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Semiotics, Theory

Film poster analysis

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Five Feet Apart': Here's A New Trailer & Poster

The signifier is the city behind then which can be used as an indexical sign to suggest that there is life beyond their illness in the distance. It is a radical representation of teenagers. There is a denotation of medical equipment eg. the breathing tubes which has connotations of illness and possibly death.

There is a syntagm which includes the dark sky, the sun, the guitar and the image of the guy to form meaning of what his future could look like. There is a symbolic sign between the light from the sun and hopefulness.

There are 2 dominant signifiers in this poster however the female is emphasised more due to the positioning and angle of her which is a media code to allow people to identify quickly with the main character.

Iconic sign of a ship front. People looking down from above is could be a symbolic sign of people dying as though they are looking down on the accident from heaven. There is anchorage of the word titanic to tell us what the tragedy is about.

The word family is a signifier of the representation in the image above. There is an icon sign of a happy family but there are connotations that they may have to reach out or overcome something in order to get to this position as they are placed higher up.

The tears are a signifier of the sadness that the girl is experiencing. Supports the dominant ideology that only women cry however in her eyes it looks like she is ready to seek revenge and is strong which creates a paradigm.

Moving Image, Notes, Theory

Moving image theory

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Different media forms have different media language and set of rules. There are 3 key aesthetic concepts which are; size, scale and space.

THE CAMERA

The most important tool in a camera is the focus and depth of field used to direct and prioritise elements in a shot and therefore prioritise certain information. It may switch our focus (known technically as a pull focus / rack focus / follow focus) between one element and another.

With rack focus you gain: focused attention, layer images, visual storytelling, economic filmmaking and emotional connection.

Angles, movement and size

High angle / Low angle / bulls-eye / birds eye / canted angle

Tracking / Panning / Craning / Tilting / Hand held / Steadicam

Establishing Shot / Long Shot / Medium Shot / Close-up / Big Close-Up / Extreme Close Up 

Insert Shot

contains visual detail that is inserted into a scene (typically a close-up) for informational clarity or to provide dramatic emphasis

THE EDIT

Camera and edit tools are used to deliberately and consciously ‘stitch‘ the audience into the text in a deliberate and particular way.

“Screen theory” approach — Colin MacCabe, Stephen Heath and Laura Mulvey considers filmic images as signifiers that do not only encode meanings but also mirrors in which viewers accede to subjectivity (focuses on diversity rather than unity).

Moving image is constructed around the concept of putting one thing next to another.

 Editing is the process of manipulating separate images into a continuous piece of moving image which develops characters, themes, spaces and ideas through a series of events, interactions and occurrences. It is usually be LINEAR and SEQUENTIAL.

1.The basic edit: cut/fade/dissolve– The basic rule in editing is you don’t show everything literally, ELLIPSIS (what you leave out) is just as important as what you put in. Frame your shots with appropriate SIZE AND SCALE and trim your shots.

  1. EDIT ON ACTION
  2. EDIT ON A MATCHING SHAPE, COLOUR, THEME
  3. EDIT ON A LOOK, A GLANCE, EYELINE
  4. EDIT ON A SOUND BRIDGE
  5. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT SIZE
  6. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT CAMERA POSITION (+30′)

 Shot sequencing 1: Montage

Kuleshov effect, in that adding one element / idea to another actually produces a third idea / element, which if constructed well can produce in the audience an idea that isn’t actually present. Compresses the timeline.

Shot sequencing 2: Shot progression

to create VERISIMILITUDE (ie realism), uses these shots below to allow the audience to understand SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS between locations, people, movements etc.

  • establishing shot / ES, moving to
  • wide shot / WS,
  • to medium shot / MS,
  • to close up / CU,
  • to big close up / BCU;
  • and then back out again

Shot Sequencing 2: Shot / Reverse Shot

runs from a wide angle master shot that is at a 90′ angle to (usually) two characters (usually over the shoulder shots).

First, include both characters – which are called EXTERNAL REVERSES. Then moves in to a much closer over the shoulder shot – which are called INTERNAL REVERSES.

POV shot- character looks directly at camera

Over the shoulder shots, close-ups, reaction shots, internal and external reverses are used to create a range of subjective / objective positions for the audience as they engage with characters

Shot Sequencing 3: Continuity Editing

Is the opposite of montage editing; aim is to create a sense of realism (verisimilitude)

  • match on action
  • eye-line match
  • graphic match
  • sound bridge
  • 30′ rule
  • 180′ rule (shot/reverse shot)

Shot Sequencing 4: Parallel Editing

two events editing together – so that they may be happening at the same time, or not?

