Free VCE Media Flashcard Review

A construction of events, characters and settings, made in a media form, that is shaped by media codes and narrative conventions to convey meaning to an audience. In VCE Media the narrative is always treated as constructed by a media creator within a context, not as a neutral record of events.

The systems of signs media creators manipulate to build meaning: symbolic, technical, written and audio codes. Codes are the raw meaning-making tools of the form (a low-angle shot, a red costume, a minor-key score); they are not the storytelling structures, which are conventions.

Codes are the sign systems used to construct the product (symbolic, technical, written, audio). Narrative conventions are the accepted storytelling structures and devices audiences expect (structure, character, POV, conflict, closure). Exam answers lose marks when the two are swapped, e.g. calling a close-up a 'convention' or calling a cliffhanger a 'code'.

Meaning carried by what is placed in front of the camera or on the page: setting, costume, props, colour, objects, gesture and performance. They work by cultural association, so the same symbol can be read differently by audiences from different contexts.

Everything arranged within the frame — setting, set dressing, props, costume, make-up, lighting, actor placement and blocking. Analysing mise en scene means explaining how these arranged elements together construct a particular meaning about a character, place or idea.

The place, period and physical environment chosen for a scene, used to signify mood, social status, era or ideology. In an answer, name the specific detail (peeling wallpaper, glass corporate tower) and state the meaning it constructs, rather than just describing the location.

Clothing, uniform, make-up and hair used to signal a character's status, allegiance, psychology or transformation. Changes in costume across a narrative are a standard way creators mark a character arc without dialogue.

Objects handled or displayed by characters that carry associative meaning beyond their function. A recurring prop can become a motif linking scenes, and its destruction or transfer often marks a turning point in the narrative.

Facial expression, gesture, posture, movement and vocal delivery used to construct character and emotion. Analyse it by specifying the performance detail (a held stare, a flinch) and what the audience is positioned to infer from it.

Palette, saturation and colour contrast used to construct mood, align characters or mark time shifts. Colour meaning is culturally coded, so an answer should tie the choice to the context of production rather than assume a universal meaning.

The choices made with equipment and process: camera (shot distance, angle, movement, lens, focus), lighting, editing, composition and, in print or online forms, layout and typography. They control what the audience sees, from what position, and for how long.

How much of the subject fills the frame: extreme long, long, mid, close-up, extreme close-up. Wider shots emphasise a character's relationship to the environment or their isolation; closer shots restrict information and force emotional intimacy with the character.

The vertical position of the camera relative to the subject. A high angle looks down and typically diminishes a subject; a low angle looks up and typically empowers or threatens; eye level suggests parity. Dutch (canted) angles suggest instability. Meaning still depends on the surrounding codes, so justify it from the scene.

Pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, handheld and zoom. Movement directs attention, reveals story information in a controlled order, and constructs tone: smooth tracking suggests control or observation, while handheld suggests immediacy, chaos or documentary authenticity.

How much of the image is sharp. Shallow depth of field isolates a subject from a blurred background, directing the audience's attention and suggesting subjectivity; deep focus keeps foreground and background sharp so the audience can read relationships within a single frame. A rack focus shifts attention within a shot.

High-key lighting is bright and even with few shadows, conventionally used for comedy, lifestyle and optimistic tone. Low-key lighting uses a high contrast ratio and dense shadow, conventionally used for thriller, noir and horror to withhold information and build unease.

The standard setup of key light (main directional source), fill light (softens shadow on the opposite side) and back light (separates the subject from the background). Altering the ratio — for example killing the fill — changes the mood of an otherwise identical shot.

The selection, ordering, duration and joining of shots. Editing controls narrative time and space, builds relationships between images that do not exist in the material itself, and sets rhythm. It is the code most responsible for how much information the audience receives and when.

An editing system that hides the joins so the audience reads a scene as continuous time and space: matching eyelines, matching action across cuts, and keeping to one side of the 180-degree line. It is the dominant convention of mainstream narrative and makes the construction feel invisible.

A sequence of shots joined to compress time or to generate an idea from the juxtaposition of images rather than from continuous action. Used to condense a training period, a relationship or a passage of years, or to force a thematic comparison between two unrelated images.