Some Media Terms

Visual Codes - what you see in the scene, what makes up the mise-en-scene 

Narrative Codes - how the story is constructed

Semiotics - the theory of signs


Sign - actual object

Signifier - physical attributes of the sign


Signified - meaning constructed from the physical attributes of the object 

Iconic Sign - what the actual object is


Indexical Sign - a sign that suggests something has happened


Symbolic Sign - iconic sign given a sympolic meaning


Syntagmatic Structure - how the narrative is constructed through signs