Codes & Conventions
Codes and Conventions
Codes and conventions are some of the building blocks of media language and are very important in the construction of all Media Products. Like language, they involve elements that create an organised system of order and construction.
​
​
​
From the Study Design...
"Media codes
Technical, written and symbolic tools used to construct or suggest meaning in media forms and products. Media codes include the use of camera, acting, setting, mise en scène, editing, lighting, sound, special effects, typography, colour, visual composition, text and graphics.
Media conventions
Rules or generally accepted ways of constructing form and informing meaning in media products including story principles, form and structure, generic structures, character and story arcs, cause and effect, point of view, the structuring of time, elements of page layout, paper stock for print, titles and credits sequences, hyperlinking and mounting and framing of images."
(Media Study Design, p10)
What is a Code?
A code is a series of signs that convey meaning. Some codes include:
written language, oral language, body language, pictorial language, music.
​
Broadly speaking codes can be divided into two main groups, visual and audio.
​​
​​
-
These are the codes associated with production elements or technical devices such as camera work, sound effects, lighting and so on.
​
​​
Visual codes are what we see
​
Audio codes are what we hear
(Wood, A, 2021
Often using mnemonic devices can assist students with remembering information.
For example, in Media, we use CAMELS and COPMESS:
CAMELS to remember Media Codes specific to Film:
C - Camera
A - Acting
M - Mise en scene
E - Editing
L - Lighting
S - Sound
​
​
COPMESS to remember story elements:
C - Cause and effect
O - Opening development and resolution
P - Points of view
M - Multiple storylines
E - Establishment and development of and reationship between characters
S - Setting
S - Structuring time
Colour is a code that conveys meaning
(Wood, A, 2021)
What is a Convention?
A convention is a generally accepted way of organising a text
​
Media forms, media products, genres and narratives all have their own conventions
​
For example :
Television news conventions
- Journalist
- Weather report
- Sports report
- Interviews
- News anchors
​
(Wood, A, 2021)