Moving Image and Semiotics
In this session we considered semiotics in relation to moving image, through analysing a number of texts which reinforce this idea of conveying a meaning through the visuals in a moving image text.
It is thought that there can be physical and psychological signs, sometimes hidden in moving image texts. This link is know as an 'metonymic meaning'. For example a physical object we may see in a text is a crown, though the psychological meaning of a crown is the idea of royalty and wealth. Therefore an audience is able to identify a deeper meaning to the objects they see on screen or in a text.
Stuart Hall developed an encoding and decoding theory in 1973 titled 'Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse', which offers a theoretical approach into how media messages are produced and interpreted. His model claims that television, as well as other media audiences, are presented with messages that are decoded or interpreted in different ways depending on the individuals cultural background, economic standing and personal experiences. In contrast to other media theories that disempower audiences, Hall proposed that audience members can play an active role in decoding messages as they rely on their own social messages as they rely on their on their own social contexts and might be capable of changing messages themselves through collective action.
Within a text it is important to identify as many 'signs' and their perceived meanings. For example in Grease, Dir. Randal Kleiser, 1978 there are many signs which have perceived meanings. For example in this clip there are elements within the mise-en-scence such as costumes, facial expressions and settings. The costumes in this clip are coordinated with the setting of the time as we can see it is set in a high school though here as the two groups are wearing their own distinctive piece of clothing (the women wearing 'Pink Ladies' jackets and men leather jackets) this distinctively conveys the two separate groups and suggests that these groups of people are not randomly put together but are apart of a gang or group.
Characters facial expressions also help to convey a deeper meaning. For example here when Sandy first see's Danny her facial expression conveys excitement and joy and so does Danny's but when he notices a friend judging him for being excited, he tones down his excitement and we see Sandy's face which conveys a different mood of disappointment. When Sandy then storms off and runs away from Danny, the audience can see that Danny instantly regrets his behaviour towards Sandy.
Intertextuality and interactional relationships can be separated into three types, these consist of; obligatory, optional and accidental. (Fitzsimmons, 2013)
Obligatory, is the idea that one text references another text, yet this cannot be fully understood by its audience if they lack acknowledgement of the other text which is being referenced. For example, the musical 'Wicked', references The Wizard of Oz.
'Optional' suggests an audience can still understand a reference of a text without knowing the referenced text whereas 'accidental', being the viewer linking two or more texts that the author had no intention of referencing.
BBC 100 Women Project
Within this project, writer Jeanette Winterson talks about updating fairy stories for children and why it's important so the BBBc asked a group of school children to come up with an alternative at the classic story of Cinderella. This is an example set 'against type' as the children came up with a modern day alternative story about a working women named 'Cindy', who instead of marrying her prince, rejects the proposal but rather creates a friendship with her 'prince'
Once Upon a time, there was a young girl who wore a bright red raincoat everywhere she went.
Everyday she visited her Grandma, travelling through the city to get to her apartment
But one day, her grandma fell ill and so the young girl decided to order her a Deliveroo to help her grandma on the way to recovery.
Because of that, their food was delivered by an evil Deliveroo driver
Because of that, the Deliverer gave them food which was poisoned
because of that, the pair both fell ill and died
Until finally a previous victim outed the driver on Twitter, warning everyone in the city to stay away
and ever since then, no one ever got poisoned by Deliveroo Drivers again.
It is thought that there can be physical and psychological signs, sometimes hidden in moving image texts. This link is know as an 'metonymic meaning'. For example a physical object we may see in a text is a crown, though the psychological meaning of a crown is the idea of royalty and wealth. Therefore an audience is able to identify a deeper meaning to the objects they see on screen or in a text.
Stuart Hall developed an encoding and decoding theory in 1973 titled 'Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse', which offers a theoretical approach into how media messages are produced and interpreted. His model claims that television, as well as other media audiences, are presented with messages that are decoded or interpreted in different ways depending on the individuals cultural background, economic standing and personal experiences. In contrast to other media theories that disempower audiences, Hall proposed that audience members can play an active role in decoding messages as they rely on their own social messages as they rely on their on their own social contexts and might be capable of changing messages themselves through collective action.Within a text it is important to identify as many 'signs' and their perceived meanings. For example in Grease, Dir. Randal Kleiser, 1978 there are many signs which have perceived meanings. For example in this clip there are elements within the mise-en-scence such as costumes, facial expressions and settings. The costumes in this clip are coordinated with the setting of the time as we can see it is set in a high school though here as the two groups are wearing their own distinctive piece of clothing (the women wearing 'Pink Ladies' jackets and men leather jackets) this distinctively conveys the two separate groups and suggests that these groups of people are not randomly put together but are apart of a gang or group.
Characters facial expressions also help to convey a deeper meaning. For example here when Sandy first see's Danny her facial expression conveys excitement and joy and so does Danny's but when he notices a friend judging him for being excited, he tones down his excitement and we see Sandy's face which conveys a different mood of disappointment. When Sandy then storms off and runs away from Danny, the audience can see that Danny instantly regrets his behaviour towards Sandy.
Intertextuality
- this is a term that was coined in the late 1960s by Julia Kristeva, which combines ideas of the social context of language with the systematic features of language. In "Word, Dialogue and Novel" she states"a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of another. The notion of intertextuality replaces that of intersubjectivity, and poetic language is read as at least double" (Kirsteva 85, cities in Moi cited in Martain, E 2011)
Intertextuality and interactional relationships can be separated into three types, these consist of; obligatory, optional and accidental. (Fitzsimmons, 2013)
Obligatory, is the idea that one text references another text, yet this cannot be fully understood by its audience if they lack acknowledgement of the other text which is being referenced. For example, the musical 'Wicked', references The Wizard of Oz.
'Optional' suggests an audience can still understand a reference of a text without knowing the referenced text whereas 'accidental', being the viewer linking two or more texts that the author had no intention of referencing.
BBC 100 Women Project
Within this project, writer Jeanette Winterson talks about updating fairy stories for children and why it's important so the BBBc asked a group of school children to come up with an alternative at the classic story of Cinderella. This is an example set 'against type' as the children came up with a modern day alternative story about a working women named 'Cindy', who instead of marrying her prince, rejects the proposal but rather creates a friendship with her 'prince'
Task
Using the Ken Adams Story spine structure, I have rewrote a fairy tale set in present day which utilises semiotics which would be applied in moving image. I have chosen the story of Little Red Riding Hood set against type.Once Upon a time, there was a young girl who wore a bright red raincoat everywhere she went.
Everyday she visited her Grandma, travelling through the city to get to her apartment
But one day, her grandma fell ill and so the young girl decided to order her a Deliveroo to help her grandma on the way to recovery.
Because of that, their food was delivered by an evil Deliveroo driver
Because of that, the Deliverer gave them food which was poisoned
because of that, the pair both fell ill and died
Until finally a previous victim outed the driver on Twitter, warning everyone in the city to stay away
and ever since then, no one ever got poisoned by Deliveroo Drivers again.
To Conclude
Considering semiotics in relation to moving image is important. Sometimes the audiences requires a wider semantic understanding to properly engage and understand texts though as Fitzsimmons explains, audiences do not always require this further information to understand a text as some texts can also be 'Optional' and an audience can still understand a reference of a text without knowing the referenced text. I have learnt it is also important to consider the mise- en-scence of a text as there can be subtle 'signs' included in a text which can convey a deeper meaning which provides the audience with more information about the character and the setting.
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