Semiotics is a language system in film that exemplifies qualities of the film. The theory of semiotic highlights the mise-en-scene of a film in terms of relation between film themes, characters on screen, and associated objects. The concepts of semiotic can be shown in different levels in movies. It could be a language signs or objects of justification for audiences to make sense of the movie. Semiotic approach in film does not only emphasize what is explicitly stated on screen, but it also shows signs of underlying message and meaning behind objects of justification. In this essay, I will discuss about semiotic signs that are embodied in different objects of justification in the films, Citizen Kane and Thelma and Louise. Each object demonstrate language-like phenomenon, which construct essential meanings to the characters and the plot in the film. In the movie, Citizen Kane, the presence of the glass ball first appeared at the first shot when Kane is left alone in his bed at the beginning of the movie. As the scene plays out, the camera captures the moment when the glass ball shatter after Kane let go of it. The focus of the shot is not on Kane who is lying alone in his deathbed, but rather on the glass ball that contains a cabin in a snow-covered landscape rolling down from the stair and eventually shatter on the floor. In this particular scene, the close up shot of the glass ball acts as a semiotic sign, which reveals an important meaning that ties Kane to the themes of the movie; his reminiscence of his past and his loss. The landscape in the glass ball contains another space that is not yet reveal. Hence, the glass globe is just an object of curiosity in the beginning of the film. The film slowly unfolds a semiotic language ... ... middle of paper ... ...d and takes control of the situation. Another scene when Thelma and Louise met the truck driver, who constantly acts rudely and annoys them with offensive comments, they demand him for an apology for being disrespectful. But when he walks away and refuses to do so, Louise pulls out her gun and points it at the truck driver. She demands for apology and then fire the gun at the wheel and the tanker of the truck. Thelma then pulls out hers and they both fires their guns until the truck explode. In this shot, the gun signifies their acts of absurdity in expressing their demands for an apology. Hence, it is evident that Thelma and Louise uses of gun throughout the film show viewer that the gun demonstrate a semiotic sign of many defensive and irrational acts, both in situation when they need to protect themselves from unpleasant encounters and to demand for what the want
Film Noir, as Paul Schrader integrates in his essay ‘Notes on Film Noir,’ reflects a marked phase in the history of films denoting a peculiar style observed during that period. More specifically, Film Noir is defined by intricate qualities like tone and mood, rather than generic compositions, settings and presentation. Just as ‘genre’ categorizes films on the basis of common occurrences of iconographic elements in a certain way, ‘style’ acts as the paradox that exemplifies the generality and singularity at the same time, in Film Noir, through the notion of morality. In other words, Film Noir is a genre that exquisitely entwines theme and style, and henceforth sheds light on individual difference in perception of a common phenomenon. Pertaining
...n”). The "face" is the face of the gun or end of the barrel, which explodes with a deadly bullet instead of lava. The poem substitutes pleasure for bullet when it says that the gun barrel, "let it's pleasure through." The bullet is the gun's pleasure that and he smiles warmly when firing it. The gun, and therefore it's master takes pleasure in the violence and deadly force of the loaded gun.
Arnheim’s body of theory suggests that the necessity of human intervention to implement plot, tropes, and culturally legible symbols raises a film to a higher level than a mere copy of reality, and that this interpretation and expression of meaning is “a question of feeling” or intuition on the part of the filmmaker. (“Film Theory and Criticism” 283) One consequence of effective directorial intervention is that differences in speed, stops and starts, and what would otherwise be jarring gaps in continuity can be accepted by viewers, because if the essentials of reality are present, th...
Just about everyone can voice their opinions on a film that viewed as we all do after leaving the theatre. It may be found to be useful when a friend or individual is interested in seeing the film themselves. However, I believe the only way that you could understand a film is by analyzing the film beyond the average person. When one begins to analyze they begin to develop an understanding of the film and may grow to love the film. The director Hitchcock is a fairly well known director. He has directed many different films from Vertigo to Psycho that are found to be popular with the viewers. In this paper I am going to analyze certain elements that spoke out to me during the film. Those elements that spoke to me the most during the film was the lighting techniques, camera movement, and symbols.
Rascaroli, Laura. "The Essay Film: Problems, Definitions, Textual Commitments." Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media 49.2 (2008): 24-47. JSTOR. Web. 08 May 2014.
...r, with investigation into the visual elements of this film, meanings of this film expand beyond the literal dialog and -- existing in the film.
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
Run Lola Run, is a German film about a twenty-something woman (Lola) who has 20 minutes to find $100,000 or her love (Manni) will be killed. The search for the money is played through once with a fatal ending and one would think the movie was over but then it is shown again as if it had happened ten seconds later and changed everything. It is then played out one last time. After the first and second sequence, there is a red hued, narrative bridge. There are several purposes of those bridges that affect the movie as a whole. The film Run Lola Run can be analyzed by using the four elements of mise-en scene. Mise-en-scene refers to the aspects of film that overlap with the art of the theater. Mise-en-scene pertains to setting, lighting, costume, and acting style. For the purpose of this paper, I plan on comparing the setting, costume, lighting, and acting style in the first red hued, bridge to that of the robbery scene. Through this analysis, I plan to prove that the purpose of the narrative bridge in the film was not only to provide a segue from the first sequence to the second, but also to show a different side of personality within the main characters.
Lacey, N. (2005). Film Language. Introduction to film (pp. 16-22). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mise-en-scène is a vital function in film which allows us to glean a deeper significance than mere action and dialogue can convey. We react to the signs, symbols, and icons within a film because they are imbedded deeply into our collective subconscious. Our history of visual storytelling predates language and it is a tradition that is innately human and universally recognized, even if the viewer is unaware of the elements of mise-en-scène and the way in which they are constructing the emotional and psychological context of a film’s story.
Genre in film theory is bespoken from literary genre scrutiny as well as founded on a film’s organization and its sequential events. Similarly, films are more often than not categorized according to its mood that is an emotional tone, setting which is its locale, and theme topic that is the issues in the film. Likewise, all these fundamentals come into consideration for the appointment of the film to be properly categorized in a genre. The moment we look narrowly at a film genre, we typically ascertain intricacies that give an awareness of subtle shades of meaning or feeling, especially in artistic expression or performance. However, all along not losing sight of the fact that a genre convention, that is to say some type of common identity that reappears in the film that eventually contributes essentially. Conjunctionally these elements are influential to classify a film in a genre, which includes essentials such as iconography, plot, and thematic elements. An epitome of a genre drama is exemplified by the film, The Ice Storm (1997) and accordingly, with an analysis of its genre it demonstrates David Bordwell’s reflectionist approach that expounds on its social function, relatibility, during the time of its production.
Each chapter invents its own reality, a reality of the screen, of the movies, that is brought into closer contact by means of a literary text. The book as a whole, then, glorifies in the postmodern tradition multiple interpretations of reality. Movies themselves present alternative realities or interpretations of perceived realities, most often differing from our own individual constructions. Thus, by offering ...
Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.
John Gibbs and Douglas Pye (2005) Style and meaning : studies in the detailed analysis of film. Engalnd: Manchester University Press, pp 42-52.
Semiotics, known as the science of signification, was first originated by Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce. This paper will implement the semiotics analysis and introduce the theory of semiotics and review the history generally. Semiotics is the interpretation of meaning, based on the Saussure’s approach of semiology; he was mainly focused on the structure on linguistics, while Peirce was more concentrate on the logical dimensions of the science. In general, semiotic is a study of signs.