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Visual codes can help define genre through the use of different camera shots, angles, movement and other visual elements.

Extreme close-up

• The Extreme Close Up is used in both moving image and print texts to focus on one particular aspect of the subject or object, for example someone's smile in an toothpaste advert, or the eyes of a frightened character in a horror film.

Low Angle Shots

• Low Angle Shots make the subject look more powerful and, even intimidating to the audience; these shots are often used in action-adventure films to make the character seem invincible.

Camera pan

• A pan camera movement across the screen horizontally shows more of the landscape in which the action is taking place.
• A fast pan, called a whip pan, is used to suggest panic and thrills. These are often used in horror and action-adventure films.

Handheld camera

^{Handheld cameras are often used in documentary programmes}

• Documentaries are often shot using one handheld or shoulder-mounted camera for ease of movement.
• Some reality programmes like Don't Tell the Bride also use this style of camera work.

Editing

• Tense dramas usually have a slower pace of editing than action adventure films which are more dynamic in style.
• In most television serial dramas there will be an edited re-cap of what happened in the previous episode to update the viewer on the story so far.

Special effects

• Science-Fiction and horror films use a lot of special effects.
• Technological innovation means that huge battle scenes or cityscapes can be produced by computer software and added in to a scene as a backdrop using green screen.

Facial expressions

^{Eastenders character Linda Carter receives worrying news}

• Facial expressions which communicate the emotional state of a character can tip us off about the genre. In soap operas there may be close ups of characters with worried expressions. In a romantic drama we might see someone crying when a relationship breaks down.

Colour

^{Colour changes added to the period feel of the ���˿��� drama The Village}

• Colour is also used to indicate genre. In post-production, an editor might drain some of the colour to make the image seem older if it is a period drama, or bright colours might be enhanced in a superhero film to emphasise its comic book origins.

Print

^{A photo of the front page of the Radio Times which was voted the best UK magazine cover of all time}

• Print texts like magazines, film posters and CD covers, use visual codes to convey genre, through use of fonts, colours, photos and illustrations.