Codes & Conventions

The codes and conventions of a text, help create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and representative:

• Technical conventions are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film.
  
• Representative conventions show what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling.
  

Some codes fit both categories – music for example, is both technical and symbolic

Basic conventions are audio, visual and technical effects which are used along with dialogue to shape the plot, the themes and genre of a text. I'm unable to summarise the conventions of a media product, as it's such a vast field and each product follows, its own codes determined by the target audience and the sub-genre they are categorised in.