Extensive Genre Research - Codes and Conventions
What are codes?
Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories,technical and symbolic.
Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text.
For example camera techniques, framing, lighting, exposure, depth of field.
Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see.
For example Objects, setting, body language, clothing, colours, mise en scene.
What are conventions?
Conventions 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. 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.
My magazine's codes and conventions?
Cover page: The main image is the most important part of a magazine’s cover page. The whole focus is on the main image and it takes up most of the space on the cover. And for the wedding magazine mid shots and mid close ups turn out to be the best. Here are a few examples to explain things in a better way.
BUZZ WORDS
Buzzwords are used to appeal to the public to buy the magazine. I will also use buzz words in my magazine like exclusive etc.
Title
The title always has a unique font. I want my title to be well composed with each word having a proper size. I want less main cover lines and cover lines on my magazine to keep it simple and very decent and so that the bride can be seen properly, no part of her is hidden.
Another thing that is worth mentioning is that I want my model's head to cover a few letters of the title the way shown in the pictures above.
These are cover lines. I want very few cover lines on my cover so that the readers whole focus is on the bride.
Cover lines
A barcode is a machine-readable code in the form of numbers and a pattern of parallel lines of varying widths containing a specific data like price. I want my magazine's barcode to be on the bottom left.
Barcode
Colour Palette
The colour palette i have selected for my magazine is red and goldenish in really light tones. i want my models dress colour and magazine’s colour palette to match, not really match but to show a link between everything. These are the colours i thought off.
Pug and Puff
I would like to have a pugs and puffs on my magazine.
Content page: I want one main image that will be related to a feature/article. And some other smaller images too. I want the layout to be in columns so it is easy to be read. On the top of the magazine there will be masthead under which the issue and the word ‘contents’ will be written. It will be something like this with columns.
On the bottom of the page there will be an email address or a contact number for subscriptions. i want the colours of the content to be same as the cover page. The contents will be divided into subheadings eg; features, regulars. I want the page number to be there before every content with sublines to give more specific detail.
Extensive Genre Research - Codes and Conventions
By ramsha
