be in the form of quizzes, games, surveys, discussion forums or an opportunity to give feedback or comments about something.

Under the 2028–30 spec, C3’s third medium is a website home page — see Media Studies.

Appendix 6 — Magazine terminology

Term	Meaning
Masthead	The name of the magazine, in its typical font, on the cover.
Selling line	The short description of the ‘identity’ of the magazine under the masthead.
Main image	The image which fills the cover – a model, celebrity, animal, artefact.
Coverlines	’Teasers’ for the contents of the magazine on the cover.
Typography/font	The shape, style, size and colour of the letters used.
Drop cap	The enlarged initial letter of the first word of an article – an aesthetic feature which is designed to engage the reader.
Pull quotes	Enlarged quotes from an article – these may be included in coverlines, but are also used in the body of the article to break up the page and to attract the attention of the reader.
Byline	The name of the writer of the article, usually found at the beginning. Simply, it is the ‘line’ which tells you who the article is by.

A matching activity in the Coursework Handbook uses some additional magazine terms not listed above: Buzz Word, Puff, Barcode, Anchorage Text, Superimposition, Slogan, and Unique Selling Point.