2. The Cultural code
• This code refers to any external body of knowledge held
by the audience. Directors rely on the audience having
this knowledge present in order to make sense of the text.
• Typically this involves either science or religion, although
other banks of knowledge, such as magical truths, may be
used in fantasy stories.
3. The Symbolic Code
• This is very similar to the Semantic Code, but acts at a
wider level, organizing semantic meanings into broader
and deeper sets of meaning.
• This is typically done in the use of antithesis (opposites),
where new meaning arises out of opposing and conflict
ideas.
4. The semantic Code
This code refers to connotations (additional meanings
beyond the literal) within the narrative that give additional
meaning to the basic denotative meaning of the text.
For example holding hands would be associated with
romance.
5. The Hermeneutic Code
• The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story
that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery
to the reader.
• The purpose of the director in this is typically to keep the
audience guessing, arresting the enigma, until the final
scenes when all is revealed and all loose ends are tied off
and closure is achieved.
• Unanswered enigmas can be frustrating for the audience.
6. The Proaireteic Code
The Proairetic Code builds tension. It refers to any
sequential action or events that indicate something else is
going to happen, and which hence gets the viewer
guessing as to what will happen next.
The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work as a pair to
develop the story's tensions and keep the viewer
interested.
