1 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

Lesson 2

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

In this lesson you are expected to:

1. Define codes and conventions;
2. Recognize the theory of semiotics;
3. Identify the grammar of the camera;
4. Create a project -based activity applying all the codes and conventions; and
5. Reflect on the contribution of codes and conventions in the construction of
media.

Instruction: Before you go over this lesson, you are required to answer this 10-item multiple
choice test. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. It is the study of signs.

a. Codes
b. Semiotics
c. Semantics

2. It is a system of signs that when we put together create meaning.

a. Codes
b. Conventions
c. Semantics

3. A full-screen shot of a subject’s face, showing the finest nuances of expressions.

a. Long-shot
b. Extreme close-up
c. Close-up

4. Short shot of characters response to an action.

a. Reaction shot
b. Over-the-shoulder-shot
c. Reverse-angle shot

5. A large crowd scene or a view of the scenery as far as the horizon.

a. Long shot
b. Medium long shot
c. Extreme long shot
2 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

6. A view of the figures entire body to show action and/or a constellation group of
characters.
a. Establishing shot
b. Full shot
c. Medium long shots

7. The camera is not mounted on a tripod and instead is held by the cameraperson,
resulting in less stable shots.
a. Hand-held camera
b. Insert
c. Reaction shot

8. Long or extreme long shot of the ground from the air.

a. High-angle shot
b. Low-angle shot
c. Aerial shot

9. The camera follows along next to or behind a moving object or person.

a. Tilt shot
b. Tracking shot
c. Panning shot

10. The stationary camera approaches a subject by zooming in or moves farther away
by zooming out.
a. Zoom
b. Aerial shot
c. Close-up shot
3 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

Codes and Historical The Grammar

Semiotics
Conventions Circumstances of the Camera

The map shows the main focus of the lesson which is Codes and Conventions of Media with
specific topics such as semiotics, historical circumstances, and the grammar of the camera.

WHAT I ALREADY KNOW!

We take symbolic action now and then. Our interactions with others are about
using symbols to express ourselves: we wave our hands to say goodbye, shake our
heads to express disapproval or clap our hands to express delight. In a way, culture is
also viewed as the vehicle by which society transmits its values, dominant (and
therefore, preferred) ideas, and institutions. Media is one of the main, if not also the most
accessible and potent channels by which symbols are transmitted. Revisit some popular
television commercials are there symbolic actions that you see in that commercial? Now
ask yourself: what idea does the television commercial transmit? Is it now a dominant
idea in your school, in your community, and the entire society?
4 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

ELUCIDATING CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Instruction: Read the texts and contexts below.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

All media messages are constructed using a particular set of codes and conventions.

Every medium has its codes and conventions. Codes are systems of signs that when
put together create meaning, Conventions are generally established and ways of doing
something. When we say media, messages are constructed using codes and conventions, we
mean that every media product we encounter is a coherent body with its own rules.

Take a look at the table that provides you the grammar of television and film to illustrate
how a specific set of codes operate in a particular medium.

At this point, it will be good to introduce the theory of semiotics so we can fully
appreciate the coherence of the sign systems.

Semiotics is the study of signs. According to Hall (1997) media always is engaged in
"signifying practices," which means there is a kind of symbolic work that can be found in media
texts.

As early as now, we should be implicating the notion of culture to fully understand how
semiotics theory works, and how coherent systems of meaning are created.

At this point, it would be best to invoke the concept of culture. The approach to culture is
tied to man's capacity for meaning-making. In the last decades of the 20th century, emphasis
has been placed on shared meaning-making processes derived from and embedded in social
interaction. Therefore, this approach does not envision a culture that is coherent and unitary but
instead considers the diversity of meaning-making processes. As such, culture is always plural,
constructed out of man's ability to weave meanings from the symbols he encounters in social
life. From this perspective, culture is a product of meaning-making processes but itself
"possesses a relative autonomy in shaping actions and institutions" (Alexander 2003' 12).

In this section, we engaged with the thought that media messages are constructed.

We have established that the meaning is something that comes out as an interaction
between the message sent and its receiver, both of which are surrounded by a context that
bears on how the process of reading and receiving the encoded message is decoded.

The context used here is the set of conditions that locate a sign in a particular location in
history. It can mean the established ways by which society privileges certain signs due to
certain historical circumstances. In the earlier chapter, we engaged with a print advertisement
that honored white skin and encouraged young women. Our colonial history has certainly much
5 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

to say about that value system we have for the color of the skin that the colonial masters
possessed. Even our media history reveals that our tie-ups with Asian neighbors through the
medium of pop culture reinforced our regard for white skin.

It can also mean the structures and institutions assign meanings to the words, sounds,
and images we encounter. In the television commercial mentioned above, what message does
the choice of talents—the most popular television stars of the present era—tell the audience?
What is the meaning of the colors of their wardrobe? What is their dancing trying to tell you?
What message does the oft-repeated phrase "hair flip" say? Do you think you share the
meanings you have generated with members of your class? Most likely yes.

Now find out why you share these meanings with your classmate because you also
share a context with them. What could be the context that you share with your classmate?

