Codes
Codes are signs which have a meaning behind them and they can be in two different categories. These are technical and symbolic. Technical codes is a way in which equipment is used to tell a story. This can be done by the way it is edited and the diegetic or non diegetic sound. Symbolic codes are seen through mise-en-scene, it is what can be seen if we really look into whats behind it. This can be shown by a characters actions, it can show how they are feeling or what the character is wearing shows what type of person they are. But some codes can fit into both categories like non-diegetic music is is symbolical and technical.
Conventions
Conventions generally are ways of doing something. There are general conventions like the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but they are also genre specific.
This is how Codes and Conventions are used in Media Studies:
They are used together in any genre. It is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work and saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.
For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense.
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