HA10 Task 1 - Glossary

Media Text

Media texts are what we consume from within the media for example; a television program, a book, a poster, a popular song, the latest fashion, etc. We can discuss with students what the type of text is—cartoon, rock video, fairy tale, police drama, etc.—and how it differs from other types of text, music. TV shows, magazines, newspapers, movies and even video games. There are different types of media text that appeals to different kind of people and they are created to appeal to those types of people. 

Semiotics

Semiotics at its basic is the study of the interpretation of signs and symbols, trying to figure out their meanings. Many texts contain certain symbols and signs and are normally left to the viewers to interpret in their own manner.

Genre

Genre is the category that media text is placed into. Genre is often indicated by the codes and conventions of the media text

In games, genre is often defined by the way the game is played, rather than the way the game looks or the way that the story is written. For examples, if game-play revolves around shooting targets, it is often put into the shooter category (With camera perspective putting the game into the sub-genres such as First-Person Shooter, Third-Person Shooter or Top Down Shooter), or, if the game-play revolves around creating a character and shaping their abilities, it is often put into the RPG or Role-Playing Game category.

Selection of content

The selection of content involves looking at the target audience's interests, and finding information that can be used for your product to appeal to those interests. Colours, symbols, shapes, etc. would be looked at when selecting content. Selection of content is where the developer of the game makes decisions on the content of their product including colors, design, game case etc. This is all important because these decisions can drastically impact the product an example of this would be a bad looking case for a game wouldn't attract customers to look at the game but a case which had a wide range of colors would attract a customers eye and could lead a purchase.

Construction of content

The construction of content is also known as the way it is structured and created, including things such as interaction with the player.

Codes and conventions

Codes are a system of signs, which are used to create meaning. Conventions are the generally accepted ways in which things are done. Each genre of video game has different codes and conventions.

Modes of address

The mode of address is the way that a piece of media is written, so that it becomes more appealing to certain audiences. A dark, gritty and complicated video game would appeal more to adults than a bright and simple game.