“Language may be a

source of
misunderstandings”.

- Marshall McLuhan, 1964.

 MEDIA AND
INFORMATION
LANGUAGES
MEDIA LITERACY
➢ process of understanding and
using the mass media in an
assertive and non-passive way.
➢ It includes an informed and
critical understanding of the
nature of the media, the
techniques used by them and
the impact of these techniques.
 are LIBRARIES
Understand conveyed
how the by different
information, media and ARCHIVES
ideas, and information
providers
meanings
such as
THE
INTERNET

to become a media
and information
literate person
 LANGUAGES
-pertain to the technical and
symbolic ingredients or codes
and conventions that media
and information professionals
may select and use in an effort
to communicate ideas,
information and knowledge.
Media language/s

-is the way in which meaning of

a media text is conveyed to the
audiences.
- codes, conventions, formats,
symbols and narrative structures
that indicate the meaning of
media messages to an
audience.
AUDIENCES

- refers to the group of

consumers for whom a
media message was
constructed as well as
anyone else who is
exposed to the message.
 TWO TYPES OF AUDIENCE:
TARGET AUDIENCE ACTIVE AUDIENCE

- refers to the theory

-refers to the group
that people receive
of people to whom a and interpret media
media text is messages as if it is the
especially light of their own
addressed because history, perspective,
of the following: age, and experiences so
gender, profession, that different groups of
class and so on. people may interpret
the same message in
different ways.
PRODUCERS
-the people engaged in
the process of creating
and putting together
media content to make a
finished media product.
STAKEHOLDERS
-Libraries, archives,
museums, internet and
other relevant information
providers.
MESSAGE

-the information sent to

a receiver from a
source.
TYPES OF MEDIA LANGUAGES
1.WRITTEN LANGUAGE
❑Represents a spoken or gestural language by means of a
writing system
❑Language chosen generates meanings and captions that
allow publication to present a story in a particular way
❑Generate interest, intrigue, or instant reaction from the
audience
2. VERBAL LANGUAGE
❑How the language is delivered
❑The contexts used are an important factor in the way
meaning is generated for the audience
❑Commonly used in broadcasting, television, radio , and
films
3.NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE
Body languages such as gestures and body actions
TYPES OF MEDIA LANGUAGES
4. VISUAL LANGUAGE
❑ Uses visual elements as opposed to formal written
language to convey meaning or idea
❑ Graphicacy – the ability to communicate visually , is as
important as literacy and numeracy
❑ Can find expression in paintings, drawings , symbols , or
simply lines and shapes arranged for a specific effect
❑ Art is an example of visual language like painting,
sculpture, pictograms and ideograms

5. AURAL LANGUAGE
❑ The second most basic language skill aside from oral
❑ Refers to the language as we hear it
MEDIA LANGUAGES
- are codes, conventions,
formats, symbols and
narrative structures that
indicate the meaning of
media messages to an
audience.
 CODES
-are system of SIGNS that
when put together create
meaning.

-SEMIOTICS – study of signs.

TYPES OF CODES:

• SYMBOLIC CODES
• WRITTEN CODES
• TECHNICAL CODES
SYMBOLIC CODES
-show what is beneath the
surface of what we see
(objects, setting, body
language, clothing, color,
etc.) or iconic symbols that
are easily understood.
What does a RED ROSE symbolize?

A Red Rose may

convey Romance
or Love.
What does a CLENCED FIST Symbolize?

A clenched fist
may convey
Anger.
What does a TRAFFIC LIGHT Symbolize?

