After going through this lesson, you are expected to:

1. Discuss concepts of codes, conventions, and

other media languages.
2. Produce and assesses the codes, convention,
and messages of a group presentation
3. Present an issue in varied ways to disseminate
information using codes, convention, and
languages of media.
 Read the quote then answer the questions that follow.

“Language may be a source of misunderstanding” by Marshall

McLuchan,1964.
1. Does the receiver’s/audience’s personal background or experience affect
the interpretation of the message?
2. Is it possible that different individuals interpret differently the message
they both received?
Language pertains to the technical and
symbolic ingredients or codes and
conventions that media and information
professionals may select
and use in an effort to communicate ideas,
information and knowledge.
Media and Information Language is
the way in which the meaning of a
media text is conveyed to the
audience. It is conveyed through
media codes and conventions.
Messages are the information sent from
a source to a receiver.
Study the cover pictures of the different movie genres.

1. What kind of movie does each picture show?

2. What are the elements that helped you identify its kind?
The systems of signs and symbols
in media is called Media Codes
while Media conventions refer to
the generally accepted ways of
presenting messages in media.
 Signs and symbols in media texts
are ‘polysemic’ meaning they are
open to many interpretations.

Use the appropriate languages

(signs, symbols and conventions) in
media.
 What is genre?
A genre refers to a class or category
of artistic endeavor having a
particular form, content, technique,
or the like.
Can be recognized by its common
set of distinguishing features (codes
and conventions)
The primary genres that media creators and
producers invoke are the following:

News Entertainment Information

Education Advertising
News These are stories that have critical importance to community and national
life.
News stories are also told following the basic structure of beginning,
middle, and end.

Journalists, people trained to report the news to an audience, are

expected to be objective, comprehensive, and bias-free.
They work for newspapers, radio stations, televisions, and lately, online or
web-based news services

Major Division for News stories:

Hard or straight news; Feature, Soft News, Investigative News, Opinion
Entertainment It is derived from the French word “entretenir,”
which means “to hold the attention, keep busy, or amused.

This a comprehensive movie genres list:

(a) Action movies
require stunts, set pieces, explosions, guns, and karate. They are
usually about a clear hero and a clear villain. Action movie stakes are
huge, like saving the world or the universe. They’re often bombastic
and move quickly. Their pacing and structure are built around scenes
like car chases, and their climaxes often have the biggest set-pieces.
(b) Adventure movies are usually built around a quest.
-They take place in faraway lands or jungles.
-Many adventures may be period pieces, although more
contemporary adventure stories are coming back to the forefront.
-They can be swashbucklers or treasure hunts.

(c) Comedy films usually are written with a few laughs at a scene.
-The stakes are usually much smaller or interpersonal.
-Comedy films can vary in their darkness and the way they deal with life
and death.
-They tend to be shorter films, spoofs and can have broader casts.
(d) Drama -is regularly mashed up with other genres because most movies and TV
rely on character-driven stories to keep the audience involved.
-These are serious stories that hinge on events that regularly happen in everyday
life.
-They usually focus on character and how these people arc over time.

(e) Horror film -focuses on adrenaline rides for the audience that dial in the gore,
scares, and creative monsters.

-Horror is always re-inventing old classics, like adding fast zombies, and CGI
creatures.
-It also is seen as the most bankable genre with a huge built-in audience. Ghouls,
ghosts, slashers, creatures, and body disfiguring are some of its settings
(f) Romance movies -are about people coming together, falling apart, and all the
hurdles in between.
-Love is a universal language.
-They can be paired with comedy and ram, but a straightforward romance focuses
on two characters or an ensemble falling in love.

(g) Thriller movies -What would you do when you were over your head?
-This is usually linked with horror, action, and drama, but thrillers are about exciting
situations that have constant danger.
-They’re about stressed characters, corrupt investigators, and criminals
living on the edge.
(h) War/ Conflict movies -are about POWs, men in foxholes, tanks, and planes.
-They’re about people finding commonalities, differences, and sacrificing their lives.
 Code
These are a system of signs
that, when put together,
create meaning.
 Types of Code

