Structuralist film theory posits that meaning is conveyed in cinema through different conventions and signs that comprise a language of its own. One type of codifying could be a series of shots that imply an emotion or circumstance.
For example, a Filmmaker might show a shot of a woman looking at something in the distance then cut to a man talking to a friend and then cut back to the woman. Though no overt explanation is given of why the audience sees that series of shots, the implication may be that the woman has romantic feelings toward the man.