Codes of Cumha

➞ Technical Codes of Cumha 

Technical codes refers to the actual making of a visual narrative e.g. Sound, camera angles, design, and editing. They're the building blocks of any story, and as Cumha will have either minimal script, or no script at all, the technical codes we use will have to be carefully selected, and be able to tell the story we want to communicate. 

We'll use technical codes to cheat time, allowing us flashbacks that cut from present today (in a bedroom) to the not-so-distant past (memories of days spent together.) If we manage to do these right, the audience will be able to fill in the blanks and assume that the boy and girl are in a relationship. 

➞ Verbal Codes of Cumha  

 This is how language is used, written and spoken. It's reliant on the skill of both the actors and script writers. Different styles of Verbal Code apply to different narratives, e.g. a documentary vs a rom com. 

Cumha will not have any verbal codes, but even the absence of a script can be analysed. 

Our story is meant to be universal; that feeling of lying awake in bed, alone, overthinking something you have no control over is something everyone can relate to. The less talking we have in our piece, the more anyone can relate to the story, because everyone who watches it will fill in the gaps with their own past experiences. 

Another reason I wanted to try this piece with no script is because the Belfast accent is quite distinctive and Belfast has a very recent, unsettled history; anyone who knows anything about it might take our simple story of young love and try to make it something it's not. When a love story is set in Belfast, suddenly there must be elements of sectarianism or political divides, and that's not what Cumha is about. 

➞ Symbolic Codes of Cumha 

These codes are used instead with technical codes, to subtly or cleverly get across a point that wouldn't be as effective if it was blatantly obvious. 

In the same way that we'll have to rely heavily on technical codes to tell the story due to our lack of verbal ones, symbolic codes are going to be used to convey the mood of the piece. 

Colour theory is something we'll be employing; using dark, dull greys and blacks for the present, and light, warm colours for the flashbacks to convey how comfortable and happy the young man's time was when it was spent with the girl. 

The wind sounds that can be heard in the 'present day' shots are also symbolic. Cumha doesn't have an antagonist per say, no more than it has a 'hero'. We have a protagonist, the young man, but unlike most movies there's no great machiavellian scheme to keep the lovebirds apart, and the only real 'evil' is the sadness he feels due to his nostalgia. 

In the original story that inspired Cumha, Oíche Ghaoithe, the wind is the villain, as because of the storm the girl cannot return home when she had planned to. In Cumha, it's symbolic of the distance between them. 

One idea we had was to really emphasise the ticking of the clock in the boy's room, and this helps further highlight the loneliness and desolation that comes with really missing someone and not being able to do anything about it. 

 ➞ R. Barthes 

Ronald Barthes was a French literary theorist, who came up with terms for the different kinds of codes seen in books, and the different effects they have on audiences. Although these terms were created with prose and plays in mind, they're still applicable to media.

Hermeneutic Codes = Enigma (Makes the audience think i.e. Questions) 

Proairetic Codes = Action (Moves the narrative forward i.e. Answers) 

The codes of Cumha are mainly going to be hermeneutic, as there's an ambiguity to the plot that's never fully explained. Extreme close up shots of parts of bodies instead of full shots and the dream-like quality of the flashbacks will add to the air of mystery.