Audio and visual codes

Audio codes are an important way in which the creators of media products communicate messages. No audio codes are there by chance, they are part of the construction of the text. However, it is invariably the case that students spend less time analysing the audio in favour of the visuals.

Sound in a media text is either diegetic or non-diegetic.

• Dialogue - imparts information to the audience and establishes the characters and establishes the genre
• Sound Effects - add to the realism of the product and indicate genre and support action codes
• Music - Will convey narrative information to the audience and suggests the genre
• Voice Overs - Fills in missing pieces of the narrative

One of the ways media products covey messages is through visual codes and signs are usually polysemic.

• Costume - Communicates a message about the character and may advance the narrative
• Expression - Ways that messages can be communicated rapidly
• Gesture - Can cross language barriers  and conveys emotion easily
• Technique - The way in which a product is constructed and presented conveys meaning
• Colours - Can transmit messages and are key parts of the construction
• Images - Part of the mise-en-scéne and give clues to the target audience
• Iconography - Objects, settings and backgrounds within a media product contain meanings
• Graphics - Establish genre and meaning