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Codes and Conventions

Codes and conventions are aspects of media that help create meaning and messages. Technical codes relate to technology used, while symbolic codes require interpretation. Conventions are commonly accepted ways of expression. Documentaries commonly use conventions like voiceovers, interviews, archival footage, statistics, and music to narrate events and provoke emotion. Handheld cameras add intimacy and movement. Credits provide context for speakers.

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A2 Media Column D
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93 views

Codes and Conventions

Codes and conventions are aspects of media that help create meaning and messages. Technical codes relate to technology used, while symbolic codes require interpretation. Conventions are commonly accepted ways of expression. Documentaries commonly use conventions like voiceovers, interviews, archival footage, statistics, and music to narrate events and provoke emotion. Handheld cameras add intimacy and movement. Credits provide context for speakers.

Uploaded by

A2 Media Column D
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Codes and

Conventions
By Luke Patterson, Emily Climer and Lydia Rosado
What are Codes and Conventions?
There are two types of codes Technical and Symbolic. Codes are
aspects of media that help create a meaning or have a message.
They are embedded into the media.
Technical codes are related to technology and equipment and it is
used, for example the camera work in a film.
Symbolic codes are codes that are implied or require the audience
to read into and examine certain aspects to find. For example, a
subjects' body language or facial expressions show you how the
character is feeling.
It is possible that certain aspects can be both part of symbolic and
technical codes.
Conventions are the most commonly seen and accepted way of
doing something or expressing something. Conventions appear in
every type of media such as film, TV and books.
Source: http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-
studies/Media-concepts/Codes-and-conventions#wrapper
Archival
footage and Handheld camera for
actuality most scenes but some
Vox Pop Voice footage interviews use a tripod
Stats and of the people
figures Credits that name
subject and say
their occupation
Music that Codes and
Conventions of
reflects Documentaries
tone
Experts sharing
their view
Voiceover - Off-screen
Presenter On-Screen Reconstructions
Often the same Conversations of events
between experts
Background footage and presenter
Background Footage
Background Footage is generic footage of a certain location
that is edited in with the normal footage of the documentary.
It is used to establish the location of the documentary and
provide some contextual information about the setting. It also
lets audiences see places that they wouldnt normally see in
the documentary.
Background footage also helps the magazine be more visually
interesting and perhaps acts as a break between the more
intense sections of the documentary. It also acts as filler for
the documentary extending the run time of the documentary.

Example: https://youtu.be/AOmWpkablBY (Time: 0:24)


Blackfish (2013) directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Voiceover and Presenter
A voiceover is common in documentaries to narrate the events and
explain things to tone that is easy to understand and are often very
formal and is easy to understand and are often very formal and serious.
It is useful to have voiceover to explain specific things to the audience
and it is also important to have a presenters to act as the face of the
documentary which makes audiences relate to it more.
Voiceovers are more common in Fly on the Wall style documentaries
as it allows for a narrator to talk without taking away the focus and
screen time on the documentaries subjects.
Presenters are often in the documentary to act as the face of the
documentary and also act as voice over narrators. They are occasionally
the subject of the documentary.

Presenter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsGAhAAO--c (0:03)


Inside Out West Midlands (2016)

Voiceover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbnnVCXPKmI (1:22)


Supersize Me (2004) directed by Morgan Spurlock
Music
Music is used for most documentaries and help express the
tone of the scene and overall documentary and to provoke
certain emotions in the viewers.
For example a sad scene would have corresponding music
such as violins and other slow string instruments while a
happy scene would have music that matches the tone and
emotion of the scene.
Documentaries use Music to set an atmosphere and lets the
viewer know the emotions evoked by the events and the
subject.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwnw_q_hlE
(0:51)
Inside the Body of King Henry VIII
Stats and Figures
Stats and figures are from official findings by professors and
scientists and there are also occasional interviews with those
involved with finding the figures
They are sometimes presented with visual effects such as a
graph but are often read out by the narrator or by someone
being interviewed. Sources are also provided when talking
about stats and figures to increase the documentaries
reliability.
Statistics and Figures help back up experts points or the
documentary makers point and provides evidence.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nYneg3qR8U
(0:20)
Benefits Street (2014)
Vox Pop
Vox Pop is when random people are interviewed on the street on
various topics relevant with the documentary. They can be
interviewed from any where but it is most common that they are
interviewed on the high street etc.
These encounters are dynamic and unrehearsed and the people
asked come from all walks of life and tend to have different
opinions.
These interviews can take place anywhere and at anytime.
Sometimes they are a major part of the documentary while at other
times they exist just to give further context and support to various
arguments and statements made.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4LzSH9qU_Q (39:07)


The Truth About Sugar - BBC Documentary
Archival and Actuality footage
Archival footage is footage that was not shot during the
documentary but before. This could be mobile phone footage, new
reports or stock footage. This footage helps give context and
provides backstory for the audience about the events and people in
the documentary.
Actuality footage is footage shot during the documentary but is not
part of the documentary format such as footage of a surgery or
interviews not within the documentary.
This helps provide context and make the situations and subjects
more understandable to the audience.

Archival footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxydfxnFEmE


(0:06)
The Cult Next Door (2017)
Actuality Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzHlwjqjUoU
(20:15)
Surgery School BBC
Handheld Cameras
Handheld cameras make the documentary more intimate and more
realistic. It is used to capture footage of people talking as well as
allowing for more movement. It is used for both actuality and
archival footage and helps make the documentary more personal
instead of formal.
Handheld cameras allow for more intimate documentary making as
we can get close to subjects and allows more areas to be filmed that
couldnt be reached with a normal mounted camera.
It also allows the camera to easily track the subject as they move
around which is useful for intense scenes.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P54sP0Nlngg (5:21)


Charlottesville: Race and Terror VICE News Tonight on HBO (2017)
Credits
When certain people appear on scene, credits appear around
them. This visual effect is not very flashy or complex but is just
words around the person that disappear shortly after. They
show the persons name and their occupation.
Credits are useful as they give the person context as to who
they are and their significance to the documentary. We also
see their occupation which is helpful as to learning what they
will be speaking about and how they relate to the issues
presented in the documentary.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEZbq8g3dt4
(4:18)
BBC Inside Out West Midlands 23rd Feb 2015

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