Semiotics

Semiology
Semiotics sees communication as the generation of meaning
in messages. Meaning is not static , it is an active process.
 Ferdinand de Saussure1857 - 1913
• Founder of semiotics
• Linguist
• Semiotics - theory of language as a
system of signs
• Interested in way words ( signs ) related to
other words
 Saussure’s Sign
• A physical object with a meaning

• Sign = a signifier and a signified

• Signifier = signs image as we perceive it

• marks on paper sounds in air

• Signified = the mental concept to which it
refers

• This mental concept is broadly common to

all members of the same culture who
share the same language
 Two marks OX
• Could be two moves in noughts and crosses
• Or they could be read as a word “ OX ”

• Signifier = OX
• Signified = mental concept of oxness , the animal
• Signification = the relationship between my
concept of oxness and the physical reality of oxen.
My way of giving MEANING to the world and
understanding it.
 SIGNIFIEDS
• The signifieds ( meaning ) are as much a
product of a particular culture as the signifiers (
words )
• It ’s easy to imagine that the signifieds are
universal
• My concept of oxness is very different to that
of an Indian farmer
• Even if I learn the Hindu word for ox it does
not help me share understand his concept of
oxness any better
• In translations can’t just substitute an
English word for a French one
 Signs and System
• What do we mean by the sign OX
• Saussure would answer this by
asking what we do not mean by
this sign
• So man can mean , not animal,
not boy , not girl
Deneuve – A sign
• The meaning of Deneuve as a sign is also
because she is not Charlize (too young)
Cruz( to Spanish) Vanessa Paradis (not
traditional enough )
 C.S.PEIRCE (1839 – 1914)
• American logician and philosopher another
founder of semiotics
• Peirce divided the sign into 3 types
• icon
• index
• symbol
 ICON
• Icon - bears a resemblance to its
object. Easy to see with visual
signs. Ladies toilet.A map. A
painting. Beethoven’s Pastoral..
 INDEX
• Index - a sign with a direct existential
connection to its object
• smoke is an index of fire
• a sneeze is an index of ahead cold
• If I want to meet you and tell you I’ll hold a copy
of the Argus and carry a rd rose then the red
rose and the paper are indexes of me.
 SYMBOL
• Symbol is a sign whose connection with its
object is a matter of convention,
agreement or rule
• Words and numbers are symbols. There is
no reason why the shape 2 should refer to
a pair of objects. (II is iconic)
 Film Semiotics
• Semiotics of the cinema is the theory of
film as a system of signs
• We think of film as a kind of language
• Metz interested in
The nature of the film image
Relation between sound and image
The effect of various kinds of editing
 Metz
• Restrict study to narrative feature film
• Should study denotation and connotation

• Barthes 1977
Denotation is the mechanical reproduction on film of object that
camera is pointed at

Connotation is the human part of the process, what to include in

frame , camera angle , focus
• Connotation describes the interaction that
occurs when the signs meet the feeling or
emotions of the user and the values of his
culture

Denotation what is photographed

Connotation is how it is photographed
 Metz
1. Discover the codes of filmic punctuation
2. Films made up of minimal sequences
called syntagmas
3. Look at meaning of close-ups , zooms
 Peter Wollen ( likes Peirce)
• The filmmaker like the mathematician is
constructing sign to see what the
implications of those signs are
• Wollen believes works of art exploit
various codes
• Analysis of these helps us understand
great directors
 Metz and Wollen
• Agree that the theory of film must be a part
of semiotics. They disagree slightly about
the nature of semiotics

• Agree that they are trying to replace film

theory and criticism with a semiotics of the
cinema.
 Umberto Eco
Eco “ it is not possible to
understand the social relevance
and aesthetic functioning of a
movie without focusing on it from
a semiotic point of view