MIL REVIEWER angles, kinds of shots, and camera

movements
Codes and Conventions • Lighting
description of lights to be used in each
Codes scene
Consist of signs that have meaning and • Editing
interpretation transitions and directions in putting
• Symbolic together various elements
• Written • Audio
• Technical dialogue, music, and sound effects.

Symbolic Codes Chandler’s typology of genre codes

Reflect what is beneath the surface of Most common area on which codes are
what we see in media text in audio-visual media messages such as films and
• Setting television programs.
the time and place where a narrative or Three key kinds of knowledge required
story takes place. by interpreters of a text
• Mise en scene 1. Knowledge of the World (Social
used to describe all elements in a frame, Knowledge)
including their arrangement. Includes set design, 2. Knowledge of the Medium and the
costume, props, staging, and rules of Genre (Textual Knowledge)
composition. 3. Knowledge of the Relationship (1)
• Acting between and (2) Modality
portrayal of a character through Judgments
gestures, facial expressions, body language,
movement, and vocal qualities, among others.
• Color
cultural in nature, with connotations and
underlying messages. In studying media texts,
take note of dominant colors, themes, contrasts,
and symbolisms of colors used.

Written code
Formal written language used in media
outputs. It includes printed language and spoken
language.
• Printed language
is a text presented within a frame.
• Spoken language
includes dialogue and song lyrics.

Technical codes
Ways in which equipment is used to tell
the story. These exist only within each kind of
media output and not outside of it.
Examples:
• Camerawork

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 Man vs. Man, Man vs. Machine, Man vs. Nature,
Man vs. Society, Man vs. Supernatural, Man vs.
Self

Genre Conventions
are the common use of tropes,
characters, settings, or themes.

Horror
common settings are abandoned or
isolated locations, color is predominantly dark,
or use of silence and creepy sound effects

Romance
boy meets girl story, popular urban city
locations, pop music soundtrack, voice-overs, or
light-colored themes and scenes

Media and Its Dimensions

Conventions
Text Information and Media
Refers to the way codes are organized in
These are the written and tangible
a media output or product.
dimension of information and media.
“Human-readable sequence of
Form Conventions
characters” that can form intelligible words.
Ways in which audiences expect codes
to be arranged.
Examples
• Film
Title at the beginning, credits at the end.
• News
Headline and lead at the beginning, most
important news at the front page.
• Video Games
Tutorials at the beginning.

Story conventions Journalism

are common structures and is defined as collecting, writing, editing
understandings in storytelling, such as: and presenting of news in newspapers,
Narrative Structure magazines, radio, and television broadcasts, or
Exposition, inciting incident, conflict, the internet.
rising action, climax, denouement, resolution, The newspaper is one of the major
and ending mediums used to disseminate information
through texts. It is a regularly scheduled
Point of View publication containing news, information, and
First person, second person, omniscient advertising. It has two formats:
• Broadsheets
Types of Conflict • Tabloids

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Broadsheets
typically long and is from a much more
reliable and established source.
Examples: Manila Bulletin, Philippine
Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Tabloids
smaller, shorter and typically easier to
read and is aimed for the masses. May contain
vulgar and informal language.
Example: Bulgar, Tempo
The newspaper has several sections:
• Headline - considered as the most
important news of the day
• Opinion - includes editorial and
columnists, writing essays with
specializations
• Entertainment - contains pop culture
news and updates, and comics
• Lifestyle - includes health and wellness
• Technology - includes the latest
technological trends
• Business - contains updates regarding
the economy
• Sports - news about sports, standings,
athletes
Straight news aims to answer the 5W's and 1H
• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why
• How
Lead
most important part of the news article;
first sentence or paragraph which must contain
the most important facts; serves as the hook of
the news story
Text-specific Issues:
Sensationalism
style design to produce startling or
thrilling impressions or to excite and please
vulgar taste.
Tabloidization
Revision of traditional newspaper and
other media formats driven by reader
preferences and commercial requirements
Envelopmental journalism
bribery through cash envelopes to
influence them to write news that is one-sided or
biased
Yellow Journalism
high-interest stories, sensational crime
news, large headlines and reports exposing
corruption in business and government,
marketed for shock value
News Values
determine prominece of news stories or
attention given by the audience or masses:
Prominence, Timeliness, Proximity, Relevance,
etc.
Visual Information and Media
Dimension of media that is primarily
accessed by our eyes and visual capabilities.
Visual Literacy
develops our ability to construct
meaning from images. We must interpret the
visual elements beyond what it appears to be.
Graphics
Pictures that are either drawn by hand or
through a computer software.
Two types:
1. Raster graphics - a drawing that is
digitized using a scanner.
2. Vector graphic - produced through a
computer software; can be scaled
without compromising the quality of the
drawing; can be enabled to an animation.
Uses of Graphics
• to build user interface such as a browser
menu, button, tab, or window
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• to represent data in charts, tables,
graphs, and other data presentation
tools
• 2D or 3D modeling designs
• used to design program title cards or
banners, advertisements, and visual
effects

Photography
the process of recording images through
a chemical interaction caused by lightrays hitting
a sensitized surface (celluloid film/negative).