The “Grammar” of the Camera

Extreme long shot Short of, e.g., a large crowd scene or a

view of the scenery as far as the horizon
Long Shot A view of a situation or setting from a
distance
Shows a group of people in interaction with
Medium Long Shot each other, e.g., a fight scene, with part of
their surroundings in the picture
A view of the figure’s entire body to show
Full Shot action and/or a constellation group of
characters
Medium Shot, Mid Shows a subject down to his or her chest or
Shot, and Medium waist
Close Shot
Close- up A full-screen shot of a subject’s face,
showing the finest nuances of expression
Extreme Close – up A shot of a hand, eye, mouth, or object In
(shot) detail
Detail (Shot) for
objects

POINT OF VIEW

Often used at the beginning of a scene to

Establishing Shot indicate the location or setting, it is usually a
long shot taken from a neutral position
Shows a scene from the perspective of a
Point-of-View Shot, character or one person. Most newsreel
6 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

POV-shot footages are shown from the perspective of

the newscaster
Often used in dialogue scenes, a frontal
view of a dialogue partner from the
Over-the-shoulder perspective of someone standing behind
shot and slightly to the side of the other partner,
so that parts of both can be seen.
Reaction Shot Short shot of a character’s response to an
action
A detail shot which quickly gives visual
Insert (shot) information necessary to understand the
meaning of a scene, for example, a
newspaper page, or a physical detail
Reverse - Angle Shot A shot from the opposite perspective, e.g.,
after an over-the-shoulder shot
The camera is not mounted on a tripod and
Hand-Held Camera instead is held by the cameraperson,
resulting in less stable shots

CAMERA ANGLES

Aerial Shot or Long or extreme long shot of the ground

High Angle from the air
or Overhead
High-Angle Shot Shows people or objects from above, higher
than eye level
Low-Angle Shot or Shows people or objects from below, i.e.,
Below Shot lower than eye level
Eye-Level Shot or Views a subject from the level of a person’s
Straight-on Angle eyes

CAMERA MOVEMENT

The camera pans (moves horizontally) from

Panning shot left to right or vice versa across the picture

Tilt Shot The camera tilts up (moves upwards) or tilts

down (moves downwards)
Tracking Shot The camera follows along next to or behind
a moving object or person
The stationary camera approaches a subject
7 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

Zoom by ‘zooming in’; or moves farther away by

‘zooming out’

In this section, we engage with the thought that media messages are constructed. We
further added the idea that some codes and conventions undergird this constructedness.

Codes and conventions are more complex and elaborate concepts. That because they
are tied to the concept of genre.

Instruction: Answer the following questions below in a comprehensive manner.

1. What is code?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

2. What is convention?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

3. What is the theory of semiotics?

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

4. What are historical circumstances?

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

5. What is grammar of the camera?

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
8 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

DEEPENING MY COGNITIVE SKILLS!

ACTIVITY 3
Using a mobile phone or a simple point-and-shoot digital camera, explore what you can do
with the features of the camera, familiarize yourselves with its features— how to turn it on,
how to turn it off; the capacity of the lens to zoom in, and zoom out; how to move it for shots
that will pan right and left, or tilt up and down. If it has a manual, turn to the manual so you
can read about its features. Do you think it can be attached to a tripod? If so, try using a
tripod to stabilize the movements you will create from it.

After getting thoroughly familiar with its features, and after considerable time trying it on,
prepare now for a 3-minute video shoot.

You will prepare a video portrait of an ordinary person on the school campus. By ordinary
person as the subject of your interview, we mean somebody whose life and work are hardly
noticed or rarely given the attention they deserve despite their valuable contribution to
campus life.

1. Do an interview. Use open-ended questions that would elicit a substantial response.

2. Shoot the subject doing his/her work, something like capturing his/her life in a
fragment of a day.
3. Evaluate your work. Go back to the decisions you made with the use of the camera,
the angles that you created, the use of the magnification capacity through the lens that
zooms in and out, and the capacity of the camera to pan or tilt. Why did you do it?
What was the effect of how you portrayed your subject? How did the camera help you
tell the significant work that your subject does?

MY APPRAISAL!
Instruction: The explore section of this lesson has taught you about the concept
of codes and conventions. This time, you are tasked to create a reflective essay
composing 500-1000 words that talks about how codes and conventions
significant in the construction of media? Cite examples and share your
experiences in every single detail you present.

In this lesson you have learned that:

9 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

 Every medium has its codes and conventions. Codes are systems of signs that
when put together create meaning, Conventions are generally established and
ways of doing something. When we say media, messages are constructed using
codes and conventions, we mean that every media product we encounter is a
coherent body with its own rules.
 Semiotics is the study of signs. According to Hall (1997) media always is
engaged in "signifying practices," which means there is a kind of symbolic work
that can be found in media texts.
 the established ways by which society privileges certain signs due to certain
historical circumstances.

Instruction: Before you proceed to the next lesson, you are required to answer this 10-item
multiple choice test. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

11. It is the study of signs.

d. Codes
e. Semiotics
f. Semantics

12. It is a system of signs that when we put together create meaning.

d. Codes
e. Conventions
f. Semantics

13. A full-screen shot of a subject’s face, showing the finest nuances of expressions.
d. Long-shot
e. Extreme close-up
f. Close-up

14. Short shot of characters response to an action.

d. Reaction shot
e. Over-the-shoulder-shot
f. Reverse-angle shot

15. A large crowd scene or a view of the scenery as far as the horizon.
d. Long shot
e. Medium long shot
f. Extreme long shot
10 Module 1 – HOW MEDIA IS MADE

16. A view of the figures entire body to show action and/or a constellation group of
characters.
d. Establishing shot
e. Full shot
f. Medium long shots

17. The camera is not mounted on a tripod and instead is held by the cameraperson,
resulting in less stable shots.
d. Hand-held camera
e. Insert
f. Reaction shot

18. Long or extreme long shot of the ground from the air.
d. High-angle shot
e. Low-angle shot
f. Aerial shot

19. The camera follows along next to or behind a moving object or person.
d. Tilt shot
e. Tracking shot
f. Panning shot

20. The stationary camera approaches a subject by zooming in or moves farther away
by zooming out.
d. Zoom
e. Aerial shot
f. Close-up shot

BIBLIOGRAPHY Zarate, M. J. (2016). Media Information and Literacy. Manila: Rex Book Store,
Inc.