Communications in Humanities Research

- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences


Communications in Humanities Research

Vol. 9, 31 October 2023


Open Access | Article

Encoding and Decoding: Mapping Social Value Shifts and Social Contexts in Hong Kong Crime Films

Zhaoyang Dong * 1
1 The Education University of Hong Kong

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Communications in Humanities Research, Vol. 9, 44-50
Published 31 October 2023. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by EWA Publishing
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Citation Zhaoyang Dong. Encoding and Decoding: Mapping Social Value Shifts and Social Contexts in Hong Kong Crime Films. CHR (2023) Vol. 9: 44-50. DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/9/20231099.

Abstract

Since the 1980s, Hong Kong film has had a wide impact on the world. Amongst this, crime films take a salient position. It results from the strong artistic tension within the production of crime films itself, and on the other hand, it provides us with rich material for studying the changing socio-cultural context of Hong Kong. The creation and dissemination of art is both a process of coding for the creator and a process of coding for the social context, a process that involves both the personal expression of the creator and inevitably the shaping of cultural codes by ideology. Since A Better Tomorrow, Hong Kong crime films, as a category of films closely connected to social reality, have had a significant impact in responding to social issues. The main content of Hong Kong crime films also has a strong role in shaping social contexts and influencing audiences’ perceptions in a subtle way. Therefore, in the process of creation, apart from thinking about the artistry of the films, the impact on the shaping of social perceptions of the films also needs to be taken into consideration.

Keywords

crime film, cultural codes, ideology, Hong Kong film, film symbols

References

1. Williams, E. R. (2018). The Screenwriters Taxonomy: A Roadmap to Collaborative Storytelling (1st ed.). Routledge. P24-25.

2. Hall, S., “Encoding and decoding in the television discourse,” in Gray, A. et al. ( eds) Selected Working Papers ( vol. 2), London: Routledge, 2007, p. 392.

3. Huang dianlin. (2016). Rereading The Encoding and Decoding of Television Discourse: A Review of Stuart Hall’s Methodological Contribution to the Study of Media Culture. News and communication research. (05):58-72+127.

4. Louis Althusser , Li Xun.(1987) Ideology and the ideological state apparatus. Contemporary Cinema, (03):100-112.

5. Li Jing. (2022). A study of heroic narratives in Hong Kong crime genre films (1986-2006) (Master’s thesis, Heilongjiang University). https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CMFD202301&filename=1022041537.nh

6. Zhang Chunxiao. (2021). “Noir as method: The classification and interpretative paths of Hong Kong crime films. Film Art (04), 138-145.

7. Suber, H. (2006). The power of film. Michael Wiese Productions. Studio City, CA.

Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries
ISBN (Print)
978-1-83558-041-7
ISBN (Online)
978-1-83558-042-4
Published Date
31 October 2023
Series
Communications in Humanities Research
ISSN (Print)
2753-7064
ISSN (Online)
2753-7072
DOI
10.54254/2753-7064/9/20231099
Copyright
31 October 2023
Open Access
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Copyright © 2023 EWA Publishing. Unless Otherwise Stated