Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and the meanings of those signs in society. The signs essentially stand or signify something and it conveys meaning. This can vary from words to drawings, pictures and street signs. Anything visible is a sign. An example of this in film is this:

Captain America (2011)

Audiences see this and recognise it to be the shield of the iconic character: Captain America. It uses the American flag and colours for it symbolises that it is Captain America's shield.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) 

Another example of a sign is the red shoes in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The shiny red shoes are a symbol to the audience of the character Dorothy Gale.







The main theorists are:

Saussure: He theorised that there were three levels on the way audiences perused a media text:

Syntactic level: This is the denotation of a media text. The most obvious of what one can see. In relation to the first example we can see a circle object with a silver star in a blue circle and red stripes. The shield is dirty. In the second example we see red glittery shoes with red bows on the top of them.
Representational level: This is the way it has been portrayed in a particular scene. In relation to the first example we see a close up of the shield perhaps on a desk or on the floor. The second example has the shoes worn by a person and are positioned in a way as if the shoes are being shown off to someone.
Symbolic level: This is the connotation of a media text. This is the meaning and significance behind a sign. In the first example this has many meanings as it symbolises Captain America but it also symbolises hope and freedom for people. The second example also has many meanings for it symbolises that it is Dorothy Gale but also a means of solution or as a warning for red is a colour connoted to danger.

Barthes: Media texts often use old myths or stories to convey a slightly modern story and this can signify alternative meanings. An example of the use of a myth, is the legend of St. George. It is known that St. George was a knight who killed a dragon in order to save a young woman. This is very common in medieval, superhero and action romance movies for example: Speed (1994) and The Bodyguard (1992)

Speed has the generic story where Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) rescues Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) and kills the bad guy, an ex-cop and terrorist Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) This is similar to the legend of St. George for Jack is the hero whilst Annie is a victim. It creates the symbol that women can't save themselves and need rescuing from men whilst men take on a more stronger active role and face danger while still killing a person and getting the girl at the end.

It is the same for The Bodyguard for Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) is a bodyguard hired to protect famous singer Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) from a hitman Greg Portman (Tomas Arana). This also follows the legend of St. George for Frank rescues Rachel and kills Greg and towards the end Frank and Rachel are together. Once again is shows women as weak while men are strong.

Strauss: He devised the theory of binary opposites in which every symbol had a counteract symbol. Meaning that to everything there is a positive, for example:

Good and Bad
Light and Dark
Day and Night
Loud and Quiet




Binary opposites have significant symbols and are in many films and one film to use in particular is Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice:


Good (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman) and bad (Doomsday, Lex Luthor)
Old (Batman) and young (Superman)
Hope (Superman) and justice (Batman)
Day (Superman) and night (Batman)
Men (Batman, Superman, Lex Luthor) and women (Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, Martha Kent)




These three theorists devised theories which help define the media texts and semiology is what helps to understand the meanings shown in various media texts. Signs are shown in everything within media texts:

Colour

Crimson Peak (2015) this uses a lot of yellow to signify brightness

Camera shots and angles

Reservoir Dogs (1992) this uses a low angle to show the characters as powerful and big

Clothing

Star Trek (2009) the clothes are colour coded as the yellow is to commanding officers of a divison, red is for engineers/communication officers and the blue is worn by medical/science experts.

Editing

American Psycho (2000) this uses a shot reverse shot in order for the audience to catch a surprise of Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) killing Paul Allen (Jared Leto)

Mis-en-scene

The Shining (1980) the mis-en-scene is obvious and clear for the viewer to understand