Digital photography
images are captured or encoded as
electronic signals stored in the camera system’s
memory storage and decoded as digital image
files

Difference in photography then and now:

Elimination of the chemical laboratory
(dark room) in the overall photographic process.

Principles of Photography
Emphasis
pulls viewers to a specific element in the
image

Balance
a sense of stability in the shot, can be
symmetrical or asymmetrical and can be
achieved by using elements of equal or similar
weight.

Unity
all elements form a whole.
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 Chilean Embassy in 2013. After further
Contrast investigations, it was revealed he plagiarized
use of contrasting elements (may be in several photographs before this incident and
terms of shape, texture, color, or value). passed them as his own in various photography
contests.
Movement
directs the viewer’s eye to follow a Audio Information and Media
perceived action.
A. Information
Rhythm Dialogue
use of repeating or alternating shapes, conveying what the event is all
colors, or values about, helps in developing the story
progression
Repetition or pattern
a repeating element in the image. Direct address
when the performer speaks
Scale and proportion directly from his/her screen position
juxtaposing a small object with a large
object exaggerates their size. Narration
strategy in advancing a plot from
Types of Perspective pictures
Linear perspective
directs our gaze to a vanishing point B. Outer Orientation
within the visual field. The best illustration to Space or ambiance
explain vanishing point is the “train-tracks” where specific sounds can help
effect. reveal and define the location of an
event. It can represent time, situation
Scale Perspective
the figures and objects in the distance Example of situations:
are reduced in size. • predictive sound
• leitmotive
Atmospheric perspective o which is a short musical
details of figures and objects in the phrase or specific sound
distance are not only diminished but are also effect that signals the
rendered in soft focus. appearance of a person,
action, or situation; may
Image-Specific Issues only be effective only if
Image manipulation used repeatedly to
Done for artistic merits or for deception signal the same event
E.g. the practice of airbrushing in • external condition
magazines to erase wrinkles, spots or o indicate whether
imperfections, trimming the waist or fat of something is big or small,
models to make them appear thinner. smooth or rough, high
or low, old or new, fast
Image-grabbing and plagiarism or slow.
A graduate student from UP was caught
plagiarizing a photo that won the top prize in the C. Inner Orientation
Calidad Humana photo contest held by the Mood
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 variety of nonmusical sounds Sound effects
(usually synthesized or otherwise all sounds that are neither dialogue nor
electronically distorted sound) or a music.
combination of music and nonmusical
sound Voice over
spoken words laid over the other tracks
Internal condition in sound mix to comment upon the narrative or
examples are unstable to narrate.
environment (often in conjunction with
the contextual visual clue) or a person Ambiance
who feels calm, excited, or agitated background sound, used to build the
setting
Energy
whistles and whines, can Music
provide or increase the aesthetic energy diegetic music is part of the action; non-
of a scene diegetic is not part of the action but added over
the top (during post-production). It is used
Structure symbolically to add associated meaning to the
Sound establishes or visual images (atmosphere, tension).
supplements the rhythmic structure or
the visual vector structure of the screen Score
event. the title of the musical soundtrack

Audio Composition Motion Information and Media

Voice
sound coming from the voice box or Film
larynx was earlier called “moving pictures”
since its precursor photography is still (non-
Sound effects moving) pictures which was shortened to
can be canned, live, or digital (Foley “movies.”
sound effects)
Cinema
Music refers to specific bodies of work in film
can be used on its own or to enhance that carry specific thematic topics (music, acting,
broadcasts and productions production design).

Silence Two formats: short film and feature-length or

in radio, “dead air ” is avoided because full-length film
it disrupts the flow of information from
broadcasts. However, silence can be utilized Modes of Film Production
intentionally in production to create a certain Pre-production
effect. Stage planning stage, concept
development, script writing, financing, casting,
Noise set design, shooting details, and other concerns
number one enemy in audio production, Visualization is also a part of pre-
unwanted sound production; production design; shooting details;
editing concerns and planning the kind of music
Audio Codes which would be used.

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Production Stage
actual shooting of the film; also known
as the principal photography phase; typical
shooting for mainstream full-feature is less than
30 days, while low budget independent films are
shot in less than 10 days.

Post-production Stage
editing, film scoring, dubbing;
mainstream films are edited in less than 25 days.

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 Filipinos embraced American culture
because they shared their culture with us
through TV and radio shows, educational system,
popular culture, and Hollywood movies

Hollywood as the “Dream Factory "

predominant western themes even in
locally produced media
Metro Manila Film Festival was an
attempt to circumvent Hollywood dominance,
but now it has turned into a for-profit cash-grab
without cultural value.

Issues on film
Synergy
maximizing economic opportunities
within the conglomerate (one product, multiple
media saturation)
Pop culture and unpopular tastes

Technical prowess vs. Story content

• “Hollywood standards” in terms of
technique and content
• CGI – western standards as the best
• Copying stories instead of presenting
stories about our own culture and
heritage

Media as a form of cultural imperialism

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