Media and Information Languages: Codes and Conventions

Media Languages

• Media languages consist of codes, conventions, formats, symbols, and narrative structures that convey meaning to an audience.

Codes

• Codes are systems of signs that create meaning when combined.
• There are three types of codes: symbolic, written, and technical codes.

Symbolic Codes

• Represent what lies beneath the surface of what we see, such as objects, setting, body language, clothing, color, etc.
• Use iconic symbols that are easily understood.

Written Codes

• Involve the use of language style and textual layout, including headlines, captions, speech bubbles, and language style.

Technical Codes

• Refer to the ways in which equipment is used to tell a story, including sound, camera angles, types of shots, lighting, camera techniques, framing, depth of field, lighting exposure, and juxtaposition.

Camera Shots

• Extreme Long Shot: shows a large crowd scene or a view of scenery as far as the horizon.
• Long Shot: a distant view of a situation or setting.
• Medium Long Shot: shows a group of people interacting with each other.
• Full Shot: shows a figure's entire body in action or a constellation of characters.
• Medium Close Shot: shows a subject down to their chest or waist.
• Close Up Shot: a full-screen shot of a subject's face, highlighting their expression.
• Extreme Close Up Shot: a detailed shot of a hand, eye, mouth, or object.

Point of View

• Establishing Shot: a long shot taken at the beginning of a scene to indicate the location or setting.
• Point of View Shot: a scene from a character's perspective.
• Over-the-Shoulder Shot: a frontal view of a dialogue partner from the perspective of someone standing behind and slightly to the side.
• Reaction Shot: a short shot of a character's response to an action.
• Insert Shot: a detail shot providing visual information to understand the scene.
• Reverse-Angle Shot: a shot from the opposite perspective.
• Hand-Held Camera Shot: a shot taken with a handheld camera, resulting in less stable footage.

Camera Angles

• Aerial Shot (Bird's Eye Shot): an overhead shot of the ground from the air.
• High-Angle Shot: shows people or objects from above eye level.
• Low-Angle Shot: shows people or objects from below eye level.
• Eye-Level Shot: views a subject from the level of a person's eye.

Camera Movements

• Pan Shot: the camera pans horizontally across the picture.
• Tilt Shot: the camera tilts up or down around a vertical line.
• Tracking Shot: the camera follows a moving object or person.
• Zoom: the camera approaches a subject by zooming in or moves away by zooming out.

Conventions

• Standard or norm that acts as a rule governing behavior.
• Generally established and accepted ways of doing something.

Message and Audience

• Message: information sent from a source to a receiver.
• Audience: the group of consumers for whom the media message was constructed, as well as anyone else exposed to the message.
• Producers: people engaged in creating and putting together media content.
• Stakeholders: libraries, archives, museums, internet, and other relevant information providers.