Codes, Conventions, and Language of Media

Understanding the language of media is a

skill that you must acquire. Remember the
following terms:

• Language pertains to the technical and symbolic

ingredients or codes and conventions that media and
information professionals may select and use in an
effort to communicate ideas, information and
knowledge.

• Media language are the codes, conventions, formats,

symbols and narrative structure that indicate the
meaning of media messages to an audience.

• Messages are the information sent from a source to a

receiver
Media codes and conventions are like the building
blocks of all the media around us which generally have
an agreed meaning, or connotation to their audience
(Young, 2017). There are three (3) types of media
codes: symbolic codes, technical codes, and written
codes.

1. Symbolic codes are social in nature. Such

codes exist beyond the media product
themselves but can be interpreted in similar ways in the
everyday life of the viewer (Young, 2017).
Example: which means Christianity
These also include setting, mise en scene, acting and
color

Setting is the time and place of the

narrative. It can be the setting of the
whole story or just a specific scene.
This will create atmosphere or build a frame of mind
(Young, 2017).
 Mise en scene is a French term
meaning ‘everything within a frame’.
Costume and props are included in the analysis in the
frame (Young, 2017).

Acting is how an actor portray a character that

will lead to character development
and tension making through facial
expression, body language and
vocal qualities (Young, 2017).

Color is used to connect connotation to specific

scenes, characters or object. Red, for instance, is
typically seen as a color of passion,
danger, romance, or violence. Green
is connected with nature or sickness,
blue with calm or depression. Purple
is seen to be connected with royalty (Young, R. 2017).
2. Technical codes. According to Arniel Ping technical
codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to
tell a story in a media text like camera techniques,
framing, lighting, etc. (Ping, 2016).

Camerawork refers to how the camera is handled,

positioned and moved for specific effects like a high-
angle camera shot to create a feeling of power in a
photograph.

Lighting. According to Robert Young lighting is

the manipulation of natural or artificial light to
selectively highlight specific elements of the scene(
Young, 2017).

Audio is the expressive or naturalistic use of sound.

It includes dialogue, sound effects and music.
According to Chris Constantine(Constantine, 2010)
music often defines a scene. An example is the use of
ominous music to communicate danger in films.
 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Fair Use
Guidelines

Copyright is a legal device authorizing the creator

of a literary piece, artistic work, musicals or other
creative compositions the sole right to publish and sell
such work. Copyright owners have the right to control
the reproduction of their work, including the right to
receive payment for that reproduction. An author may
grant or sell those rights to others, including publishers
or recording companies. Violation of such right is
called infringement.

Copyright law gives creators of original material

the exclusive right to further use and duplicate that
material for a given amount of time, at which point the
copyrighted item becomes public domain. (KENTON,
2020)

Plagiarism is an instance of using or closely

imitating the language and thoughts of another author
without authorization; the representation of that
author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the
original.
phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets
are contacted by email, telephone or text message by
someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure
individuals into providing sensitive data such as
personally identifiable information, banking and credit
card details, and passwords. The information is then
used to access important accounts and can result in
identity theft and financial loss.

The fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism,

comment, news, reporting, teaching including multiple
copies for classroom use, scholarship, research and
similar purposes is not an infringement of copyright.

Decompilation which is the reproduction of the

code and translation of the forms of the computer
programs to achieve the inter-operability of an
independently created computer program with other
programs, may also constitute fair use.
 To determine whether use of a work constitutes fair
use, the following factors are considered:
1. The purpose and character of the use, including
whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for
non-profit educational purposes;
2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in
relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for
or value of the copyrighted work.

Republic Act No. 8293 or the

Intellectual Property Code of the
Philippines
AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY CODE AND ESTABLISHING THE
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE,
PROVIDING FOR ITS POWERS AND
FUNCTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
 Digital Divide, Addiction, and Bullying
Digital Divide (DD)

Digital divide pertains to the social and economic

imbalance of the opportunities to access to, use of or
knowledge of information and communication
technology (ICTs). It is referring to a gap between
sector in the community who can access, has the skills
and has desire to the internet and those who cannot.

Cyber Bullying

1. Any unwanted physical contact between the bully

and the victim like punching, pushing, shoving,
kicking, slapping, tickling, headlocks, inflicting
school pranks, teasing, fighting and the use of
available objects as weapons;

2. Any Act that causes damage to a victim’s psyche

and /or emotional well-being;
3. Any slanderous statement or accusation that causes
the victim undue emotional distress like directing foul
language or profanity at the target, name -calling,
tormenting and commenting negatively on victim’s
looks, clothes and body.” (Republic Act No. 10627-
Anti-Bullying Act)

Bullying happens in face to face (like in school) while

cyber-bullying happens in a cyberspace (means in
interconnected digital technology).

What is cyber bullying?

