Robert Young
Sep 29, 2017
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5 min read
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Media Codes and Conventions
Media codes and conventions are like the building blocks of all the
media around us. Media codes generally have an agreed meaning,
or connotation, to their audience. There are three types of media
codes, symbolic codes, technical codes and written codes.
Conventions are expected ways in which codes are organised in a
product.
Symbolic Codes
Symbolic codes are social in nature. What this means is that these
codes live outside the media product themselves, but would be
understood in similar ways in the ‘real life’ of the audience. For
instance, if you saw somebody receive a red rose in a film, you
would assume there is a romantic relationship between the two
characters. If you gave somebody a red rose in real life, you might
be hoping the same. Symbolic codes in media include setting,
mise en scene, acting and colour.
Setting
Setting is the time and place of the narrative. When discussing
setting, you can describe the setting of the whole story or just a
specific scene. A setting can be as big as the outback or space, or as
small as a specific room. Setting can even be a created atmosphere
or frame of mind.
Mise en scene
Mise en scene is a French term that means ‘everything within the
frame’. In media terms it has become to mean the description of all
the objects within a frame of the media product and how they have
been arranged. An analysis of mise en scene includes:
● Set Design
● Costume
● Props
● Staging and Composition
Acting
Actors portray characters in media products and contribute to
character development, creating tension or advancing the narrative.
The actor portrays a character through:
● Facial expression
● Body Language
● Vocal qualities
● Movement
● Body contact
Colour
Colour has highly cultural and strong connotations. When studying
the use of colour in a media product the different aspects to be
looking at are:
● Dominant colour
● Contrasting foils
● Colour symbolism
Technical Codes
Technical codes are codes that are specific to a media form and do
not live outside of them. For instance, our understanding of
different camera shots and their connotations make sense when we
look and films and photographs, but mean nothing to us outside of
those forms. Technical codes in media include Camerawork,
Editing, Audio and Lighting.
Camerawork
Camerawork refers to how the camera is operated, positioned and
moved for specific effects. Aspects of camerawork include:
● Positioning
● Movement
● Framing
● Exposure
● Lens choice
Editing
Editing is the process of choosing, manipulating and arranging
images and sound. Editing is generally done for four different
reasons:
● Graphic edits
● Rhythmic edits
● Spacial edits
● Temporal edits
Audio
Audio is the expressive or naturalistic use of sound. Audio can be
diegetic or non diegetic. The three aspects of audio are:
● dialogue
● sound effects
● music
Lighting
Lighting is the manipulation of natural or artificial light to
selectively highlight specific elements of the scene. Elements of
lighting include:
● Quality
● Direction
● Source
● Colour
Written Codes
Written codes are the formal written language used in a media
product. Just like technical and symbolic codes, written codes can
be used to advance a narrative, communicate information about a
character or issues and themes in the media product.
Written codes include printed language which is text you can see
within the frame and how it is presented, and also spoken
language, which includes dialogue and song lyrics.
Conventions
Conventions are accepted ways of using media codes. Conventions
are closely connected to the audience expectations of a media
product. Different types of conventions include form
conventions, story conventions and genre conventions.
Form conventions
Form conventions are the certain ways we expect types of media’s
codes to be arranged. For instance an audience expects to have a
title of the film at the beginning, and then credits at the end.
Newspapers will have a masthead, the most important news on the
front page and sports news on the back page. Video games usually
start with a tutorial to explain the mechanics of how the game
works.
Another example would be continuity editing. Most video forms
follow a set of editing rules and techniques called continuity editing
which allows for the audience to easily understand what is going on
in a scene and who is talking to who.
Story Conventions
Story conventions are common narrative structures and
understandings that are common in story telling media products.
Examples of story conventions include:
● Narrative structures
● Cause and effect
● Character construction
● Point of View
Genre Conventions
Genre conventions point to the common use of tropes, characters,
settings or themes in a particular type of medium. Genre
conventions are closely linked with audience expectations. Genre
conventions can be formal or thematic.
