Media Texts and Contexts

Overview

This module introduces students to the study of media productions as texts. Through close attention to different aspects of media texts, the module encourages understanding of how different productions across different media produce meaning and encourage interpretation. This understanding is intended to aid students in considering how they make meaning in their own productions, as well as understanding how the intended meaning and the interpretation by audiences can differ, including being shaped by different contexts and by the medium chosen.

Learning Objectives

On completing this module, students should be able to:

• Identify the techniques used by media texts to create meaning and encourage interpretation
• Understand the different affordances of different media
• Analyse the construction of meaning in a media production
• Understand frameworks of interpretation for media texts
• Communicate their analysis clearly

Skills

• Textual analysis of audio-visual material.
• Applying critical concepts to texts.
• Critiquing critical concepts.
• Oral communication and argumentation (seminars).
• Written communication (assessed work).
• Time management.
• Independent research.
• Group work (seminars)

Assessment