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Media Aesthetics Full Course Summary - With practice analysis
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Summary of entire Media Aesthetics lectures and readings
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Media Aesthetic Notes - Looking at Movies
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Week 3 - Form and aestheticsImportant concepts
Implicit vs explicit
Explicit: everything that can be seen literally.
Implicit: an association or connection that can be derived from the explicit meaning,
together with context. Lies beneath the surface of what can literally be seen.
- Meaning / meaning
- By doing an analysis you come to that meaning
Synopsis / summary vs analysis
Synopsis: description or summary of the plot (story).
Analysis: description / explanation of the formal and / or contextual techniques used to
convey meaning.
Formal analysis
One way of analyzing that looks at the formal properties of a media object (film): narrative,
mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, sound, etc. to determine meaning
· Themes
an existing collective idea or concept as a metaphor or myth
· Motif
An element that acquires meaning through repetition. A recurring element: visual,
sound, narrative (eg music jaws). Technical elements such as a color. Motif is a
pattern. A pattern is not just a motif.
· Patterns
Repeating elements that have a specific meaning (meaning) through this repetition.
(jaws -> people do not believe the shark is there and that is systematically back)
· Shot
Continuous recording with the camera, without cut
· Sequence
A series of shots that belong together, which together form a single unit
· Scene
A combination of sequences that together represent an entire action / event
Cinematic language
Generally accepted set of conventions that a film communicates something to the viewer
Cultural invisibility
unconscious normalization / expression of cultural ideology of the cultural context of
creators and viewers.
Realism vs anti-realism
,Realism: content and / or form is shown as it is 'real' (this can really happen / this is how it
really looks)
Anti-realism: content and / or form is not shown as 'real'. but not necessarily the opposite
of realism. Think of sci-fi: content is (often) not realistic, but in the context of the story it is
Verisimilitude
A convincing representation of the truth: sci-fi example. As unnatural as the images on the
screen may be, a film is very similar when there is the idea that they are credible in the
context of the film.
Analyzing form and content starts with looking for patterns -> we look at how media is
constructed
In other words: see form separately from content and then look at the relationship between
the two (in formal and cultural analysis)
Week 4 - Film narration
Difference between story and plot:
Story is all narrative elements, all parts of the story that are explicitly visible on screen plus
all implicit parts; the whole story
Plot contains all the narrative elements that can be seen on the image. the only thing we get
to see; explicit
Duration -> The time these stories can last.
Plot duration
Story duration
Screen duration -> how long the movie lasts
Diegetic vs non diegetic -> is the source in the film world or outside the film world.
Inside and outside the film world.
Diegetic -> within the world in which the film takes place; noises people make in the film - if
the characters can hear it = diegetic
Non Diegetic -> outside the world in which the film takes place; text in picture
- Score music + third person voice-over narration + superimposed text = non-diegetic
Direct address
Breaking the fourth wall.
Characters
Round vs. flat character
Protagonist vs. antagonist
Analyzing Narration: 4 Questions
1. Is there a narrator?
,Diegetic: yes / no
Character: yes / no
First / third person?
- Naming all elements, for example: first person diegetic character narrator, a third person
non-diegetic narrator, etc.
Goal: why is it important that this narrator is there? what does it add? What's the idea?
2. What is the range of storytelling? - how much do we know?
Restricted (do we know as much as one or two characters?)
Unrestricted (do we know more than one or more of the characters?)
Omniscient (extreme version of unrestricted / we know multiple storylines)
Important! These are not absolute categories, but a scale. The narration can change during
the movie.
3. What is the depth of storytelling?
Objective narration (are we looking from the outside?)
Perceptual (seeing) / aural (hearing) subjectivity (point of view)
Mental subjectivity (dreams / inner world / trip)
- How 'deep' do we view the characters? How is this portrayed? Why is it important?
4. What is the structure, sequence and duration of the narration?
- Is there a linear build up? (3-act structure, page 128)
o Flashforward (from the narrative present to the future (anticipation))
o Flashback (from the narrative present to the past (memory, retrospect, context))
o Frame narration (story within a story. Example: titanic)
- Is there a direct address?
- Story / plot / screen duration?
- What is the scope (the scale of how big it is what is told (time for example)? What is
important? What has been omitted and why?
An interpretive claim is the main argument you make with your analysis, which you support
with evidence from your analysis.
The goal of an analysis: to 'break open' the media object and reveal its implicit meaning.
Go-to claim: 'In this clip of [title, (director, year)], the narrative techniques support the idea
of ...'
In this fragment, the narrative techniques focus on the idea that ...
Because ... (-> name technique and when) Why ... (-> function, important) Because ...
(-> meaning / meaning)
Week 5 - Narrative form and television
, Jeremy Butler - the television series
Effect of advertisements -> keep the viewer's constant attention -> mini climax and then
advertising.
Narrative problematic -> big problem of the series + enigmas are the smaller problems that
can be solved per episode.
Narrative Structure
Series Serial
Episodes are (largely) self-contained Narrative connections between episodes
Short exposition = short opening with In medias res = in the middle of an action
explanation
1 or more protagonists A lot of redundant information - lots of
repetition
Multiple story arcs (focus on 2 or 3 per Many protagonists
episode)
There is a central narrative problematic / Multiple storylines - narrative web and
narrative kernel - 'in effect, the program must multiple enigmas
ask the same question again and again to
maintain consistency and viewer interest'
Discontinuous / interrupted. With small Even more interruption / segmentation - also
climaxes. switching between storylines
No final resolution, but 'answer' to this Climax without resolution 'the serial ends as it
episode's problem (partial resolution) begins; in the middle of the action '
Characters
Series Serial
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