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ScotlandMediaQuick questions
Key Aspects of Media Literacy
Quick questions on Language key aspect: technical and symbolic codes - SQA National 5 Media
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are read the technical codes?Show answer
Technical codes are the tools of the form. In moving image they include camerawork (shot size, angle, movement), editing (pace, cuts, transitions) and sound (diegetic and non-diegetic, music, silence) and lighting (high-key, low-key). In print they include layout, typography and the use of images. Name the precise code: not "the camera", but "a low-angle shot" or "a fast-paced sequence of cuts".
What are read the symbolic codes?Show answer
Symbolic codes are the things within the frame that carry associations. Costume, colour, setting, props, facial expression and body language all connote meaning. A character lit from below looks sinister; a bright, cluttered child's bedroom connotes warmth and innocence. Symbolic codes work by connotation, the associations an element carries beyond what it literally is, exactly as word choice works in English.
What is q1?Show answer
Name one technical code and one symbolic code in a media text you have studied, and explain the meaning each creates. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain the difference between a technical code and a symbolic code. [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Why does writing "there is a close-up" score zero in a language question? [1 mark]
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