Incorporating Media Theories
A media theory that I'd like to integrate into my project is Roland Barthes' Narrative Codes, specifically the Enigma, Semantic, and Cultural code. I found these to resonate most with the idea I'm trying to get across.
Roland Barthes was a French philospher and social critic who believed in/ created various different narriative codes that he thought defined majority of media.
The enigma code is applied when a creator withholds information to leave an audience curious on why it happened or what it is. Which is followed by the action code, which is elements in media that lead the audience to wonder what comes next.
Differently, the semantic code describes when an element in a piece of media represents more than what it literally is.
And lastly, the cultural code refers to references outside of the piece of media that could pertain literary, social, historical, and pop culture nature. Though, cultural codes only work if the audience recognizes the references being made.
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I think these different codes defined by Roland Barthes link most with the project I'm doing because. . .
The main plot point that I'm trying to get across to the audience is that the universe I want to build is one of which corrupt leaders/government and their actions towards society led to war and catastrophy.
To show this, I plan to show a snippet of the world of the main character, and others, after the war and then flash back to the past to show how it happened.
^ I think the enigma code applies to this because while the audience might understand the surface of the situation, they won't know of the details of the why's and how's until they watch the whole movie. (Obviously.) Details like the main character wearing a mask at the start of the movie, being alone, having injuries, that will not yet be explained.
In the beginning of my movie opening, the main character will be walking along an isolated train station, surrounded by left behind suit cases that people have left behind when they were trying to evacuate from the area. While rummaging through open suitcases, she will find a gold necklace, look at it for a bit, and toss it to the side. After rummaging further, she finds canned tuna and takes it.
^I think the semantic code applies here because the denotation of this would be her tossing a necklace away and taking food. The connotation is that in this point in time, finding food is more important than anything. Things like jewelry that were valuable in the past are no longer the number one priority, which are the basic needs to survive.
Whilst the family is conversing while they have a meal, the camera will focus on a situation brewing outside between an officer/military enforcer and a civilian. The officer will question the civilian and it will quickly grow violent. Instead of being surprised or shocked, the main character's dad will simply shut the blinds and ignore it.
^I think the cultural code applies to this scenario because although it doesn't take a history major to understand the meaning behind turning a blind eye to violence by a government, I immediately thought of incorporating this because there are so many instances in the past, and even now, where violence is cast upon a society, specifically a group in a society, and people ignore it because it's not happening to them. But eventually, as Martin Niemoller stated, "Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me."
It's supposed to hint at the fact that the amount of ignorance, even by innocent people, is what concluded in society's faliure. Not just at the end when everything went up in smoke, but at the very beginning when it was "simply" just ignoring police brutality.
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Media-Studies article on Barthes’ narrative codes
Media-Studies. (n.d.). Roland Barthes’ 5 narrative codes. Media-Studies.com. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://media-studies.com/barthes-codes/
Fiveable article on cultural codes
Fiveable Content Team. (2025, September). Cultural codes. Fiveable. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://fiveable.me/key-terms/media-literacy/cultural-codes
Britannica biography of Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roland-Gerard-Barthes
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum article on Martin Niemöller
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (n.d.). Martin Niemöller: “First they came for the socialists…”. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists
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