Cyber bullying is a type bullying done online with
the use of technology like computers, laptops, and
cellphone that can destroy the physical and emotional
aspect of the victim (called as bullied) by the one who
does the act (refers as bully).
Different resources of media and
information:

a. People Media
b. Text
c. Visual
d. Audio
e. Motion
f. Manipulatives / Interactive
g. Multimedia

Text Media

Text – a simple and flexible format of

presenting information or conveying ideas
whether hand-written, printed or displayed
on-screen.

Design principles and elements –

1. Emphasis - refers to the importance or

value given to a part of the text-based
content.
2. Appropriateness - refers to how fitting or
suitable the text is used for a specific
audience, purpose or event. In the creation of
text-based content, make sure that the
selection criteria (tone, style, purpose,
clarity) is followed.

3. Proximity - refers to how near or how far

are the text elements from each other. When
two things are closely related, we bring them
close together.

4. Alignment - refers to how the text is

positioned in the page. This can be left, right,
center or justified.

5.Organization - refers to a conscious effort

to organize the different text elements in a
page.

6. Repetition- concerns consistency of

elements and the unity of the entire design.
Repetition encourages the use of repeating
some typefaces within the page.
 7. Contrast- creates visual interest to text
elements. Contrast is achieved when two
elements are different from each other.

Visual Information and Media

Discussion
Visual media and information – materials,
programs, applications and the like that
teachers and students use to formulate new
information to aid learning through the use,
analysis, evaluation and production of visual
images.

Types of visual media – photography,

video, screenshots, infographics, data
visualization (charts and graphs), comic
strips/cartoons, memes, visual note-taking,
etc (Give examples of each type and highlight
special characteristics of a given type and its
application).
Purpose of visual information – the
primary purpose of visual information is to
gain attention, create meaning, and facilitate
retention.

Visual design elements - the building

blocks or basic units in the construction of a
visual image. (Show visual media and
information that incorporates most of the
design elements.

a. Line – describes a shape or outline. It can

create texture and can be thick or thin.
Lines may be actual, implied, vertical,
horizontal, diagonal, or contour lines.

b. Shape – usually a geometric area that

stands out from the space next to or
around it, or because of differences in
value, color, or texture. Shape may also
be organic.

c. Value – the degree of light and dark in a

design. It is the contrast between black
 and white and all the tones in between.
Value can be used with color as well as
black and white. Contrast is the extreme
changes between values.

d. Texture – the way a surface feels or is

perceived to feel. Texture can be added to
attract or repel interest to a visual
element. Visual texture is the illusion of
the surfaces peaks and valleys, resulting
in a feeling of smoothness or roughness
in objects.

e. Color – determined by its hue (name of

color), intensity (purity of the hue), and
value (lightness or darkness of hue).
Color and color combination can play a
large role in the design.

f. Form – a figure having volume and

thickness. An illusion of a 3-dimensional
object can be implied with the use of light
and shading. Form can be viewed from
many angles.
Visual Design Principles are:

1. Consistency of margins, typeface,

typestyle, and colors is necessary,
especially in slide presentations or
documents that are more than one
page.

2. . Center of interest – an area that first

attracts attention in a composition.
This area is more important when
compared to the other objects or
elements in a composition. This can
be by contrast of values, more colors,
and placement in the
format.

3. Balance – a feeling of visual equality

in shape, form, value, color, etc.
Balance can be symmetrical and
evenly balanced, or asymmetrical and
unevenly balanced. Objects, values,
colors, textures, shapes, forms, etc.
4. Harmony – brings together a
composition with similar units. If for
example your composition was using
wavy lines and organic shapes, you would
stay with those types of lines and not put
in just one geometric shape. (Notice how
similar Harmony is to Unity - some
sources list both terms).

5. Contrast – offers some change in value

creating a visual discord in a composition.
Contrast shows the difference between
shapes and can be used as a background
to bring objects out and forward in a
design. It can also be used to create an
area of emphasis.

6. Directional Movement – a visual flow

through the composition. It can be the
suggestion of motion in a design as you
move from object to object by way of
placement and position.

7. Rhythm – a movement in which some

elements recur regularly. Like a dance, it
will have a flow of objects that will seem
to be like the beat of music.
8. Perspective – created through the
arrangement of objects in twodimensional
space to look like they appear in real life.
Perspective is a learned meaning of the
relationship between different objects
seen in space.

Audio Information and Media

a. Radio broadcast - live or recorded audio

sent through radio waves to reach a wide
audience.

b. Music - vocal and/or instrumental

sounds combined in such a way as to
produce beauty of form, harmony, and
expression of emotion.

c. Sound recording - recording of an

interview, meeting, or any sound from the
environment.

d. Sound clips/effects - any sound, other

than music or speech, artificially
reproduced to create an effect in a
dramatic presentation, as the sound of a
storm or a creaking door.
e. Audio Podcast - a digital audio or video
file or recording, usually part of a themed
series, that can be downloaded from a
website to a media player or computer.

