Glossary of Media Terminology

Anchorage- How a caption fixes the meaning of a picture. 

Audience- The listeners, watchers of the Media. Sometimes can have an effect on them.

Binary Opposites- The way opposites are used in Media to create entertainment. For example, Good/Bad, coward/hero, Young/Old etc.

Consumer- The listener/viewer of Media.

Context- The time, or place in which we consume the Media.

Conventions- The way of doing things interestingly in a specific Genre. 

Denotation- The common sense meaning of a sign.

Diegetic Sound- The sound which source is visible on the screen. Also, sound effects, or music is added afterwards.

Gaze- The way we look at something, i.e. the way somebody looks at you is structured by the way we see the world. 

Genre- The type of Media Text i.e. Newspaper article, Website, Diary etc. 

Image- A picture you can visually see i.e. a visual representation of something

Institutions- The organisations which produce and control Media texts such as the BBC, News International etc.

Intertextuality- The idea that within the culture producers borrow to create interest to the audience for example, 'joke' used in Simpsons or any other comedy programme.

Media text- Text usually means a piece of writing

Multi- Media- Computer technology that allows text, sound, graphics and images to be combined into one programme.
Reader- A person from the audience, who is active in responding to the text.

Shot- A single image taken by a camera

Sign- A word or a picture that is used to represent an object or a specific idea.

Sound effects- Additional sounds to make the Media more interesting i.e. adding clapping sound, knocking sounds and even music, to make it more realistic.

Sub- genre- A genre within a genre.

Two Step Flow Theory- The idea that ideas flow from mass media to opinions leaders, and from them to a wider population.

http://brianair.wordpress.com/film-theory/glossary-of-media-terminology/