Codes and Convention

1. By Ken Du

2. The difference between codes and
conventions, is that codes might be
individual to the media text you are
analysing for example, a film might
use high angle shot to show
vulnerability whereas in a music
video it may be complete irrelevant
.On the other hand, conventions are
something they all share within a
genre.

3. Codes is made up of systems of signs
that create meaning this includes
technical codes or symbolic codes.
For example a code could be hoodies
,gangs, violence in a youth drama.
 Technical codes – This the way
equipment is used to tell the
stories or gives effect in a media
text e.g. ( Cinematography and
editing)
 Symbolic codes – The hidden
meaning beneath the surface of
what we see in front of ours eyes.
A Example could be the way the
character behaviours can show you
their personality or the type of
character they are.

4. Conventions are the widely
recognised way of doing something
which is to do with content, form
and style. There are two types of
conventions which consists of:
 Technical Conventions - A
convention in a technical area for
the majority of films are the title
sequence in the correct order.
 Genre Conventions – When the
conventions is associated with a
particular genre. Example of this
would be high school drama have
teenagers that living the school
life.

5. In the film ‘Garage 32b’ the
character’s behaviour reflected the
personality of the character. It also
displayed how body language shows
the hesitation and paranoia of the
female main role. The male actor
also displays different type of
behaviour to enhance the effect of
the character as being a stalker and
danger mysterious. The
cinematography within the film
depending on the shot also created a
certain atmosphere.

6. In most films there is specific
guideline for the order of the titles in
a title sequence but this is
dependent on the film if its either
independent or high budget will
affect the amount of titles and also
what will be put in. High budget film
usually have bigger cast and crew so
more people to credit whereas
independent have a small budget
and smaller crew/cast which means
less people to credit. These are not
altered by the sub-genre of the film
or overall genre this is the main title
sequence order list that most films
do.

7. 1. Production Ident
2. Distribution Ident
3. Distribution in title sequence
4. Production in title sequence
5. Actor 1
6. Actor 2
7. Film title
8. Actor 3
9. Actor 4
10. Act 5 etc
11. Casting
12. Costume
13. Music Supervisor
14. Music by
15. Edited by
16. Production Designer
17. Director of photograph
18. Executive producer
19. Written by
20. Director

8. ‘Garage 32b’ consist of a small
amount of titles since the film is a
independent because of this there
where not a lot of people to credit.
The order we followed was exactly
the same but excluded most of the
titles in the ‘Title sequence order’
slide. The genre we decides to do
was follow was youth drama I
thought the film overall displayed
the behaviour of youth/street
people.