RED – Stop
GREEN – Go
YELLOW - Ready
PIGPEN CIPHER
-Is a geometric simple
substitution cipher,
which exchanges
letters for symbols
which are fragments
of a grid. The example
key shows one way
the letters can be
assigned to the grid.
REVERSE METHOD
LOVE – EVOL
LOAD – DAOL

-simply by reversing the

word itself.
ROT13 CIPHER

-is a simple letter substitution cipher that

replaces a letter with the 13th letter after
it, in the alphabet. ROT13 is a special case
of the CAESAR CIPHER which was
developed in ancient Rome.
NUMBER REPLACEMENT CODE
A–1 N – 14 -number replacement
B -2 O – 15 code, is replacing the
C–3 P – 16 letters of the alphabet with
D–4 Q – 17
numbers. when you write
E–5 R – 18
F–6 S – 19 down your coded
G–7 T – 20 message, instead of
H–8 U – 21 writing the real letter, you
I–9 V – 22 find that letter in the
J – 10 W – 23
alphabet and count
K – 11 X – 24
L – 12 Y – 25 forward - as many letters
M – 13 Z –26 as the number you picked.
SHIFTED ALPHABET CODE
BOY – CPZ
GIRL - HJSM

-use the next letter

of the alphabet.
 OTHER SYMBOLIC CODES

➢ SETTING- TIME AND PLACE

➢ MISE EN SCENE- French term ,

“everything within the frame”-in media it
is the description of all the objects within
a frame of the media product and how
they have been arranged
Includes set design, costume, props,
staging , and composition.
OTHER SYMBOLIC CODES
➢ ACTING
-Actors portray characters in media products
and contribute to the character development
, creating tension and advancing the
narrative . Actors portrays a character
through facial expression, body language,
vocal qualities, movement, and body
contact.

➢ COLOR
-it has a cultural and strong connotations
-the different aspects to be looked at are the
dominant color, contrasting foils, and color
symbolism
TYPES OF CODES:
• SYMBOLIC CODES
• WRITTEN CODES
• TECHNICAL CODES
WRITTEN CODES
-use of language style and
textual layout (headlines,
captions, speech bubbles,
language style, etc.
WRITTEN CODES
Written codes are formal written languages used
in media product. Just like technical and
symbolic codes, written codes can be used to
advance a narrative, communicate information
about a character or issues and themes in the
media product.

Written codes include printed language which is

the text you can see within the frame and how it
is presented as well as spoken language, which
includes dialogue and song lyrics.
HEADLINES
CAPTIONS
SPEECH BUBBLES
TYPES OF CODES:
• SYMBOLIC CODES
• WRITTEN CODES
• TECHNICAL CODES
TECHNICAL CODES
-are ways in which equipment is used
to tell the story.
-this includes sounds, camera angles,
types of shots and lighting as well as
camera techniques, framing, depth of
field, lighting, exposure and
juxtaposition.
CAMERA ANGLES TYPES OF SHOTS AND LIGHTING

JUXTAPOSITION

FRAMING

DEPTH OF FIELD

LIGHTING, EXPOSURE
 TECHNICAL CODES
• CAMERAWORK
▪ refers to how the camera is operated, positioned
and moved for specific effects
▪ aspects of camerawork include positioning,
movement, framing, exposure, and lens choice.

• EDITING
▪ is the process of choosing, manipulating and
arranging images and sound.
▪ Editing is generally done for four different reasons:
graphic edits, rhythmic edits, spatial edits, and
temporal edits.
 TECHNICAL CODES
• AUDIO
▪ It is the expressive or naturalistic use of sound
and can either be diegetic or non-diegetic.
▪ The three aspects of audio are dialogue, sound
effects, and music.

