Visual & Technical Codes
• Camera Angles:
• Low Angle: Makes the subject look powerful, heroic, or intimidating.
• High Angle: Makes the subject look vulnerable, small, or insignificant.
• Canted/Dutched Angle: A tilted shot used to suggest unease, madness, or a world out of balance.
• Camera Shots:
• Extreme Close-Up (ECU): Focuses on a specific detail (eyes, a product logo) to create intense emotion or focus.
• Establishing Shot: Usually a Wide Shot at the start to show the setting/context.
• Lighting & Color:
• High-Key Lighting: Bright and even; used in upbeat ads (perfume, tech) to suggest happiness or clarity.
• Low-Key Lighting: Shadows and contrast; suggests mystery, drama, or "gritty" realism.
• Color Palette: Warm tones (reds/yellows) suggest comfort or passion; cool tones (blues) suggest clinical precision or sadness.
Audio Codes
• Diegetic Sound: Sound that exists within the world of the media (e.g., a character speaking, a car door slamming).
• Non-Diegetic Sound: Sound added for the audience only (e.g., a dramatic musical score, an omniscient voice-over).
• Sound Bridge: When the audio from one scene carries over into the next, creating a link between ideas.
Editing & Mise-en-Scène
• Continuity Editing: Making the story flow naturally so the audience doesn't notice the cuts.
• Jump Cuts: Sudden breaks in time; used in music videos to create energy or a "frenetic" feel.
• Mise-en-Scène: Everything in the frame (Props, Costume, Expression, Setting).
• Example: A "messy bedroom" mise-en-scène in Submarine tells us about Oliver's internal chaos without saying a word.
2. Core Theorists for Section A
You don't need a million theories, just 3-4 that you can apply to anything
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