Last week in class, we've learnt about Roland Barthes's Media Theory. In his theory, there are five codes; symbolic codes, semantic codes, proairetic/ action codes, hermenuetic/ enigma codes and cultural/ referential codes.
Symbolic Codes:
Symbolic comes from the word symbol which is an image or picture that represents something else. For example, a tiara could represent a princess.
Semantic Codes:
Semantic codes means that it has a hidden meaning behind it. For example, a rose could represent love and passion.
Proairetic/ Action Codes:
Proairetic or action codes is something that signify something is going to happen. For example a person pulling a gun from his pocket signify that he might shoot or violence is going to happen.
Hermenuetic/ Enigma Codes:
Hermenuetic or enigma codes are any mystery part of an image or text that will make the audiences/ reader curious and puzzled and attract them to watch/read the product.
For example in the movie poster Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, at the top of the
poster, there is a text that says 'The Game Has Evolved'. For someone who has never heard of the movie Jumanji, they will be curious what does a game has to do with their situation; in the jungle.
Cultural/ Referential Codes:
Cultural or referential codes could only be understand by someone who watch the film or in the culture. For example, fangs. Only people who have watched vampire films know that vampire have fangs.
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