Symbolic Technical Written

Code Code Code
 Symbolic Code
Symbolic Codes are social nature. Such
codes exist beyond the media product
themselves but can be interpreted in
similar ways in the everyday life of the
viewer (Young, 2017)
These also include
➢ Setting
➢ Mise en scene
➢ Acting
➢ Color
➢ Setting
Is the time and place of the narrative. It can
be the setting of the whole story or just a
specific scene. This will create atmosphere
or build a frame of mind.
➢ Mise en scene
is a French term meaning ‘everything
within a frame’. Costume and props are
included in the analysis in the frame
(Young, 2017).
➢ 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
 ➢ Color
Colour has highly cultural
and strong connotations.
When studying the use of
color in a media product, the
different aspects of being
looking at are:
✓ Dominant color
✓ Contrasting foils
✓ Colour symbolism
 Symbolisms in Films
.(2010).YouTube Channel: Chris Constantine.
Retrieved
September 14, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhijmmePlU8
 Technical Codes
Technical codes. According to Arniel
Ping technical codes are all the ways in
which equipment is used to tell a story
in a media text like camera techniques,
framing, lighting, etc. (Ping, 2016).
Camerawork refers to how the camera
is handled, positioned and moved for
specific effects like a high-angle
camera shot to create a feeling of power
in a photograph.
 Camera Angles with Zach King
.(2014). YouTube Channel: King Film School. Retrieved
September 14, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD63b6Z-Tr0
CAMERA TECHNIQUES

.https://nofilmschool.c
om/camera-angles-and-
shots-movements
 -Shot off, e.g., a large
Extreme Wide
crow or a view of the
Shot
scenery as far horizon.

-A view of the
Wide Shot situation or setting
from a distance
 Shows a subject down
to his or her waist with
Medium Shot
space above to his or
her head.

Shows a subject
Medium Close- up down to his or her
chest with space
above to his or her
head.
 A full screenshot of a
Close up
subject face

A two- shot is a type of shot in which

the frame encompasses two people.
Two Shot The subjects do not have to be next to
each other, and there are many
common two shots that have one
subject in the foreground and the
other subject in the background.
 -It is the interruption of a continuous
shot by inserting a shot of something
else. Usually, you then cut back to
the first shot. These can be done
Cut Away within the same scene, cuts to other
scenes, or even as one continuous
shot as the camera pans across to
something else.
- Over the shoulder, the shot
is a camera angle used in
film and television, where
the camera is placed above
Over the Shoulder the back of the shoulder
and head of a subject. This
shot is most commonly
used to present
conversational back and
forth between two subjects.
 - A point of view shot is a film
scene—usually a short one—that is
shot as if through the eyes of a
character. The camera shows what
Point of View the subject's eyes would see. It is
usually established by being
positioned between a shot of a
character looking at something,
and a shot showing the character's
reaction
Using a shallow depth of field, the
subject can be rendered in sharp
focus with the rest of the image
Selective Focus blurring into the image foreground
and background. This technique
isolates the subject within the
image, drawing the eye of the viewer
to the exact point which the
photographer wishes to be
observed.
 The eye level shot is exactly
what it sounds like: the
cinematographer positions
Eye- Level the camera angle directly at
the eye level of the
character.

It is a cinematic technique
where the camera looks down
High Angle on the subject from a high
angle, and the point of focus
often gets “swallowed up.”
High-angle shots can make the
subject seem vulnerable or
powerless when applied with
the correct mood, setting, and
effects.
 It is a shot from a camera
angle positioned anywhere
Low Angle below the eye line, pointing
upward.

A shot in which the camera

shoots a scene from directly
overhead. It usually has an
Bird’s Eye View extreme long shot to
establish a setting. We use
this angle to look down at
the scene from a higher
point.
 is a shot that is looking up
from the ground and is
Worm’s Eye View meant to give the viewer
the feeling that they are
looking up at the character
from way below, and it is
meant to show the view
that a child or a pet would
have.
BASIC CAMERA MOVEMENTS
BASIC CAMERA MOVEMENTS
Lighting. According to Robert Young lighting
is the manipulation of natural or artificial light
to selectively highlight specific elements of the
scene( Young, 2017).
 Lighting with Zach King
.(2014). YouTube Channel: King Film School.
Retrieved
September 14, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W70YkNjFKY
Audio is the expressive or naturalistic use of
sound. It includes dialogue, sound effects and
music. According to Chris
Constantine(Constantine, 2010) music often
defines a scene. An example is the use of
ominous music to communicate danger in films.
 Written Codes
Written codes are the formal written
language used in a media product.
These include language style and
textual layout like headlines, captions,
speech bubbles, etc. (Frezi.com, Young,
R. 2017)
 Conventions
These are the accepted ways of using media
codes. These are closely connected to the
audience’s expectations of a media product.
 Types of Conventions
1. Form conventions.
These are 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.

2. Story Conventions.
These are common narrative structures and understandings that are common
in storytelling media products.
Examples of story conventions include:
✓ Narrative structures
✓ Cause and effect
✓ Character construction
✓ Point of View

3. Genre Conventions.
It points 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.
 Conventions and Iconography of an Action
Film
.(2015). YouTube Channel: Skyline Productions.
Retrieved September 9, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuxNcpC9a0A&list=PLv
qJQ
QNqUbBSD9TLTO7EcEGP1KvRWbGDh&index=3