Pre-U WJEC Media Studies: Key Terminology Quick Reference Guide | Pre-U WJEC 媒体研究:关键术语速记指南

📚 Pre-U WJEC Media Studies: Key Terminology Quick Reference Guide | Pre-U WJEC 媒体研究:关键术语速记指南

This guide provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of the essential terminology required for the Pre-U WJEC Media Studies specification. Understanding these terms is vital for analysing media texts, discussing production contexts, and constructing well-supported arguments in your exam responses. Each entry pairs a core concept with a clear definition, followed by an example to help you apply it in analysis.

本指南简明而全面地梳理了 Pre-U WJEC 媒体研究课程所需的核心术语。掌握这些词汇对于分析媒介文本、讨论生产语境以及在考试中构建有理有据的论述至关重要。每个条目将核心概念与清晰定义配对,并提供实例,帮助你将其应用于分析之中。

1. Mise-en-scène | 场面调度

Mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears within the frame of a shot, including setting, props, costume, makeup, lighting, staging, and the positioning of characters. It is the visual arrangement that communicates meaning, mood, and narrative information without the need for dialogue. Directors use mise-en-scène to guide the audience’s attention and to construct a believable or stylised world.

场面调度指镜头画面内出现的一切元素,包括场景、道具、服装、化妆、灯光、舞台调度以及人物的站位。这是一种无需对白即可传达意义、情绪和叙事信息的视觉安排。导演利用场面调度引导观众的注意力,并构建一个可信或风格化的世界。

Consider a dimly lit room with a single bare lightbulb swinging overhead, a cluttered desk with scattered papers, and the protagonist dressed in a crumpled trench coat. The low-key lighting creates deep shadows, suggesting mystery and moral ambiguity, while the disarray of the setting and costume signals a character under immense pressure or in a state of mental disarray.

想象一个光线昏暗的房间,头顶只有一只裸露的灯泡在晃动,杂乱的书桌上散落着纸张,主角穿着一件皱巴巴的风衣。低调照明营造出浓重阴影,暗示神秘与道德模糊,而场景与服装的凌乱则传递出角色处于巨大压力之下或精神混乱的状态。


2. Cinematography | 电影摄影

Cinematography encompasses all the technical decisions related to the camera work in a moving image text. This includes shot types (close-up, long shot), camera angles (high angle, low angle), camera movement (pan, tracking shot, dolly zoom), depth of field, and the choice of lens. These elements shape the viewer’s perspective and emotional engagement with the subject.

电影摄影涵盖了与运动影像文本中摄影机工作相关的所有技术决策。这包括景别(特写、远景)、拍摄角度(俯拍、仰拍)、摄影机运动(摇镜、跟拍、滑动变焦)、景深以及镜头的选择。这些元素塑造了观众的视角以及与拍摄对象的情感联结。

A slow tracking shot that circles two characters during an intense conversation can heighten feelings of tension and intimacy simultaneously. In contrast, a sudden crash zoom into a character’s terrified face jolts the audience, externalising the internal shock. A low-angle shot of a figure against a stormy sky can make that character appear powerful and menacing.

例如,在一场紧张对话中,围绕两个角色缓慢环移的跟拍镜头能够同时强化紧张感与亲密感。反之,突然急速变焦推至一张惊恐的脸庞,会震撼观众,将内心的震惊外化。以天空为背景、仰拍一个人物的镜头,能让其显得强大而具有威胁性。


3. Editing | 剪辑

Editing is the process of selecting, assembling, and arranging shots to create a coherent sequence. Key concepts include continuity editing, which aims to make the cut invisible and maintain seamless narrative flow, and montage, which juxtaposes images to create intellectual or emotional meaning. Pace, rhythm, and transitions (cut, fade, dissolve, wipe) are fundamental to controlling time and viewer response.

剪辑是选择、组接和排列镜头以创造连贯序列的过程。关键概念包括连贯性剪辑,旨在让剪切不被察觉并保持流畅的叙事推进,以及蒙太奇,即通过影像的并置创造出知性或情感上的意义。节奏、韵律和转场(切、淡入淡出、叠化、划像)是控制时间与观众反应的根本手段。

A fast-cut action sequence with shots lasting less than a second generates adrenaline and chaos, while a long take that refuses to cut away can trap the viewer in an uncomfortable social situation. Soviet montage theory, pioneered by Sergei Eisenstein, uses the collision of unrelated images (for example, a politician followed by a peacock) to produce a critical metaphor in the viewer’s mind.

