Cambridge English for the media, Appunti di Lingua Inglese

Scarica Cambridge English for the media e più Appunti in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! INGLESE 1. The media: Medium: is a carrier of something. Common things carried by media include information, art, or physical objects. A medium may provide transmission nor storage of information or both. The media: are the industries which produce news and entertainment content for the mass media. The word media comes from the Latin plural of medium. The traditional view is that it should therefore be treated as a plural noun in all its senses in English and be used with a plural rather than a singular verb: the media have not followed the reports (rather than ‘has’). -In practice, in the sense ‘television, radio, and the press collectively’, it behaves as a collective noun (like staff or clergy, for example), which means that it is now acceptable in standard English for it to take either a singular or a plural verb. -The word is also increasingly used in the plural form medias, as if it had a conventional singular form media, especially when referring to different forms of new media, and in the sense ‘the material or form used by an artist’: there were great efforts made by the medias of the involved countries; about 600 works in all genres and medias were submitted for review. Mass media: refers collectively to all media technologies that are in tended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Print media: uses a physical object as means of sending and circulating their information, such as newspapers, magazines, brochures, newsletters, books, leaflets and pamphlets (volantini ed opuscoli). to publish / publicationpublisher /publishing house To publish is to make content available to the public. The term is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any medium, including paper (newspapers, magazines) or electronic publishing forms such as websites, e-books, Compact Discs and MP3s The word publication means the act of publishing, and also refers to any copies. (Ex. A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles; it is generally financed by advertising and purchased by readers). A publisher or publishing house are a person or a company engaged in publishing magazines, newspapers, books, music, etc. to edit/ edition/ editor To edit means: •to prepare text for publication by checking, revising and improving its accuracy, clarity, etc. •to supervise the publication of a magazine or a newspaper. Ex.: he edits the local newspaper. Edition •is the form or version in which a text is published <a paperback edition> <the German edition> •the whole number of copies published at one time:a usually special issue of a newspaper (as for a particular day or purpose) <Sunday edition> <international edition> •one of the usually several issues of a newspaper in a single day <city edition> <late edition> An editor is •a person who edits written material for publication •a person in overall charge of the editing and often the policy of a newspaper or periodical. He writes editorials. •a person in charge of one section of a newspaper or periodical (for example, the sports editor) Newspaper Magazine Title "The" is used in England with all daily newspapers as well as some periodicals (The Times, The Observer, The Guardian, The Tatler, The Oldie, The Economist). Magazines don't usually take the definite article: Hello, Newsweek, New Scientist, Cosmopolitan. Publication -are usually published daily or weekly -but there are Sunday editions which usually have supplements: The Observer, The Sunday Times -are published weekly, monthly, quarterly -twice/once a year, -twice / once a month (bi-monthly) -twice / once a week (bi-weekly) Size Newspapers are usually larger than magazines Magazines are usually smaller than newspapers Paper Quality Newspapers are printed on cheap paper (newsprint) Magazines are often printed on expensive, high-quality paper (glossy magazines) Content •concentrate on news •mainly deal with current international and national affairs, politics, crime, entertainment, local news •contain mainly copy(written texts) •The copy is usually printed black. Visuals are usually black and white. •Have a much wider range of focuses •deal with a lot of specialized topics (current affairs, sport, home & garden, fashion, music, film, business, IT, etc.) •contain both copy(written text) and visuals(pictures) •Copy and visuals are usually colored. Target Content Newspapers have a general target audience A magazine has a specific target audience • He/she does not introduce the topic of the editorial in the lead. This way, ‘suspense’ is created. • He/she includes questions in the lead to involve the reader from the beginning. • other paragraphs → central part → the body. • last paragraph(s) → the conclusion. The structure of a news article is like an inverted pyramid. It starts from the more general presentation of the news (the lead) and then it provides more specific information (extra details of the event, quotations in direct or indirect speech) in the body and the conclusion. The conclusion often includes memorable details/quotations. Broadsheets Tabloids •Neutral register •Neutral/objective naming of participants •Long and complex sentences and paragraphs •Informal register •Judgemental naming of participants (crook, thief) Personal details: jobless, the dad of five •Short sentences and paragraphs. Few subordinate clauses News articles: selective perception of events in broadsheets and tabloids News articles in tabloids and broadsheets often deal with the same event, but the information included is often not the same. •In tabloids, news articles are often similar to stories. They include many personal details of the participants. •In broadsheets, news articles include fewer personal details but more factual information. Other parts: • Headline • Byline → gives the name, and often the position, of the writer of the article Headlines Features of headlines: • Emphatic language • Omissions • Use of verb forms: • To + infinitive → future actions • Present simple → recent events • Past participle → passive constructions • Use of numerals • Abbreviations • Play on words/pun • Cultural references • Allitteration (repetition of consonant sound) Some features in a newspaper Feature article: an article that deals with a selected issue in depth. Editorial: an article written by the editor of the newspaper or other senior staff typically expressing the newspaper’s opinions about a story. It is often unsigned. Op-ed: (opposite the editorial page): an opinion article (signed by its author) OR a newspaper page devoted to signed articles by commentators, essayists, humorists, etc., of varying viewpoints Obituary: a notice (in a newspaper) of a person's death, often with an account of his life and work. Newspaper jobs •Correspondent: sends reports from a particular