![\"CC-BY,](\"http:\/\/mediatexthack.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/12\/800px-nzl-auckl-vom-mt-eden.jpg\")
<\/a> CC-BY-SA by Bgabel @ wikimedia commons[\/caption]\r\n\r\nMost people say it is Auckland, but it is more accurate to say that it is a photograph of Auckland. Photography is itself a codification of <\/a> CC-BY-SA by Bgabel @ wikimedia commons[\/caption]\r\n\r\nMost people say it is Auckland, but it is more accurate to say that it is a photograph of Auckland. Photography is itself a codification of iconic<\/a> and indexical<\/a> symbols, but carries with it its own system of meaning making \u2013 two dimensions stand in for three, movement is frozen, time stands still. \u00a0Photography is said to be a perceptual code, but one that we are so familiar with that we tend to forget it is a code and a set of signs at all.\r\n\r\nPart of perceptual coding involves what is foregrounded and what is backgrounded (part of the coding of perception).\u00a0 Chandler<\/a> provides us with this classic example of foreground coding.\u00a0 What do you see here?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_367\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]![\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Facevase.png\"](\"http:\/\/mediatexthack.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/12\/facevase.png\")
<\/a> http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Facevase.png[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you are most familiar with Western visual codification systems, you may not at first see the two faces.\u00a0 This is because, in Western culture familiar with still images, our codification system for such images tends to code darker areas as background in relation to lighter areas (with a few exceptions, related to symmetry and balance). \u00a0This is how a lot of optical illusions are made, they actually exploit a learned code for visual perception. \u00a0But such codes exist to account for every type of sign there is.\r\n\r\nSo in summary, semiotics is a powerful tool for helping to understand and interpret how meaning is constructed and deconstructed in messages.\u00a0 It is now worth stepping back and looking at how semiotics fits into the wider social patterns and ideologies.<\/a>\r\nCodes are so important to the understanding of semiotics<\/a> that, if a sign does not appear to conform to a code, there is doubt that it is even a sign at all. \u00a0All codes are systems, but not all systems are codes. \u00a0These codes are used by both encoders and decoders of signs to help ensure that the message intended is approximate to the message received. \u00a0We often use contextual cues to let us know what kinds of codes are expected or to expect \u2013 for example, an academic textbook uses words and pictures differently than a children\u2019s storybook. \u00a0They both use signs in the form of words and drawings, but how we approach understanding these signs is quite different.<\/p>\n Some codes, we are quite aware of. \u00a0For example, iambic pentameter is a form of poetry, which is a code system in which there are certain expectations about the arrangement of word-signs in regards to both their signified<\/a>\/meaning (imagery) and their signifier<\/a>\/structure (rhythm).<\/p>\n Other codes are a little more subtle, and we apply them almost without being aware of it. \u00a0For example, what is this?<\/p>\n Most people say it is Auckland, but it is more accurate to say that it is a photograph of Auckland. Photography is itself a codification of iconic<\/a> and indexical<\/a> symbols, but carries with it its own system of meaning making \u2013 two dimensions stand in for three, movement is frozen, time stands still. \u00a0Photography is said to be a perceptual code, but one that we are so familiar with that we tend to forget it is a code and a set of signs at all.<\/p>\n Part of perceptual coding involves what is foregrounded and what is backgrounded (part of the coding of perception).\u00a0 Chandler<\/a> provides us with this classic example of foreground coding.\u00a0 What do you see here?<\/p>\n If you are most familiar with Western visual codification systems, you may not at first see the two faces.\u00a0 This is because, in Western culture familiar with still images, our codification system for such images tends to code darker areas as background in relation to lighter areas (with a few exceptions, related to symmetry and balance). \u00a0This is how a lot of optical illusions are made, they actually exploit a learned code for visual perception. \u00a0But such codes exist to account for every type of sign there is.<\/p>\n So in summary, semiotics is a powerful tool for helping to understand and interpret how meaning is constructed and deconstructed in messages.\u00a0 It is now worth stepping back and looking at how semiotics fits into the wider social patterns and ideologies.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"CC-BY,](\"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/mediastudies101\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/02\/800px-nzl-auckl-vom-mt-eden.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Facevase.png\"](\"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/mediastudies101\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/02\/facevase.png\")
<\/a>Discussion<\/h2>\n
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