一个快速剪辑的动作段落,镜头时长不足一秒,能催生肾上腺素和混乱感;而一个不愿切离的长镜头,则能将观众困在不自在的社交情境中。由爱森斯坦开创的苏联蒙太奇理论,利用不相关图像的碰撞(例如一个政客之后接入一只孔雀),在观众思维中制造批判性隐喻。


4. Sound | 声音

Sound in media is divided into diegetic and non-diegetic categories. Diegetic sound originates from within the story world, such as dialogue, footsteps, or a radio playing; non-diegetic sound, like a film score or a voiceover narrator, is added for the audience’s benefit and is not heard by the characters. Sound design also encompasses ambient sound, sound effects (Foley), and the use of silence to create dramatic impact.

媒体中的声音分为剧情音和非剧情音。剧情音源自故事世界内部,例如对白、脚步声或收音机播放的声音;非剧情音,如电影配乐或旁白解说,是为观众添加的,剧中角色听不到。声音设计还包括环境声、音响效果(拟音)以及利用静默制造戏剧冲击。

The screeching, dissonant strings in the shower scene from Psycho are non-diegetic, imposing an external layer of terror that the character Marion does not hear. In contrast, the amplified sound of a character’s own heavy breathing after an escape is diegetic but heightened to convey their subjective panic and exhaustion directly to the viewer.

《惊魂记》浴室场景中刺耳、不谐的弦乐是非剧情音,将其角色玛丽恩听不到的恐怖感外加于观众之上。相反,一个角色在脱险后自己粗重的呼吸声被放大,属于剧情音但经过强化,直接向观众传达了其主观的恐慌与疲惫。


5. Genre | 类型

Genre is a category of media text characterised by a shared repertoire of conventions in iconography, narrative structure, character archetypes, and style. Genres offer audiences a familiar set of expectations but are dynamic and subject to hybridisation, evolution, and subversion. Producers use genre codes as a shorthand to target specific demographics, while audiences derive pleasure from both the recognition of conventions and their creative reworking.

类型是根据图像志、叙事结构、角色原型和风格上共享的一套成规划定的媒介文本类别。类型为观众提供了一套熟悉的预期,但类型是动态的,会经历融合、演变和颠覆。生产者利用类型符码作为指向特定受众群体的速记,而观众则从辨识这些成规及对其的创造性改写中获得快感。

A Western is typically recognised by its desert frontier setting, a lone horseback hero, binary oppositions of civilisation versus wilderness, and a final shootout. However, a text like Westworld hybridises the Western with science fiction by introducing androids and a theme park setting, challenging audience expectations of both genres and inviting commentary on artificial consciousness.

西部片通常凭借沙漠边疆的场景、独行侠式的英雄、文明与荒野的二元对立以及最终的对决枪战被识别。然而,像《西部世界》这样的文本,通过引入机器人和主题公园设定,将西部片与科幻相融合,挑战了观众对两种类型的预期,并引发对人工意识的评论。


6. Narrative | 叙事

Narrative refers to the way a story is organised and told. Key structural theories include Todorov’s equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium model and Propp’s character archetypes (hero, villain, donor, helper). Narrative techniques cover linear and non-linear chronology, restricted versus omniscient narration, enigma codes that pose questions to the audience, and the opening and closure of storylines.

叙事指故事被组织和讲述的方式。关键的结构理论包括托多罗夫的平衡-失衡-新平衡模型和普罗普的角色原型(英雄、反派、赠予者、帮手)。叙事技巧涵盖线性与非线性时间顺序、限知叙事与全知叙事、向观众抛出问题的谜题符码,以及故事线的起承转合。

In a crime drama, the enigma code of ‘who is the murderer?’ drives the plot forward, with clues strategically revealed. A slice-of-life independent film might employ an open narrative with no clear resolution, reflecting the ambiguity of real experience. A flashback structure fractures linearity to gradually uncover a character’s repressed trauma.

在犯罪剧集中,‘谁是凶手?’这一谜题符码推动着情节发展,线索被策略性地逐步揭示。一部生活片段类的独立电影可能采用无明确结局的开放式叙事,以反映真实经历的模糊性。倒叙结构打破线性时间,逐步揭开角色被压抑的创伤。


7. Representation | 表征

Representation is the construction, through media language, of versions of reality, groups, events, and identities. It is never a simple reflection; media texts mediate and frame what is shown. Analysis must consider selection and omission, stereotyping, countertypes, and the use of encoding to promote preferred meanings. Theories by Stuart Hall, Richard Dyer, and David Gauntlett are central to understanding how representations relate to power, ideology, and identity formation.

表征是指通过媒介语言对现实、群体、事件及身份版本所进行的建构。它绝非简单的反映;媒介文本对呈现的内容进行中介和框定。分析时必须考虑选择与省略、刻板印象、反刻板形象,以及使用编码来推广偏好意义。斯图尔特·霍尔的编码/解码理论、理查德·戴尔关于刻板印象的理论、戴维·冈特利特的身份认同研究,对于理解表征如何与权力、意识形态和身份构建相关联至关重要。

A news bulletin representing youth through footage of hooded figures on street corners selects a narrow, threatening image while omitting images of young people volunteering or studying. A countertype would be a female action hero who defies passive gender stereotypes, possessing physical strength and strategic agency previously reserved for male characters.

