Code

By the term 'code' we mean a communication system which contains elements which have an agreed meaning and which can be combined according to agreed rules. This could be the English language, Morse Code, a traffic policeman's hand signals, film etc.

It is a fundamental premise of Communication Studies that all communication takes place via codes:

A code must consist of:

In a language we generally think of the signs as words. We could readily think of smaller meaning-carrying units (such as morphemes or phonemes) as the signs of a language.

Together, the set of agreed signs is known as the code's vocabulary (or lexis).

The set of agreed rules is referred to as the code's grammar (or syntax). (It might be worth pointing out that a linguist today would be unlikely to accept that grammar and syntax are synonymous. S/he would doubtless maintain that syntax refers to the permissible combinations of words in the sentences of a language and their formal variations (such as adding an s for a plural or an ing for the present participle). Grammar is a much more comprehensive term taking in questions of semantics (meaning). Thus syntax permits the sentence 'simplicity drinks procrastination', whereas grammar explains why it's nonsensical. In much communication theory, however, you will find the terms used as if they were synonymous.)

We can readily see that the signs of a natural language are words (or something smaller) and we have a rough and ready idea of what the grammar is all about. When we hear a child say 'I taked it back', we immediately recognize that there's something unusual about the grammar and probably ascribe it to the fact that the child is just getting the hang of the '-ed' morpheme (even if we don't know it's called a morpheme). We also know that the signs of Morse Code are dots and dashes; we can recognize that the policeman's hand signals are signs. We might find that we have some difficulty when we're driving on the continent because the hand signals we are familiar with are combined with baton swings, whistle-blowing, shouting and general body movement that we are unfamiliar with. In other words, the continental policeman may well introduce signs (lexical items) which are not in our code. S/he may combine the signs we do know according to rules we haven't learnt. In other words, s/he uses a different grammar.

But what of other forms of communication? Can we reasonably talk about the vocabulary and grammar of films or of photographs? If we can, then we must be able to say what those signs and grammar are. If you think about it a little, you should be able to name things like, say, jump cuts, dissolves, fades, slow motion, back lighting, low angled lighting, different types of camera shot, different kinds of camera movement, clothing, script etc. Those are some of the signs which make up the vocabulary of cinema.

Think where they are used. Why is that blonde...always lit with backlighting? Why slow motion? Why soft focus? Why dissolves? How 'grammatically correct' would it be to introduce different elements, like lighting from below, say, or replacing the dissolves by jump cuts while still keeping the slow motion?

Form the point of view of students of communication culture and media, the relationship between codes and ideology is a particularly important part of our study.

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From: Mick Underwood, http://www.ccms-infobase.com/(25 Mar 04)