Disseminating Information
Are you fond of watching movies? What movie genre do you usually prefer?
What elements do you usually look for from the genre of your choice? What are your
standards in critiquing the effectiveness of a movie?
Media, in its broadest sense, exist for consumption and interpretation. Any
form of media aims to send messages regardless of the purpose. It is crucial for
media people to accurately consider how people understand and interpret
It is important for the audience to establish standardization in terms of
what to expect from the media. If expectations are unclear, then it is difficult for
both parties to meet halfway. This lesson focuses on how to deal with this
circumstance. For media and audience to be effectively bridged, the right
knowledge on codes and conventions must be properly understood. At the end of
this lesson, you are expected to identify codes, convention and message and how
they affect the audience, producers and other stake holders and present an issue
in varied ways to disseminate information using codes, convention and language
of media by creating your own media and information presentations.
Learning Task 1: In your notebook, accomplish the table below. Write five (5) movies
that you have watched recently and provide clear and specific descriptions about
them based on content, theme and genre.
Movie Title Description
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
In understanding media, there are codes and conventions that you have to
know. See this like building blocks of all media around you. Generally, media
already possess a default in itself.
Shown in the table below are three types of media codes, namely: symbolic
codes, technical codes and written codes. Conventions, on the other hand, are
expected ways in which codes are organized in a product.
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium. Retrieved https://media.codes/media-codes-and
-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Symbolic Codes
These are codes that are social in
nature. This only means that these
codes exist outside media product
themselves, but would be
understood in by audience in
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium. general. For example, seeing
Retrieved https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
somebody receive a red rose in a
film would mean that there is a romantic relationship going between the main
characters. This is exactly similar to giving someone a red rose in real life. Some
examples of symbolic codes in media are the following: setting, mise en scene,
acting and color.
Setting
Known as the time and place
of the narrative, the setting
describes where the story or
a specific scenetook place. It
can be as big as an open
space or as small as a room.
It can even be a created
atmosphere or frame of
mind.
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Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions.
Medium. Retrieved https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-
c03423c06aa8
Color
In media, color has strong cultural connotations. As a student, analyzing
the use of color in media and its various aspects, you have to look at the following:
dominant color, contrasting foils and color symbolism.
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Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium. Retrieved
https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Technical Codes
The second kind of codes are specific to a media form and do not live as a
separate entity. To help you analyze this, look at different camera shots and their
connotations in films and photographs. You have to remember that these may
mean nothing to you or the general audience outside of those forms. These codes
include camerawork, editing, audio and lighting.
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium. Retrieved
https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Camerawork
How the camera is operated, positioned and moved to achieve certaineffects
is also important in analyzing media. These include positioning, movement,
framing, exposure and choice of lens.
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium. Retrieved https://
media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Editing
Another important consideration in studying media is editing. It is the process
of choosing, manipulating, and arranging images and sound. Generally, it is done
for graphic edits, rhythmic edits, spatial edits and temporal edits.
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Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium.
Retrieved https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Audio
Using sound expressively or naturalistically also plays a role in media. Its
three aspects include dialogue, sound effects and music.
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium. Retrieved https://
media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Lighting
Manipulating light, either natural or artificial, to selectively highlight specific
elements of certain scenes, is also one of the important elements of media.These
elements of lighting include: quality, direction, source and color.
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium. Retrieved
https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Written Codes
A type of code that is written usually includes formal written language
usedin media. Similar to technical and symbolic codes, written codes can be used
to interpret a narrative and communicate information regarding a character. Also,
it can convey issues and themes emergent within the media product. Examples of
this code are printed and spoken languages.
Conventions
To use media codes in some sort of a norm where it is accepted by everybody,
there has to be a convention. These are closely connected to what the audience
expects from media. Examples are form, story and genre.
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium.
Retrieved https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Form Conventions
Form conventions are the distinct ways that audiences expect codes to be
arranged in media. Examples of these expectations are the title of the film at the
beginning or the credits at the end. In printed media, it is expected that newspapers
will have a masthead or a banner story as the most important news, then the sports
news usually at the back. Mobile games usually begin with a step- by-step with help
texts on how the game works.
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Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium.
Retrieved https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Story Conventions
These story conventions are common narrative structures and expectations
from media. Examples of these are narrative structures, cause and effect, character
construction and point of view (POV).
Source: Young, R. (2018, February 10). Media Codes and Conventions. Medium.
Retrieved https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
Genre Conventions
Genre conventions include the common use of tropes, characters, settings or
themes in a certain media. These are closely linked with how the audience expects
from the media product. They can be formal or thematic.
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Learning Task 2: Illustrate five (5) signs and symbols in your community that are
used to convey information (e.g. for directions, locations of attractions). Discuss
briefly the meaning they convey. Answer the questions that follow. Do this in your
notebook.
1. How do these signs and symbols are used to make people in the community
understand the message being conveyed?
2. How are symbols usually presented?
3. What is the importance of using symbols to convey a message or information?
4. How are these symbols presented in terms of fonts, images, colors, design and
others?
Symbol Descriptions/Meaning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Learning Task 3: Look at the movie posters below. In your notebook, answer the
questions that follow.
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1. What codes and conventions were used in these movie posters to suggest the
genre of the film? Specify which one is used for each.
2. How are the characters dressed up in the posters and their pose?
3. What color schemes were used in the poster? How do you interpret the colors
found in each?
4. How are written codes used in each of these posters?
E
Learning Task 4: Create your own media and information presentation about the
latest issue or news in the society (e.g. postcard, collage, advertisement,
infomercial, story) Do this in an oslo/bond paper. Be guided by the scoring rubric
below.
Component Answer
Target Audience
Sender/Author
Purpose
Key Content
Form/Style
Medium/Format
Learning Task 5: Choose the letter of the best answer in each item. Write your
answers in your notebook.
1. This kind of code is often seen on print media, especially on headlines.
a. oral b. technical c. written
2. These are the generally accepted ways of doing things.
a. convention b. codes c. both A and B
3. Designing messages is at risk of compromising some members of the audience
because of .
a. commonality b. similarity c. diversity
4. In analyzing media messages, it is important to look at the message to
fully understand its implications.
a. direct b. immediate c. underlying
5. It should always be remembered that media is not only an information-giving
entity, but also a/an which depends on capital and profit.
a. organization b. business c. stakeholder
