C 01
Contention
Your claim — what the filmmaker is doing in the scene, and to what end.
A field guide to film form
Read film like a language.
The symbolic, technical and written codes of film — explained with precision, then shown in the scenes that prove them. Every idea links to the moment it lives in.
01 — The reference
Codes & conventions
01
Camerawork
How the camera is operated, positioned and moved for effect — shot size, angle, movement, exposure and lens choice.
17 scenes · Technical codes
02
Editing
How shots are selected, ordered and timed — from continuity cutting to montage, rhythm and the structuring of time.
9 scenes · Technical codes
03
Audio
Everything we hear — dialogue, sound effects, music and silence — and the crucial split between diegetic and non-diegetic sound.
4 scenes · Technical codes
04
Lighting
How light and shadow are shaped to model a subject, set mood and direct the eye — high key, low key and film noir.
4 scenes · Technical codes
05
Setting
Where and when a story takes place, and how location, period and place are used to carry meaning.
2 scenes · Symbolic codes
06
Mise en Scène
Everything arranged within the frame — set, props, costume and visual composition — and what that arrangement means.
6 scenes · Symbolic codes
07
Acting
Performance as a code — facial expression, body language, voice and movement used to build character and meaning.
2 scenes · Symbolic codes
08
Colour
How palette, saturation and contrast are used to set mood, link ideas and direct the audience's eye.
6 scenes · Symbolic codes
09
Form Conventions
The expected ways a media form is constructed — continuity editing, narrative structure and the patterns that make a product easy to read.
0 scenes · Conventions
10
Story Conventions
The shared storytelling patterns audiences expect — structure, character roles, openings, point of view and the ordering of time.
8 scenes · Conventions
11
Genre Conventions
The tropes, characters, settings and themes audiences associate with a genre — and the expectations they create.
0 scenes · Conventions
12
Printed Language
The on-screen text within a media product — intertitles, subtitles, credits, titles and signs — and how it anchors meaning.
0 scenes · Written codes
13
Spoken Language
The words characters speak — dialogue, voiceover, accent and delivery — and the meaning carried by language itself.
1 scene · Written codes
02 — The evidence
From Playback
03 — The method
Analyse with COCA
A single shot, read four ways — the through-line from one frame to the meaning of the whole film.
O 02
Observation
The evidence — the exact code you can see or hear at work in the frame.
C 03
Connotation
The meaning — what that choice suggests, implies or symbolises.
A 04
Audience
The effect — how the choice positions the audience to think and feel.
04 — The transmission
Don't drop the signal.
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