Semiotics

 

Semiotics

Barthes' semiotic theory broke down the process of reading signs and focused on their interpretation by different cultures or societies. According to him, signs were a signifier, physical form of the sign as we perceive it, and the interpreted. 

A sign is a symbol, colour, camera angle. Something a viewer can infer meaning from. Two types of meaning; denotation and connotation. Denotation is the literal meaning of the sign, connotation is the meaning the sign could be interpreted as. For example, the Apple logo could be denoted as a literal white Apple with a bite taken out of the right hand side of it, whereas, looking at it from a connotation point of view, the Apple logo could mean mass consumerism, the takeover of the world by large Corporations. Connotations depend on culture, opinion and background of a person, as different people may look at different signs, with different perspectives. For example, some may see Apple as sweat shops, unfair labour depending on those listed factors. 

In film language, there are 4 signs that are encoded. This is Mise-En-Scene, sound, camera work and editing. 

I watched Tales of Terror from Tokyo and found out how much someone can understand from signs in the text and how different people interpret the video. For example, there was a large feeling of terror because of how innocent the child is, the claustrophobia of the room, the cold colour; all part of the Mise-En-Scene of the film. With the sound, there is this eerie chiming noise, followed by dead silence. This contrast in sound is a perfect example of how a jump from noise to silence is effective in creating tension. The camera work always shows where the girl is, creating this safe feeling, as the viewer can see where the girl is at all times. On the contrary the viewer is not given a wide angle view, creating this feeling that the culprit could be anywhere near the girl, creating and holding tension. 

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