Media Studies: Codes, Conventions, and Text Analysis

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering core media definitions, camera and lighting technicalities, sound codes, conventions, and case study analysis of Run Lola Run and Be Kind Rewind.

Codes

A set of signs or symbols that carry shared meaning for an audience, learned through experience and specific to personal context.

Technical Codes

The mechanics of media production, including shot sizes, camera angles, camera movements, and technical lighting metrics.

Inverse Square Law

The mathematical formula for the intensity of light: $\text{Intensity of light} = \frac{1}{\text{distance}^2}$.

Lux / Footcandles

Units of measurement for incident light hitting a subject, measured via a light meter.

Symbolic Codes

Elements used to convey meaning and mood, such as Mise-en-Scène, lighting styles, acting, and color selection.

Mise-en-Scène

The staging of a scene, including color themes, costumes, makeup, prop placement, actor positioning, and lens choice to express context beyond dialogue.

High-key Lighting

A bright lighting style used to create happy, care-free scenes.

Low-key Lighting

A shadowed lighting style used for intense, dramatic, or sad scenes.

Smart side

A lighting technique where the side of the subject facing away from the camera is illuminated to create depth.

Color Temperatures

The classification of light quality where daylight is naturally bluer/cooler and tungsten is artificial and warmer.

HMI lights

Lights that offer cool, daylight-balanced illumination.

Diegetic Sound

Sound that exists within the narrative world and can be heard by the characters.

Non-Diegetic Sound

Sound that exists outside the narrative world and is intended only for the audience, such as musical scores.

Conventions

Common patterns of construction for specific media types that provide the framework for constructing media texts.

Butterfly Effect

The narrative concept explored in Run Lola Run (1998) showing how microscopic variations in timing and chance interactions radically reshape destiny.

"And Then…" sequences

Rapid snapshot flash-forwards used in Run Lola Run to depict the alternative futures of minor characters Lola encounters.

Run Lola Run Medium Usage

The film uses 35mm film for primary timelines, video/beta-cam for secondary characters, and animation for the opening and staircase descents.

Sweded film

An intentionally low-budget, DIY, homemade remake of a major Hollywood blockbuster, as conceptualized in Be Kind Rewind (2008).

Homemade sound with common items

A technical audio code used in Sweded films to replicate orchestral theme songs and mechanical sound effects.

Pre-Production

The first stage of production involving scriptwriting, storyboarding, location scouting, casting, and scheduling.

Post-Production

The final stage of production involving assembly of footage, visual effects, color correction, and layering non-diegetic soundtracks.

Visual Response Blueprint

A three-step structural formula for exam analysis: 1. Identify Technical/Symbolic Codes; 2. Decode Shared Meaning; 3. Evaluate Audience Engagement.