Different ways of storing audio media:

a. Tape - magnetic tape on which sound

can be recorded.

b. CD - a plastic-fabricated, circular
medium for recording, storing, and
playing back audio, video, and computer
data.

c. USB drive - an external flash drive,

small enough to carry on a key ring, that
can be used with any computer that has
a USB port.

d. Memory Card - (aka flash memory card

or storage card) is a small storage medium
used to store data such as text, pictures,
audio, and video, for use on small,
portable, or remote computing devices.
 e. Computer hard drive - secondary
storage devices for storing audio files.

f. Internet/Cloud - websites or file

repositories for retrieving audio files, and
more precisely the files are stored in some
datacenter full of servers that is
connected to the Internet.

Different audio file formats:

a. MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3) - a common

format for consumer audio, as well as a
standard of digital audio compression for
the transfer and playback of music on
most digital audio players.

b. M4A/AAC (MPEG-4 Audio/Advanced

Audio Coding) - an audio coding standard
for lossy digital audio compression.
Designed to be the successor of the MP3
format, AAC generally achieves better
sound quality than MP3 at similar bit
rates.
c. WAV - is a Microsoft audio file format
standard for storing an audio bitstream
on PCs. It has become a standard file
format for game sounds, among others.

d. WMA (Windows Media Audio) - is an

audio data compression technology
developed by Microsoft and used with
Windows Media Player.

Sound Characteristics and Purposes

a. Elements of Sound Design – the

objects or things that we have to work
with:

• Dialogue - speech, conversation, voice-

over.

• Sound Effects - any sound other than

music or dialogue.

• Music - vocal or instrumental sounds

(or both) combined in such a way as to
produce beauty of form, harmony, and
expression of emotion.
• Silence - absence of audio or sound.

Principles of Sound Design

• Mixing - the combination, balance and

control of multiple sound elements.

• Pace - Time control. Editing. Order of

events: linear, non-linear, or multi-
linear.

• Transitions - How you get from one

segment or element to another.

Types of transitions:

- Segue - one element stops, the next

begins ("cut" in film).

- Cross-fade - one element fades out, the

next fades in, and they overlap on the
way.

- V-Fade - First element fades to

inaudible before the second element
begins. - Fade to Black - V-Fade with
some silence between elements.
- Waterfall - As first element fades out,
the second element begins at full
volume. Better for voice transitions,
than for effects.

• Stereo Imaging - Using left and right

channel for depth.

Motion Media and Information

• Speed, direction and timing should

depict natural laws of physics. This
included trajectories, impact on objects
and reactions of the environment.

• Timing affects recall. Fast movement

sends much information Slow
movement provides emphasis and
lasting recall.

• Transitions are used to switch between

scenes. Having a clear start and finish
in your motion path or scenes Using
neutral colors at the start or end of a
scene is a good method for creating the
right mindset.
• Sound and color adds depth and
meaning to movement.

• Cartooning your graphic and text

provides dynamic movement. This can
be done by using the following
movements: stretching, rotating,
squashing
• Blurring can be used in different ways.
In animation, blurring can provide the
illusion of fast movement.

Manipulatives / Interactive Media

. Interactive Media – a method of

communication in which the program's
outputs depend on the user's inputs,
and the user's inputs in turn affect the
program's outputs.

Interactivity – the communication

process that takes place between
humans and computer software.
Different platforms of interactive media:

a. Mobile apps - a software application

developed specifically for use on small,
wireless computing devices such as
smartphones and tablets, rather than
desktop or laptop computers.

b. 3D TV - a television display
technology that enables a three-
dimensional effect, so that viewers
perceive that an image has depth as well
as height and width, similar to objects in
the real world.

c. Video games (multi-player) - a game

played by electronically manipulating
images produced by a computer
program on a television screen or other
display screen. Multiplayer games allow
two or more players to play with one
another or play together.

d. Role-playing games (RPG) - a game in

which players assume the roles of
characters in a fictional setting.
e. Massively Multiplayer Online Role
Playing Game (MMORPG) - any story-
driven online video game in which a
player, taking on the persona of a
character in a virtual or fantasy world,
interacts with a large number of other
players.

f. Interactive websites (pools, surveys,

exams, exercises)

g. Virtual reality and immersive

environments - the computer-generated
simulation of a threedimensional image
or environment that can be interacted
with in a seemingly real or physical way
by a person using special electronic
equipment, such as a helmet with a
screen inside or gloves fitted with
sensors.

h. Social media - websites or online

services where users (actual people) are
the creators and consumers of the
content, and where social interactions
(commenting, liking, posting, talking)
are the main features of content.