一则电视新闻通过街头连帽衫身影的镜头来表征青年,选择了狭隘且具威胁性的形象,却省略了青年志愿服务或学习的画面。一个反刻板形象则是一位挑战被动性别刻板印象的女性动作英雄,她拥有过去只赋予男性角色的体能力量和战略主动性。


8. Audience | 受众

Audience theory examines how media texts target, engage, and affect their consumers. Models have shifted from the hypodermic needle model (passive, directly injected with a message) to uses and gratifications (active, selecting media to fulfil needs such as diversion or personal identity) and reception theory (dominant, negotiated, or oppositional readings). Contemporary understanding recognises audiences as interactive producers of meaning, particularly in participatory digital culture.

受众理论考察媒介文本如何瞄准、吸引并影响其消费者。相关模型已从皮下注射模型(被动、直接被注入信息)转向使用与满足理论(主动选择媒体以满足消遣或个人身份认同等需求)和接收理论(主导式、协商式或对抗式解读)。当代理解将受众视为主动意义的生产者,尤其是在参与式数字文化中。

A pop music video may offer diversion through spectacle and dance, while a fan edits their own version on YouTube to express a ‘shipping’ relationship between characters, fulfilling personal identity and social interaction needs. An oppositional reading of a luxury car advertisement might reject its association of wealth with happiness, viewing the message as environmentally destructive consumerism.

一支流行音乐视频可能通过奇观和舞蹈提供消遣,而粉丝在YouTube上剪辑自制版本以表达角色间的‘配对’关系,从而满足个人身份认同与社交互动的需求。一则豪车广告的对抗式解读可能会拒绝其将财富与幸福挂钩的关联,将该信息视为破坏环境的消费主义。


9. Institutions | 机构

The institutional context concerns the organisations that produce, distribute, and exhibit media texts, and the regulatory bodies that govern them. Key areas include ownership patterns (conglomerates, independence), public service broadcasting (PSB) remits, funding models (licence fee, subscription, advertising), and the impact of digital platforms on traditional gatekeepers. Synergy and cross-media convergence are strategies used to maximise profit within a conglomerate structure.

机构语境关注生产、分发、展示媒介文本的组织,以及监管它们的规制机构。关键领域包括所有权模式(跨行业集团、独立制作)、公共服务广播(PSB)的职责、资金模式(执照费、订阅、广告),以及数字平台对传统把关人的冲击。协同效应与跨媒介融合是跨行业集团结构内部用于利润最大化的策略。

The BBC is a major public service institution, funded by the licence fee with a remit to inform, educate, and entertain without commercial pressure. In contrast, Netflix operates as a global subscription-based streaming platform, using its algorithmic recommendation system to act as a digital gatekeeper and commissioning content designed to generate long watch hours across multiple territories.

BBC是一家重要的公共服务机构,由电视执照费资助,其职责是在无商业压力下提供资讯、教育与娱乐。与之形成对比,奈飞作为一家全球性的订阅制流媒体平台运作,利用算法推荐系统充当数字把关人,并定制旨在多个地区产生长时观看量的内容。


10. Media Language and Semiotics | 媒介语言与符号学

Media language is the code used across all media forms, analysed through semiotics—the study of signs. A sign is composed of the signifier (its physical form) and the signified (the mental concept). Denotation is the literal description of what is seen or heard, whereas connotation is the associated meaning. Codes such as technical codes (camera, editing) and symbolic codes (colour, gesture) work together to construct myth, a seemingly natural meaning that masks ideological positions.

媒介语言是横跨所有媒介形式使用的符码,通过符号学——即关于符号的学问——加以分析。一个符号由能指(其物理形式)和所指(心理概念)组成。外延是对所见所闻的字面描述,而内涵则是联想意义。诸如技术符码(摄影、剪辑)和象征符码(色彩、姿势)等各类符码共同作用,建构神话——一种看似天经地义、实则掩盖了意识形态立场的意义。

An image of a red rose on a charity poster (signifier: the visual image of the flower) denotes a type of flower. Its connotation may be love, passion, or, in this specific context, the blood associated with a medical crisis. The myth constructed might be that donating is a natural act of love. A soft-focus shot of a politician with warm lighting is a technical code that connotes trustworthiness and compassion.

一张慈善海报上红玫瑰的图像(能指:花朵的视觉形象)外延为一种花。其内涵可能是爱、激情,或者在此特定语境中,与医疗危机相关的鲜血。建构的神话可能是:捐款是爱的自然之举。对一位政客使用柔焦镜头搭配暖光,是一种技术符码,内涵为值得信赖与富有同情心。


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