Key Media Concepts!

A few media concepts....

Target Audience
The target audience simply refers to a group of people who a media product is aimed at. Individuals can be target specifically or in a broader way; for example age, gender, and interests. Methods of advertising will differ for media products, therefore, depending on the type of person that they intend to reach.

Genre
A genre is a certain type or category of a product, with its own particular style and form. This could include the film, television, print and radio industries, all of which have separate genres within them.

Conventions
Conventions can be found within a genre or certain product, and refer to features that are expected to be found within the product, almost defining aspects of that genre; for example graphic violence and a female protagonist in a horror film. However, more specific features of a product - for example the killer using a chainsaw - are not conventions as they would not apply to all products within the genre.

Codes
Codes can be split into two categories - technical and symbolic - which link to the conventions of a media product also. These are simply images or items which can suggest a certain theme; for example dark lighting in a horror film (technical) or a Christmas tree in a television programme (symbolic).