Hidden Codes And Conventions In Film

As an audience we seem to accept any world presented to us in films, no matter how ludicrous or incomprehensible that world may be. Certain actions that could be considered crazy in real life, such as singing and dancing down a street, are often justified in film contexts due to hidden codes and conventions. What are these codes and conventions? Why are they present? And how do they go unnoticed to us as an educated audience?

Ideology is defined as a body of ideas and beliefs of a group or nation. In cinema everything is inevitably ideological. Movies that are regarded as ‘Realistic’ are even manipulated in some form. Film directors, screen writers and production designers create a world in which the believes and actions of certain

They can be imaginary, like the “sound” of being underwater or they can be real sounds that we experience everyday such as a radio playing in the background or a programme playing on the Tv. Similar sound effects can be used to create different moods. The example of the radio playing in the background can have endless possibilities. In many films the radio may signify normality of everyday life. This is something that the audience is familiar with as many of us listen to the radio passively on a daily basis. However take the radio playing in a horror film, place it in a dark unpredictable setting and gradually turn up the volume for example, and you create a whole different feeling of unease and anxiety leaving the viewer on the edge of their

It has the power to enhance, expand and supplement upon the significance of a films narrative. Music can express the unspoken words of a character and it provides the audience with the inner thoughts of characters. Music also has the ability to create a sense of (or give the illusion of) depth within the picture i.e. make a small space appear larger than it actually is. Music is a useful tool in indicating a certain era, an example of this is in The Great Gatsby where the music played at the party scenes is very much based on the music of the 1920’s. Although is seems basic and obvious due to the costume and setting, this helps communicate to the viewer the fact that although filmed in the present, the film is actually set in the 1920’s.

Ideology, semiotics and aesthetics all feed into each other. Without semiotics and aesthetics the ideas of the director and writer could not be portrayed successfully. They are fundamental in creating the ideological world of the