Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Codes and Conventions

The codes and conventions in media can be separated into 3 distinct groups -
- Technical (camera techniques & shots),
- Symbolic (ie clothing, colours)
- Written and audio (music etc).
These give the text meaning and determine the response of the viewer.
 
For a horror...
 
      CODE                         CONVENTION
eg. knife, blood, mask --> chase scenes, good vs evil

stories - they all tell stories, whether those stories involve adventure, crime or romance and they often but not always, end happily.

camerawork - particular kinds of shots are used e.g. sequences involving establishing shots followed by mid shots of characters, shot/reverse shots to show character interaction and in particular close ups to show the characters emotions.

stoires use dialogue to tell themselves. occasionally, monologues are built in (as voiceovers, a character telling a story).

music is used to punctuate the action, create effects (suspense, tension) and underline emotional moments.

particular subgenres tend to have items which make them immediately identinfiable - police cars, blue lights, operating theatres, scalpels,triage/ reception areas in hospitals. icons of the genre, they symbolise the (sub)genre.

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