Genre & Zeitgeist

Codes and Conventions

Influences on genre from
structuralism
Genre Theories
Genre and Zeitgeist
A Zeitgeist the defining sprit or mood of a
particular period of history shown by the
ideas and beliefs of the time e.g. during
the world war the zeitgeist was panic, and
so many films about war, panic and horror
were released, to match with what the
public eye was focused on. Some people
feel that as the zeitgeist changes, the
main genres in the film industry change.
Codes and Conventions
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 the camera work
in a film.
Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what
we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the
character is feeling. - Some codes fit both categories music
for example, is both technical and symbolic.
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.

http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-studies/Media-concepts/Codes-and-conventions
Influences on genre from
structuralism
The study of language and meaning as a
system a network of meaning. Language
relies on a shared understanding of rules.
Linguists study the structures of language; in
media texts, structuralisms would claim to
work out the deep structures being
employed. For example in a film genre,
structuralisms would work out deep
structures that give meaning to the text.
Within structuralism, neither the filmmaker
nor audience would necessarily be aware of
these structures.

(alevelmedia.wikispaces.com//Structuralism+and+Post+Structuralism.pp)