Codes and conventions
Technical codes:
camera shot angle editing transitions SFX CGI
Symbolic codes:
body language, gesture, setting, dress, colour, composition
Sound codes:
music, dialogue, sound effects
Narrative codes:
storyline, plot, structure, characters
Representations:
age, gender, ethnicity, nation stereotyping
Camera shot Close up, Medium shot, Long shot
ECU, MCU, MLS, ELS or ECU, MCU, MLS, ELS or BIG CLOSE UP, BIG LONG SHOT
Camera angle
High, low, eye-level
Two shot
Over the shoulder
Tilted frame
Camera movements
Pan, tilt, tracking shot, dolly
Lighting
High key / low key
Hard and soft
Editing
Cutting, shot / reverse shot
Jump cut, cutaway
Cross cutting
Transitions, fades, wipes, dissolves
Sound codes
Music: genre, motif, instruments
Diegetic/ non-diegetic sound
Ambient sound
Dialogue: narration, speech
Symbolic codes are hugely significant.
Explain why they have been used by the makers of the text. SIGNIFY or CONNOTE.
Body language
Gesture
Dress
Setting
Object
Composition: rule of thirds, perspective
Colour
Typographic codes: fonts, plain,
bold, italic, decorative, serif / sans serif
Mise en scene — a useful word here which often describes many symbolic codes
Denotation and connotation
Signifiers
Soap opera
Plot, multi-layered storyline
Tension, closure, resolution
Harmony, dis–equilibrium, equilibrium
Open narratives / closed narratives
Linear, multi–strand, chronological
Flashback
Time condensing, time expansion
Audience knowing more than the character
Fade to black signifying death
Cliff-hanger ending
Does it remind you of any other texts you have seen in television?