• LIGHTING
▪ It is the manipulation of natural or artificial light
to selectively highlight specific elements of the
scene. Elements of lighting include quality,
direction, source, and color.
 CAMERA SHOTS
EXTREME WIDE SHOT
-This type of shot establishes
location, showcases the
location of the character in
relation to another character.
WIDE SHOT
- A shot a little bit closer to the
Extreme Wide Shot where in
we can see the character’s full
body but still focusing on the
foreground and background.
FULL SHOT
- Displayed the full body of the
character from head to toe
and is also known as full body
shot.
MEDIUM FULL SHOT
- A shot that focuses on the
subject/ character from knees
up.
MEDIUM SHOT
- Type of shot that focuses on
the subject from hips up, and
we can see one half of our
character.
MEDIUM CLOSE UP
- Shot from chest up focusing
on the character a tighter shot
of the medium full shot
CLOSE UP
- A tighter shot of the
characters face, from the neck
to the top of his head.
EXTREME CLOSE UP
- Focusing on one aspect of
the characters face. Focusing
on one eye, mouth, hair, nose
or one area of his face, object,
situation and etc.
POINT OF VIEW SHOTS
CUT IN

Cutting in to a closer shot to

which our subject or character
is looking at something in his
hand or in the ground.
CUT AWAY

A shot that focuses and

zoomed in to something our
character looks over and is
looking at.
POV Shot (Point Of View)

This is taking a shot looking to

our characters perspective of
what he sees.
DOUBLE
A shot that displays two
people in the frame and see
where they are and their
relation with each other.
OVER THE SHOULDER
Looking over the shoulder of
one subject to the other
displaying their engagement
in the conversation.
SINGLE
Focusing on one character in
the conversation but you are
not seeing the other
characters shoulder or Cutting
in closer to give emphasis on
the character who is speaking.
CLOSE OVER THE SHOULDER
Shot that gives emphasis on
the character who is talking to
give an extra effect of
suspense or something else to
happen.
CAMERA ANGLES
ESTABLISHING SHOT
A shot establishes the setting where in it
give us the idea of where our character
at. It is not necessary to show a character
it just displayed a building or the setting.
MASTER SHOT

Shows the geography and

where each character in
relation to each other, it is
similar to the double shot but it
displays where they are.
CONVENTIONS
-refers to a standard or norm that acts as
a rule governing behavior.
-are generally established and accepted
ways of doing something.

Example of conventions are money,

blood, killings, fighting, guns, murder,
and bombings depicted in action movies
or time travel, space travel, aliens, and
advance technologies in sci-fi movies.
CONVENTIONS
FORM CONVENTIONS
Form conventions are certain ways of what we expect for the
types of media’s codes to be arranged.
For instance, an audience expects to have a title of the film at
the beginning and then credits at the end. Newspapers will
have a masthead (banner), with the most important news on
the front page and sports news on the back page. Video
games usually start with a tutorial to explain the mechanics of
how the game works.

Another example would be continuity editing. Most video

forms follow a set of editing rules and techniques called
continuity editing, which allows the audience to easily
understand what is going on in a scene and who is talking to
who.
CONVENTIONS
STORY CONVENTIONS
Story Conventions are common narrative structures and
understandings that are common in storytelling media
products. Examples of story conventions include narrative
structures, cause and effect, and character construction
and point of view.

Genre Conventions
Genre conventions points to the common use of tropes,
character, settings, or themes in a particular type of
medium. Genre conventions are closely linked with
audience expectations. Genre conventions can be formal
or thematic.
GENRE
Media products can be classified into categories or
genre. The word “genre” is the French word meaning
“type” or “class”. Media genres appear within a
medium (film, television etc.) such as the “horror” film
or the television “situations comedy”.

A genre can be recognized by its common set of

distinguishing features (see discussion on codes and
conventions.) These features associated with a
genre’s style and content may be, for example, a
particular setting, character types, or technical codes
(lighting or music). You may also find that some
media texts blur genre boundaries.
GENRE
Audiences recognize these features and therefore
expect certain things. For example, at the end of a
romantic comedy film, the two lead characters will
realize they are in love. Audiences may even select
a text on the basis of its genre.

Producers market texts according to genre

because a niche audience has already been
identified as taking pleasure in that type of text.
However, a genre is not static – it changes all the
time – resulting in hybrid or sub-genres and
changing codes and conventions. There is also a
relationship between genres and the societies in
which they are created.
Thank you AND SEE you
Next time!