Media codes and conventions are like the building blocks of all the media around us. Media codes generally have an agreed meaning, or connotation, to their audience. There are three types of media codes, symbolic codes, technical codes and written codes. Conventions are expected ways in which codes are organised in a product.
What are conventions?
Conventions are the generally
accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any
medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but
conventions are also genre specific.
How codes and conventions apply in media
Codes
and conventions are used together in any study of genre – it is not
enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without
saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.
For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense – an integral part of any horror movie.
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