Grade 12 Film – Semiotic Theory
"The way we watch film and the way we perceive everyday reality are fundamentally similar, in that both are
determined by conventions or codes. Reality is itself a complex system of signs interpreted by members of the
culture in exactly the same way as are films and television programs. Perception of this reality is always
mediated through the codes with which our culture organizes it, categorizes its significant elements into
paradigms, and relates them significantly into syntagms."
According to semiotic theory, signs are everywhere and everything is a sign -- words, images, sounds, and
absence of them -- in short, anything from which some meaning(s) may be generated. The SemioticsMachine is constantly working in our brains. We need to have meaning so bad and we give our "reading" to
everything we see. Consider the phrase "Do you know what I mean?" This phrase is posted on everything
around you. We seek to answer that question the moment we see some thing… any thing, in fact.
When working with semiotics, there are three main components to remember: The (1)sign is composed of a
(2)signifier -- the material form of the sign -- and (3)the signified -- the concept it represents.
Consider this:
Sign -- The written word STOP
Signifier(s) -- The letters S-T-O-P, the red octagon
Signified concept -- The motion category "stop"
There are Three Categories of Signs
1. Iconic -- a sign which resembles the signified (portrait, photo, diagram, map)
2. Symbolic -- a sign which does not resemble the signified but which is purely conventional (the word stop,
a red traffic light, or a national flag)
3. Indexical -- a sign which is inherently connected in some way (existentially or causally) to the signified
(e.g. smoke signifies fire; and all the little symbols you see on web pages -- mailboxes, envelopes, arrows).
At first glance, every cinematic image seems to be an iconic sign. Since there is no learning of conventional
connections between the sign and signified involved, we recognize screen images in every culture.
Fundamentally, film is an "international" language. You see a close-up; you RECOGNIZE it again on screen
as a sign of the same character. You don't have to know or remember the names! All you need is a
recollection of previous experience.
However, we know that film as language is much more complex than this. Montage theory, for instance, has
taught us that any given shot has the capacity to mean much more than what it tells us on an iconic level. The
central premise of semiotics is that the “richer” the sign, the more “significant” the sign. Semiotic theory
encourages us to consider the extent to which any shot coveys meaning beyond the iconic “level”. That is,
semiotics asks us to interpret film as a series of signs that convey meaning also on symbolic and indexical
levels. To do this, we need understand the language of semiotics.
Sign Making and Sign Reading
The process of making and reading signs in order to convey and derive meaning is very dynamic. Think of
signs as existing on a two dimensional plane. On one plane or axis one could evaluate the concept of the
“cultural” or “learned” accessibility of signs. For instance, evaluate the accessibility of meaning of a low
angle medium close-up of a very large, bald, black man. On the other plane one could evaluate the concept of
contextual dependence (the degree to which a sign’s meaning depends upon the broader context in which it is
seen) of signs. For example, a Chevy truck commercial which is designed to sell merchandise by appealing
to an American football fan’s sense of patriotism (eagles, flags, slo-mo shots of ruggedly independent white
men) depends very little on the context (narrative) of the ad to convey meaning. By contrast, the recurring
use (motif) of water imagery in a feature film may be completely dependent on context of the film’s narrative
to carry any meaning at all.
Paradigms and Syntagms – Classifications and Chains
A paradigm is a classification of signs. A paradigm is a set of associated signs which are all members of
some defining category, but in which each sign is significantly different. The vocabulary of a language is one
paradigm, and there are grammatical paradigms such as verbs or nouns. Film paradigms include ways of
shooting or changing shots (CU, MCU, LS, ELS, cut, fade, dissolve and wipe). The conventions used by a
particular medium are also paradigmatic – they derive meaning from the ways in which they differ from the
conventions used by other media. Hence, the signifier could remain the same, but the sign itself is altered by
a change of its context.
A syntagm is an order of interacting signs which forms a meaningful whole or chain. Such combinations are
made within a framework of rules and conventions. In English, a sentence, for instance, is a syntagm of
words. Syntagms are created by the choice of paradigms from those which are conventionally regarded as
appropriate or which may be required by some rule system (e.g. grammar).
Consider the following passage:
It was an exceedingly bleak night. The wind howled like a mad wolf. My eyes, as wide a moon shone pools of
alabaster, darted about in my head like guns on a turret. My quaking hands, like unfriendly kin, fumbled
reluctantly as I tried like a drunken vagabond to light the unaccommodating candle.
What paradigms have been employed to write this passage?
 The vocabulary of the English language;
 The sub category of the parts of speech common to English;
 The catalogue of literary devices common to writers of English.
Based on the passage, comment on the syntagmatic style of the writer.
In film, our analysis of a particular shot is paradigmatic when we compare it (not necessarily consciously)
with the use of a viable alternative kind of shot. It is syntagmatic when we compare the shot with those that
precede or follow it. Montage is a basic element of syntagmatic dimension.
A syntagmatic analysis of a media text involves studying it as a narrative sequence. A syntagmatic analysis
would involve an analysis of how each shot, scene or sequence relates to the others.
Metaphor and Metonymy
Metaphor expresses the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar. The sign and the signified are normally unrelated:
we must make an imaginative leap to understand a metaphor -- the visual language works metaphorically so
well because each time it's a new metaphor.
Metonymy involves the invocation of an idea or object through the use of an associated detail (so 'the crown'
invokes the notion of monarchy). Metonymy is based on contiguity: it does not require transposition (an
imaginative leap). Any attempt to represent reality can be seen as involving metonymy, since it can only
involve selection (and yet such selections serve to guide us in envisaging larger frameworks).
Codes and Ideology
In each text signs are organized into meaningful systems according to certain conventions which
semioticians refer to as codes (or signifying codes). Such conventions represent a social dimension in
semiotics: a code is a set of practices familiar to users of the medium operating within a broad cultural
framework. Understanding such codes is part of what it means to be a member of a particular culture. These
conventions are typically inexplicit, and we are not normally conscious of the roles which they play.
Codes are not static, but dynamic systems which change over time, and are thus historically as well as socioculturally situated. The way in which such conventions are established is called codification.
Broadcast Codes & Narrowcast Codes
A broadcast code is shared by member of a mass audience; a narrowcast code is aimed at a more limited
audience: Narrowcast codes have acquired the function in our mass society of stressing the difference
between "us" (the users of the code) and "them" (the laymen, the lowbrows). Broadcast codes stress the
similarities amongst "us" (the majority)'. Narrowcast codes have the potential to be more subtle; broadcast
codes can lead to cliche.
Cinematic codes include genre, camerawork, editing, lighting, color and framing and authorial style.
Tasks
1. Consider the codes common to each of the following genres: western, horror, science fiction.
2. Watch any feature film for 30 minutes at 2 times regular speed. What do you notice about the patterns of
camera work, editing, lighting and colour?
3. Think about your favourite film maker. If you watched several of his/her films at 2 times regular speed
what patterns might you see in terms of camera work, editing, lighting and colour?
4. Watch the slow motion low angle tilt shot of Kenny raising the dead rat in Lynn Ramsay’s Ratcatcher.
Consider the shot as a sign. How has Ramsay used the rat as a metonym? How is the shot metaphorical?
How is the shot’s metaphorical value dependent upon context? In answering these questions, think about
which address paradigmatic issues and which address syntagmatic issues?
Key Terms
Broadcast Codes, Narrowcast Codes, Metaphor, Metonymy, Paradigms, Syntagms, Iconic Codes, Symbolic
Codes, Indexical Codes, Sign, Signifier, Signified, Semiotic Theory.