  • enigma
  • dramatic irony
  • foreshadowing
  • repetition / reiteration
  • back story
  • exposition of theme / character / setting / plot
  • development of theme / character / setting / plot
  • pay off or resolution of theme / character / plot
  • denouement
  • dramatic arc
  • climax / resolution
  • interior monologue
  • cause and effect
  • resolution
  • non sequitur
  • ellipsis
  • cliff-hanger
Moving Image, Narrative, Notes, Theory

Chatman and Barthes

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Chatman

Kernels: key moments in the plot / narrative structure

Satellites: embellishments, developments, aesthetics

non-sequitars: one elements may emerge and play out but actually turn out to be of little value, meaning or consequence to the overall / main parts of the narrative

Elements that are essential to the story/plot/ development are called kernels and moments that can be removed and the story would still make sense are called satellites.

Satellites are useful to develop character, emotion, location, time.

Roland Barthes-

  • Proairetic code: action, movement, causation
  • Hermenuetic code: reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development
  • Enigma code: the way in which intrigue and ideas are raised – which encourage an audience to want more information.

moving image products are either based around ‘doing’ / ‘action’ which is proairetic code or ‘talking’ / ‘reflection’ which is hermenuetic code.

Genre, Notes, Theory

Steve Neale: KEY WORDS

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The idea of genre as an enabling mechanism to attract audiences based around predictable expectations. He suggests that genres are structured around a repertoire of elements which creates a corpus or body of similar texts, which could all belong to the same category.

Genre is a process, that genres change as society and culture changes. As such, genres are historically specific and reflect / represent changing ideas, attitudes, values and beliefs of society at any particular moment in history. This may explain, why genres are often blurred across different conventions and expectations, creating sub-genres, or hybrid genres

Genre is repetition of familiar conventions and difference to other media products within the genre

Key terms

predictable expectations– viewers can suggest what they think is going to happen based on the general conventions of a genre

reinforced– strengthen an idea

amplify– add detail or expand upon a story

repertoire of elements– features of a film that are repeated within a genre

corpus– a collection of written texts, especially the entire works of a particular author or a body of writing on a particular subject

verisimilitude– seems realistic and the story has details, subjects, and characters that seem similar or true to real life, or mime convincing aspects of life in important or fundamental ways

realism– the way in which a media representation is seen to relate to. real-world experience

construction of reality– the way in which media influences how we view real-life situations

historically specific– the genre will reflect / represent changing ideas, attitudes, values and beliefs of society at any particular moment in history

sub-genres– One of several categories within a particular genre

hybrid genres– share the conventions of more than one genre

Genre, Theory

Genre

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Genre is area of media language

how media texts are classified, organised and understood, essentially around SIMILARITIES and DIFFERENCE. In that media texts hold similar patterns, codes and conventions that are both PREDICTABLE and EXPECTED, but are also INNOVATIVE and UNEXPECTED.

Genre as ‘Textual Analysis’

Ed Buscombe notes that the ‘kind’ or ‘type’ of film is usually recognised “and largely determined by the nature of its conventions”. You can use genre to predict particular elements around: characters, setting, lighting, dialogue, music, sounds, mise-en-scene etc. Then should be able to elicit key characteristics (codes and conventions).

Notion of CREATIVITY. The way in which new ideas (creativity) emerge from the predictable and expected. 

SUB-GENRE film (a genre within a genre) or a HYBRID GENRE (a combination of two genres).

 “genre is a system of codes, conventions and visual styles which enables an audience to determine rapidly and with some complexity the kind of narrative they are viewing” -Turner

“saddled with conventions and stereotypes, formulas and clichés and all of these limitations were codified in specific genres. This was the very foundation of the studio system and audiences love genre pictures“

Ghost Town, Notes, Representation

Paul Gilroy NOtes

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Racial otherness- black communities are referred to as the ‘other’ race in white terms and see them as the people who commit crimes and incompatible with white british values.

Post-colonial melancholia- the deep rooted shame felt as a result of the loss of the British empire. In media the loss is deflected through nostalgia and anxieties surrounding british identity.

The story of UK race relations post W.W. 2- talks about the worries of immigrant behaviour in the post-war wave of immigration from the West Indies. Public associated these immigrants with the substandard living conditions.

Legacy of the empire- Gilroy suggests we live in “morbid culture of a once-imperial nation that has not been able to accept it’s inevitable loss of prestige”. British are undergoing a crisis of national identity. Empire immigrants and their descendants, is argued to be a visible representation of British power as it once was.

The search for Albion-

Ghost Town

CSP 6: Ghost town

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Ghost town was performed by The Specials, written by Jerry Dammers, produced by John Collins.

