MEDIA AND

INFORMATION LITERACY
 What I Need to Know
Great day to you dear learner! In this topic you will learn the different codes, conventions, and the
language used in media to disseminate information.
Knowledge of these will help you to understand better the messages given to you and at the same time
will equip you to convey your message in different ways to achieve your desired outcome.
After going through this module, you are expected to:
1. Define codes, conventions, and language of media.
2. Identify the codes and conventions presented.
3. Use the codes and conventions of media in presenting an issue
Lesson 1: Codes, Conventions, and Language of Media

try to identify:
 There are three (3) types of media
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.

CAMERA TECHNIQUES
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 14 Constantine(Constantine, 2010) music often defines a scene. An
example is the use of ominous music to communicate danger in films.
3. Written codes are the formal written language used in a media product. These include language style
and textual layout like headlines, captions, speech bubbles, etc. (Frezi.com, Young, R. 2017)
What I Have Learned
• 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.
• 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
• 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.