1. Introduction 1.1. Background Rapid development of film has brought the film industry in its heyday. In modern era, as the people’s interest to watch the film increases, many film producers are competing to produce high-quality movies. Starting from the genre of romance, action, to horror, even animated films also proved much loved by moviegoers. Not only American-made animated film which gets a lot of attention from movie lovers, Japanese’s animation production, which more so-called anime, also begins to compete a lot in the film industry (Linsenmaier, 2008; Gan, 2009). As the time goes by, the researchers find similar formal elements contain in the films and in other literary genre, such as characters, setting, plot, etc; one thing to …show more content…
Bouzida (2014) claims that semiotics is a part of linguistics which focuses its study on properties of sign language and other signal forms, it can also be called as the study of signs used to reveal its denotative and connotative meanings. Seboek (1994) shares the same idea with him and describes semiotics as both a science which has its own corpus of findings and theories and also a specific technique for studying anything which can produce …show more content…
Denotation is a literal meaning of something. Panofsky (1957, as cited in Chandler, 2002) claims denotative meaning as all the things that can be recognized by people from many different cultures. In denotative level, the sign is treated independently as it is free from any subjective interpretations, since it has its own basic meaning. While in connotative level, the meaning of the sign is influenced by subjective interpretation, such as emotion and feelings specifically related to ones’ culture. Connotation provides the illusion of denotation meaning (Bouzida, 2014; Chandler, 2002; Fisk,
A noticeable difference in the way movies have changed over the years is evident when comparing and contrasting two films of different eras which belong to the same genre and contain the same subject matter. Two vampire movies, Dracula and Bram Stoker's Dracula, present an interesting example of this type of study.
John Gibbs and Douglas Pye (2005) Style and meaning : studies in the detailed analysis of film. Engalnd: Manchester University Press, pp 42-52.
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.
Whenever books are adapted for film, changes inevitably have to be made. The medium of film offers several advantages and disadvantages over the book: it is not as adept at exploring the inner workings of people - it cannot explore their minds so easily; however, the added visual and audio capabilities of film open whole new areas of the imagination which, in the hands of a competent writer-director, can more than compensate.
A set of practices concerning the narrative structure compose the classical Hollywood Paradigm. These conventions create a plot centering around a character who undergoes a journey in an attempt to achieve some type of goal (). By giving the central character more time on screen, the film helps the audience to not only understand the character’s motivation but also empathize with his/her emotional state. Additionally, some antagonistic force creates conflict with the main character, preventing immediate success(). Finally, after confronting the antagonist, the main character achieves his or her goal along with growing emotionally(). This proven structure creates a linear and relatively easily followed series of events encompassing the leading character and a goal.
“Saussure defined a sign as being composed of a signifier and a signified. The sign is the whole that results from association of the signifier with the signified. The relationship between the signified and signifier is signification. The signifier is now commonly interpreted as the material or physical form of the sign, it is something which can be seen, heard, touched, smelt or tasted. Both the signifier and the signified were purely psychological.” (Saussure,
Huyghe says that if you are a semiologist, then you study systems of signs (Huyghe, 1993, p.1). This area of discussion can cover a broad range of topics from hieroglyphic writing to "Masks and the semiotics of identity." "In semiotic terms, an icon is a variety of sign that bears a resemblance to its object; a diagram, for example, is an icon of that which the diagram represents (Pollock, 1995, p. 1). In Bourland-Davis’ article, she draws from Johnson and Hackman to discuss semiotics as a form of symbolic communication (Bourland-Davis, 1998, p. 2). In Bourland-Davis’ article (Bourland-Davis, p. 2), Johnson and Hackman state that ‘human (symbolic) communication … generates new and relevant combinations of associations of existing elements (materials, words, ideas, facts, sounds, movements, colors, lines, mathematical notations, procedures, etc.) through lateral (divergent) thinking’ (as cited in Johnson and Hackman, 1995, p.15). Sometimes the most effective way to represent an abstract problem is by using symbols, as students learn to do in high-school algebra (Matlin, 1998, p. 347).
This is to say that when an elephant is named an elephant it is not based on its characteristics or on what another being believes it should be called, but rather the name has simply always belonged to it. Socrates said that, “names ought to be given according to a natural process, and with a proper instrument, and not at our pleasure; in this and no other way shall we name with success (Cratylus 360BCE)” He believes names are linked to the object’s essence and have a certain iconicity. The iconicity in sign language directly supports Socrates’ way of thinking of naturalism. The idea of iconicity is the perceived connection between the form of a sign and the meaning of the sign. Iconicity in language means that the form of the word or sign conveys the meaning of the word or sign. Iconicity is increasingly prevalent in sign language due to the way sign language is conveyed, although it is possible for sign language to lose it’s iconicity as it becomes conventionalized. In the
Danesi, M. (1998). Sign, thought, & culture: A basic course in semiotics. Canadian Scholarsí Press: Toronto, Ontario.
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..
Based on Saussure’s notion, signifier is the sign carries the meaning, including the marks on the paper and the sound in the air. Signified is a mental concept of meaning, which the person who has the same cultural background can share the same language. The sign is embraced both of them, which make the sign, have the wider use.
Social semiotic draws on the semiotic notion of communication or language as a system of signs, which provides a range of potential meanings to its users. There is not difference between the code or langue and performance or use in the social semiotic. The actual meanings made are limited by the conditions of access and context: The cultural trajectories (historical map) of individuals and groups endows them with different dispositions and literacies. Cultural patterns we use to make sense always shapes and frames contexts.
Analyzing film has been around since the making of movies in the early 1900s. Here in the United States film really blossomed in the 1920’s. Production of films started on the West Coast in Hollywood. The earliest films were organized into genres or types, with storylines, settings, costumes, and characters (Dirks, 2010). Films are made to entertain, and when viewers watch the film they find themselves drawn into the characters personality and the plot. Because of film’s popularity many people use films as an agent of communication, education, and learnin...
Offering the unique ability to visually and audibly convey a story, films remain a cornerstone in modern society. Combined with a viewer’s desire to escape the everyday parameters of life, and the excitement of enthralling themselves deep into another world, many people enjoy what films stand to offer. With the rising popularity of films across the world, the amount of film makers increases every day. Many technological innovations mark the advancement of film making, but the essential process remains the same. Pre-production accounts for everything taken place before any shooting occurs, followed by the actual production of the film, post-production will then consist of piecing the film together, and finally the film must reach an audience. Each step of this process contributes to the final product, and does so in a unique right. The process of film making will now start chronologically, stemming from the idea of the story, producing that story into a film, editing that footage together, and finally delivering that story to its viewers.