Semiotics in Film

These are a few of the main aspects that can be considered signs in this clip. Where the denotations of the scene would be 'There is a gun' 'The camera is shot at a low angle' or 'The text fades in slowly'. The connotations change the effects on the audience before we even know what is going to happen. In the first few seconds the car pulling up to the building could potentially be just a man arriving at work but the carefully chosen semiotics completely change this assumption and the audience can guess what the story is about before it's even revealed. I will go onto explain the denotative level to some of the signs in the clip...

Low Angle: Creates daunting atmosphere with tilted lines and pillars from the buildings. This is carried on with the first shot of the man leaving the car and also as he rides the elevator.

Chiaroscuro: Creates a certain uneasiness about the scene and a mystery is created the hooks the audience.

Droning Music: Creates immediate tension and puts the audience in  suspense of what is about to come.

Text: The slow fade in effect for the text 'Prague Czech Republic' that sets the location for the scene supports the suspense as it is slowly revealed keeping the audience waiting.

Props: The gun for example puts an immediate element of danger into the scene.

Context & Anchorage

Anchorage: The way different media language elements combine to help fix meaning.

For example the way that music will influence the message translated through film or the way that text is paired with images to manipulate a story.

The image above is a photo of Britney Spears on the day of a court hearing. This image is used within a story the holds the headline: 'Smiling Britney Spears attends court'. When looking at the image you can see why the denotations support it, of course the smile holds connotations of happiness and positivity which is supported by her choice of clothing which is a stereotypically 'girly' colour which could symbolise the history of her image which goes back as early as the mickey mouse club. The bottle that she is holding could possibly be the most unhealthy drink possible but the image has captured it in a way where it looks like a water bottle displaying a healthy lifestyle to go with this controversial celebrity. However, the story does go onto explain what Britney actually wears to court which is hugely different than what is in the image, proving that this image is not at all related to the story but still achieves its purpose of creating a certain image of Britney that the readers will appreciate. 

                                 

As you can see the image above is of Britney taken on the same day yet the headline gives it an entirely different meaning, ''Scruffy Britney Spears ignored a court date to go shopping in very poorly fitting bra'' You can instantly see that the image is very unflattering compared to the first one we saw and instead of showing her lifestyle as a healthy one, instead she is shown smoking which holds connotations of being bad or rebelling against what is good for you. The headline draws attention to her 'scruffy' image and her smile, paired with her thumbs up, looks almost sarcastic as she reacts with the paparazzi. The story reveals that this is actually the day where Britney missed a court hearing which proves how invalid the first image is to it's story.

Both images portray a different Britney and the reasoning behind this can be put down to the audience of the papers/websites that supplied the stories. The first image was provided by People.com which runs off of a 50/50 mix of celebrity and human interest articles. Therefore the headlines have to attract a readership that is genuinely interested in celebrity news and not centre itself around stories that criticise celebrities even though in this case it has manipulated the story.

However the second image is from the Daily Mail which began as a newspaper for women and to this day still holds a readership with a female majority. Because of it's genuine interest in news affairs as well as a variety of sports, fashion and music articles, it can be seen as more of a reliable source for news proven by its ability to use images that act as evidence for the story that is told. I believe that the story has been manipulated in this way because the ''lower-middle class audience'' that it aims itself at are more likely to be intrigued in the negativity surrounding the celeb culture.

An Intro into Semiology

Semiotics are basically the signs that are used within the media, whether it be in print based media where text and images will support eachother in portraying certain messages or in moving image media where mis-en-scene, sound, editing etc. can all be considered signs.

A simple way of describing how semiotics work is with traffic lights being the main example, you can see that they either shine red, amber, or green - three lights that are vertically aligned. These facts would be considered denotations, the literal meaning of a word/object. A deeper look into these denotations would be the colours and what they symbolise therefore becoming connotations, associations that are made when interpreting a sign. For example, the red light suits its job of stopping cars because red can symbolise danger where as green symbolises the opposite and is considered a safe colour for example green ticks compared to red crosses. Although the colour amber is not a mixture of red and green it is 50% red and can symbolise energy which makes sense as it directs drivers to prepare themselves to go or come to a stop. However, in a broader sense, the colour red can represent passion and desire and the colour green can represent nature or envy therefore these signs become polysemic, a sign with a number of potential meanings.

I am going to use connotations and denotations to analyse this movie poster for Tomb Raider...

                                

Denotations - The woman, Lara Croft, is standing confidently whilst pouting and holding two guns. She has long plaited hair and is wearing a vest and shorts as well as a skull belt and gun holsters.

Connotations - The connotations of what can be seen instantly create a picture that shows strength and power. The guns act as signifiers that suggest bigger things such as death or danger or even enemies. This is supported by the skull on her belt that strongly symbolises death. Within the photo she is shown as a 'sexual' character but with masculine qualities, her long hair symbolises her femininity but the fact it's in a braid shows her ability to control it and have strength over it no matter how long. Her clothes are very tight fitted which accentuates her curves which emphasizes her femininity but also her sexual character that is revealed in the film. As well as showing off the feminine parts of her body the clothes she is wearing also emphasize her masculine qualities such as her shoulders which look broad, this suggests strength which is supported by her facial expression - her pout hold connotations of sexiness and seduction where as her piercing eyes and raised eyebrows have a suspicious feel to them and a look that is quite dangerous.