The song spent three weeks at number one and 10 weeks in total in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Song released in 1981

Key Concepts:
● Cultural resistance
● Cultural hegemony- Antonio Gramsci, framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate ideology.
● Subcultural theory- The Birmingham School (1970s), looked at working class cultures like the teddy-boys, mods, skinheads, and punks – subcultures. Unified by shared tastes in fashion, music and ideology. They argued argued that the formation of subcultures offered young working class people a solution
to the problems they were collectively experiencing in society


Context:
● Race Relations
● Thatcher’s Britain- British Nationality Act of 1981: introduced a
series of increasingly tough immigration
procedures and excluded Asian people from
entering Britain.
● Rock Against Racism- RAR’s fusion of youth culture and politics has been widely celebrated for making politics fun. This fusion of politics and culture engaged disaffected white youth in the face of profound political and economic insecurity, class tensions and escalating racism.
● Rock Against Sexism- used punk as a vehicle to challenge sexism, promoting female musicians while challenging discrimination in the music industry between 1979 and 1982. 1970s saw a plethora of sexist song lyrics, record covers and band advertisements, many depicting violence towards women.
●2 Tone- a genre of British popular music, that fused punk with Jamaican reggae and ska music. Attracted the attention of right-wing youth. The bands had to tackle their own prejudices towards each other, highlighting the challenges of
mixing different class, racial and educational backgrounds

Social, historical and cultural background

The video and song are part of a tradition of protest in popular music, in this case reflecting concern about the increased social tensions in the UK at the beginning of the 1980s.

Linked to the politics of Thatcherism

Racially diverse representations

Musical genre of ska

Representation of Britain’s emerging multiculturalism, is reinforced through the eclectic mix of stylistic influences

mix of black and white members, The Specials, too, encapsulated Britain’s burgeoning multiculturalism. The band’s 2 Tone record label gave its name to a genre which fused ska, reggae and new wave and, in turn, inspired a crisply attired youth movement.

uneasy mood of the general music

Caribbean immigrants brought ska to England, where it attracted a cult following. The factory town of Coventry in the British Midlands was a hot spot for ska activity, as large numbers of blacks settled there to work in the British auto industry.

 lurking just beneath the “happy,” infectious dance beat were often chilling stories of the racial divisiveness and economic deprivation that characterized the dawning of the Thatcher era.

music video was directed by Barney Bubbles

a cry out against injustice, against closed off opportunities by those who have pulled the ladder up and robbed the young, the poor, the white and black of their songs and their dancing, their futures. Drive round an empty city at dawn. Look at the empty flats.

See the streets before the bankers get there and after the cleaning ladies have gone. And put young, poor, disadvantaged people in that car. See how “Ghost Town” makes sense. Now.

Radio stations didnt want to play reggae music so the only way it would get heard is through handmade sound system

Musicians escaped Jamica as they just introduced guns and brought their music to england which became poular

Uncategorized

Levi Strauss- Binary oppositions

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This theory suggests that NARRATIVES (=myths) are STRUCTURED around BINARY OPPOSITIONS eg: good v evil

creates a dominant message (ideology) of a film, audiences are encouraged to make a judgements about characters, groups, places, history, society etc.

ConceptStrongly
agree		AgreeNeutralAgreeStrongly
Agree		Opposite
Concept
MaleXFemale
BlackXWhite
ProtestXAcquiesce
UrbanXRural
OldXYoung
AggressiveXCalm
Moving Image, NEA

Statement of intentent- Movie

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Synopsis– a teen girl who is struggling with mental health issues feels very isolated spending much of her time listening to sad music: she wants to become a singer but doesn’t believe it’s possible for a girl like her. Then she comes across Demi Lavato who was going through similar struggles to her and succeeded whilst showing the lights of recovery, inspiring her to make her own music.

Statement of intent–

I would like to create 2 different posters of a film based upon how music stars can deeply connect with even the most vulnerable people and significantly change their outlook on life. I would like it to show this transition from hopelessness to optimism through the posters. I could do this by using a contrast of colours/ saturation levels and the character presenting a right-frame gaze (Barthes suggests using connotations such as these in order to promote meaning). Both posters will portray anchorage in order for clear connotations and signification. I will use a message reduction technique to allow others to connect easily with the ideas of the film.

The posters will show the internal structure theorised by Todorov (Tripartite narrative structure) which is when there is an equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium. This will be represented through a flashback of childhood followed by the low state she is in as a teen then her finding Demi Lavato’s music and being so inspired.

There will be 3 main characters: the girl, her bestfriend and her dad. The girl will show a positive stereotype towards the end. In the posters it will only feature the faces of the girl and Demi Lovato to emphasise the strong relationship that is between them.

The type of company that would make my film would be a big cinema company which would later get downloaded to a conglomerate like Netflix to attract a wider audience of a whole generation of people and allow for more private watching alone.

The genre will be a drama however it may be a hybrid genre as there will be a musical aspect to it as well.

I will try to use two different types of background in one of my film posters to show how things change and in the other one I will combine the two situations in one big picture to add a sense of mystery and inquisitiveness. I will use a serif font for the title like all these posters do and included a quote from someone who has watched it in smaller text. In one of the posters I will use a close-up to connect with the character and in the other I will use a long shot to show how the character is dominated by their environment. The signified is the powerful impact music can have on your outlook of life and the signifier is the face expressions and colour tones. The dull colours are a symbolic symbol of sadness, the shape of the trees in the Big fish poster are an indexical sign of fish bones. The film poster A Beautiful Mind challenges the ideology of men having to act strong all the time and is a radical character whereas in Braveheart the main character is presented as reactionary.