Aberrant Decoding
This is when someone misreads texts, either intentionally or not and is unable to distingush between fiction and reality. Texts that may be read in a number of ways are known as polysemic texts.
An example of aberrant textual decoding would be a mentally ill person playing the music backwards to see if there was a hidden message from the Devil for them.
Anime
Cartoon and animation are mostly a source of entertainmement for children. Walt Disneys Fantasia tried to appeal to a wider audience, though it was not hugely successful. Animation is more popular with Adults in Japan where it is not uncommon to see people reading comics on the bullet train to work. Anime has a distinct style and a mass audience is slowly developing across the world. Japanese animation Spirited Away recieved an Oscar for best animation in 2002 and has reached a wide audience.
Auteur Theory
A director is considered an auteur if it is immediately obvious that the film has been directed by that person. For example, Tim Burton could be considered an auteru as his films such as Alice in Wonderland and The Corpse Bride, all contain dark and mysterious elements that are associated with Burton.
Roland Barthes
Barthes was a French media theorist who was writing from the 1950s through to the 1970s. He wrote about Semiotics which he descibed all texts as complex bundles of meaning. Semantics is the study of signs and symbols, for example in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet wears an angel costume that connotes innocence and purity. Barthes said that text that can be read in a number of different ways, and these texts are known as polysemic texts.
Enigma codes are found in texts in order to attract audiences. They are a form of advertising and are designed to pull in more customers. Enigma codes are often seen in soaps such as Eastenders, for example the Who Killed Archie? cliffhanger which was a mytery with a number of possible murderers.
Jean Baudrillard
Baudrillard was a French media theorist who had been dubbed the prophet of postmoderniity. Post modenerism is when a text uses and incorporates part of other texts, whether its simply refering to them or making fun of them. This is seen in texts such as Blackadder, where other texts and previous events in history are used to make the series comic. Post modernisim is also seen in Twilight and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Binary Opposition
French anthropologist, Claude Levi-Strauss examined how narratives uncounsciously reflect the dominant ideologies if a society through oppositions in the text. An example of Binary Oppositions is seen in Alice in Wonderland in the form of the good, white queen and the evil, red queen. A power hunt is common in binary oppositions which reflects contempary fears of corruption and its effect on the lesser people.
Codes and Conventions
There are the rules that media texts generally stick to, whatever the type or genre. The issue of the Sun on Sunday had 17 pages of sport and 11 of them on football. This is hedgemony as in Britian, football is the most popular sport and so we expect it to be publicised more in the newspaper.
Codes and conventions are important in attracting ansd maintaining an audience. For example teh monring chat show This Morning was replaced by Daybreak, which had a similar set up and format. Innovation is risky and can cost an institution a small fortune if it upsets audience expectations. Audiences feel comforted and familiar with certain codes and conventions. Texts like James Bond movies, have clearly defined codes and conventions as there is always a struggle between good and evil, beautiful women, fast cars and gadgets. Texts that break codes and conventions could be seen as post-modern and subversive, eg, Gullivers Travels
