Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes was a French semioticians. He had identified 5 codes within a media product. These 5 codes identify how a narrative engages the attention of the audience. In order of importance these codes are:

1. The enigma code - this is where the audience is intrigued by the need to solve a problem
2. The action code - this is where the audience is excited by the need to resolve a problem
3. The semantic code - this is where the audience are directed to another meaning in the video by way of connotation
4. The symbolic code - this is where the audience assumes that a character dressed in black is evil or menacing and forms expectations of his/her behaviour on this basis.
5. The cultural code - this is where the audience derives meaning in a text from the shared cultural knowledge about the way the world they live in works.