part of the world or a particular subject education / US correspondent •(Deputy) news, feature etc. •Sub-editor: makes corrections to the journalists’ copy . The sub editor checks there are no mistakes in spelling, grammar and house style (style of the newspaper) and identifies potential legal problems. •Editor: decides what goes in a newspaper or magazine 3. Magazines How do we get magazines? •We buy them at a newsagent’s. We can choose one from a newsstand •We read the mon-line (e-magazines) •We get them through the mail: we pay an annual fee and take out a subscription Magazine title, main image (cover page) and coverlines are very influential in making you buy a magazine because they catch your attention. Magazine titles: •Some of them give information about the magazine content •Some of them suggest a type of person or lifestyle (Vogue) •Some of them give no obvious information about their content or readers Coverlines: short lines of text on the front cover of magazines which try to get the reader’s interest by describing some of the articles in the magazine. Coverlines must attract the reader’s attention. To do this, they need to create variety in the language they use. They use different: •Design or typographical features •Punctuation •Phonology (figures of sound) •Sentence types (major, minor) •Sentence functions (declarative, interrogative, emphatic, imperative) •Lexis or vocabulary (excess, abbreviations) Typographical features: Underlining, bolding, CAPITALISATION, italicisation, font size, font style and colour. In coverlines, they are used to catch the reader’s attention. Imperatives are very common in coverlines, especially in celebrity magazines, magazines aimed at young people (teen magazines) and young adults, and magazines with a more populist appeal (in Glamour, FHMbutnotin Vogueand Esquire). Imperatives try to involve the reader directly. Punctuation: Full stops are often omitted in coverlines. Other punctuation is used. For example exclamation marks are a common feature of coverlines because they show emotion and immediacy and they increase involvement. •Short slogans are more effective for “grabbing” attention, and may be more memorable. •Longer slogans may be effective if there is a lot of information to be conveyed. Features: • Incomplete sentences • questions • pronouns • verbs: imperatives The language of advertising • Print advertisements are just one of the many forms of advertising. Commercials and hoardings are other traditional types of advertising, viral advertising is a newer form. • Advertisements usually follow one of four main approaches. • Slogans in advertisements reproduce aspects of spoken colloquial English (for example, use of verbs, questions, incomplete sentences, personal pronouns….). Competitive advertising Promotional technique in which an advertiser claims the superiority of its product over competing product(s) by direct or indirect comparison. If other products are mentioned by their name (and not as 'brand X,' 'brand Y,' etc.) the owners of those brands may challenge the fairness of the comparison in a court. Also called comparative advertising or comparison advertising. 6. Film Industry and Film review Biopic: film that presents a ‘biographical picture’ of the life of a famous person Chick flick: film that is aimed at female audiences Tear‐jerker: a film designed to make the spectator cry Mockumentary: a film shot in the form of a documentary but with fictitious topic Sequel: a movie that continues a story begun in a previous movie Prequel: the second or third film in a series of films that presents characters and/or events that are chronologically set before the original movie: Romcom: a humorous movie about a love story that ends happily Arthouse: film a low‐budget, independent, non‐commercial film Elements of a films: DIRECTOR: The person responsible for overall artistic content of film, including telling the cast what to do while shooting the film THE STARS: The main actors in a film SOUNDTRACK: The music in a film SCREENPLAY: A story written for a film SCREENWRITER: Someone who writes stories for the cinema PLOT: Series of events in a film that make up the main story EDITING: The putting together of sequences and scenes in a film SPECIAL EFFECTS: Images or sounds in a film that are created by trick photography or computer Screenplays Are stories written for films (original or adaptations). They are usually divided into three ACTS: • Act 1 →How the story is set up (background, setting and characters) • Act 2 →Conflicts and problems during the story • Act 3 →Resolution Screenplays are written according to some typographic norms. They have a standard layout as well. •Capital letters are used for character names and scene headings •Dialogue is written in the centre of the page •Descriptions of settings and action are written in blocks which are wider than the dialogue •In brackets are descriptions of how a character delivers his or her lines •Characters generally have little dialogue at one time •The present tenses are used to describe settings and actions Abbreviations: •V.O. = VOICE‐OVER •EXT. = EXTERNAL SHOT •INT. = INTERNAL SHOT A pitch (film idea) • A pitch is a presentation of a film by a screenwriter in front of film executives and investors. The screenwriter has a short time in which to try and sell the script. WHAT IS A LOGLINE? • It’s a summary of the three acts of a film. • It consists of one or two sentences. • It is written in the present simple tense. • It is an extremely short description of the general idea of the story in the screenplay; it is the principal aim of the story that the writer wants to convey to the audience. WHAT IS A TAGLINE? •It is different from a logline. •It is a phrase that can accompany a film when it is released ; •for example, the tagline to the film Shrek was: “The greatest fairy tale never told”. A background actor or extra is a performer in a film or TV show, who appears in a nonspeaking capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street scene). War films and epic films often employ extras in large numbers. A stand‐in is someone who substitutes for an actor (usually the main actor) while the lights and camera are adjusted or during hazardous action. There are also body doubles, but are slightly different. A body double is a person who substitutes in a scene for another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are three different main stages from the initial idea for a film to the film being shown to a paying audience: 1‐ Pre‐production 2 ‐ Production 3 ‐ Post‐production (including distribution) Studio: place where films are edited and produced Licensing agreement: contract giving someone the legal right to use a film Prints: copies of the film Box‐office/ ticket sales: the place where people buy cinema tickets Run: period in which a film is shown Screenings: showings of a film Lease: rent of a film