Language is the source of

misunderstandings.
MEDIA LANGUAGE
Media language is the way in which the meaning of a
media text is conveyed to the audience. One of the
ways Media Language works is to convey meaning
through signs and symbols suggested by the way a scene
is set up and filmed.
 CHARADES

"Charades is a parlor or party word guessing game.

 The Charades illustrate that you can be successful when
you see familiar and recognizable codes and
convention so that the person who trying to guess the
word will interpret the message you trying to relay.
Audiences interpret the meaning of these messages
through codes and convection.
What are the codes and
conventions?
CODES - are systems of signs, which create meaning.
-exit though the Gift shop.
*Technical codes 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.
*Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface
of what we see. For example, a character's actions show
you how the character is feeling.

CONVENTION- are the generally accepted ways of doing

something. There are general conventions in any
medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print
article, but conventions are also genre specific.
How codes and conventions apply in media
studies?

Codes and conventions are used together in any study of

genre it is not enough to discuss a technical code used
such as camera work, without saying how it is
conventionally used in a genre.

For example, the technical code of lighting is used in

some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror
genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery
and suspense an integral part of any horror movie.
Some expert on genre (Bhatia, 1993) define the terms as the
following:
Recognizable communicative event
Characterized by a set of communicative purpose(s)
Identified and mutually understood by the members of
the professional or academic community in which it
regularly occurs.

The communicative event referred to is the nature of your

media exposure such as reading a book or a newspaper.
The communicative purpose is the intention of the media
messages that you are exposed to.
Differentiating Media Messages through Genres.
Codes are better understood when you have a good grasp of what the
genres in media are and how they are classified and interpreted using
codes and convention.
Genres are comparable to the taxonomy of organism .Taxonomy helps you
organize and put together elements that characterize a certain group.
Genre has been a major component in understanding literature, theatre,
film, television, and other art and media forms.
Role of Genre in Understanding Media Messages

Genres helps audiences -reader and viewer to

understand the text by merely looking at those sign
that you can recognize and interpret.
The codes in the genre guide the audience toward a
particular understanding of the message.
 But a genre is not fixed or static. There are factors that may
influence how message may be understood. The factors include:
Ones role in the society
Group purposes
Professional and Organizational preferences and
prerequisites
Cultural constraint

Harts(1986) points out that genre analysis is pattern- seeking

rather than pattern-imposing(Bhatia 1993).
Here are a few tips that Bhatia (1993) suggest when
you analyze genre that you may be unfamiliar with:

1. Place the given genre-text in a situational context.

2. Survey existing literature.
3. Refine the situational or contextual analysis of the text.
4. Select corpus or body of work that characterize the genre.
5. Study the institutional context.