Vehicle Strand
Interpreting Media
Introduction
 media as vehicles/channels
 meaning in media messages
 using semiotics
Matrix (1999)
Part 2
Branston & Stafford
 semiotics (sign, signifier,
signified, and difference)
 structuralism
(binary oppositions, e.g. Titanic)
 denotation and connotation
 codes (shared meanings)
We will discuss these further on the
Forum
Session Objectives
 the essential basis of semiotics
 practice with example: The Matrix
 key terms:
sign, signifier, signified, signification,
semiotics, paradigm, syntagm
Key theorists
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)
 French linguist
 Study of language as a
system of ‘codes’.
Roland Barthes (1915-1980)
 French literary theorist
 Applied semiotic analysis
to media texts
Saussure:
Sign = signifier + signified
Signifier = words written down,
gestures, colours
Signified = idea or meaning
associated with the words, gestures,
colours.
Essence of Semiotics
 meaning is difference…
Example:
Himba tribe from Northern Namibia
 Horizon, Do you see what I see?
8th August 2011
http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=30670
Ochre as body decoration = sign
Names of colours = sign
Meaning is difference…
Semiotics and Signs
 semiotics = the study of signs
 sign = anything that conveys meaning
 e.g. Neo’s finger…
Signs
Signifier = finger gesture
Signified = cultural meaning
Finger = sign, conveying a meaning
 anything can become a sign
 cultural understanding
 so how do signs convey meanings…?
Differences
 differences between signs
make meaning possible
 meaning depends on what a sign isn’t
 two semiotic terms:
paradigms and syntagms…
Paradigm
 a set of signs that go together
e.g. all possible starters in a meal:
samosa, soup, fruit salad, etc
e.g. all main courses: vegetable
curry, spaghetti, stew, etc
e.g. all desserts: sorbet, sponge
pudding, fruit salad, etc
Matrix example…
Paradigms in The Matrix
 interrogation scene:
e.g. all possible lead actors:
Keanu Reeves, Will Smith,
Angelina Jolie, etc
e.g. all possible costumes:
suits, jeans, floral dresses
e.g. all possible sets: bare room,
shopping mall, Eiffel Tower
Syntagm
 a combination of particular signs
 each drawn from a paradigm
e.g. samosa + veg. curry + sorbet
e.g. fruit salad + spaghetti + sorbet
Syntagm in The Matrix
 the scene as a whole is a syntagm
 Keanu + suits + bare room
Meaning
 the meaning of a sign depends on:
 its selection from a paradigm
 its combination within a syntagm
 the meaning of a sign depends on:
 all the signs which weren’t selected
 all the combinations not made
Matrix example…
The Meaning of The Matrix
 interrogation scene (syntagm):
 Keanu (not Will or Angelina) +
 suits (not jeans or dresses) +
 white room (not shop or Eiffel Tower)
 different choices = different meaning
 different combination = diff. meaning
 meaning is generated by differences
Any Questions?
Exercise
In your 2 minute presentation:
 explain which scene you are rewriting
 explain which element in the scene
you are changing
 explain how this change alters the
meaning of the whole scene
Try also to point out:
 from which paradigm you have made
a new selection
 what the syntagm is here
Semiotics and Meaning
 behind every choice are all the
choices you didn’t make
 the meaning of a message
(syntagm) depends on how it differs
from all others
Any Questions?
Environment Strand
Visual and Acoustic Space
Introduction
 McLuhan on writing and printing
 two media which create new
environments
 key terms:
visual space, acoustic space
McLuhan on Writing
 invention of writing changes
culture, society and individuals
 creates a new environment
 move us from acoustic space
to visual space
Visual Space
 the stuff around objects
 eye focuses on objects:
abstracts object from surroundings
 space is what is between objects
Acoustic Space
 how can you have acoustic space?
 consider hearing…
 we are immersed in sound:
“We cannot bid the ear be still”
 attention/focus unimportant
 orientation unimportant
 demonstration…
What is Acoustic Space?
 a way of thinking about how we
exist in the world
 not in visual but acoustic space
 acoustic space is:
immersive
inclusive
interactive
instantaneous
Immersive & Inclusive
 immersive:
all around us, perceive it all
 inclusive:
you’re open to everything
you’re connected to everything
no boundaries, undefined, unified
 interactive and instantaneous…
Early Acoustic Space
 before writing everyone exists
in acoustic space
 focus is on hearing not sight
 listen, interact, converse (no reading)
 interactive and instantaneous
Writing and Visual Space
 arrival of writing (4th millennium BC):
shift to seeing instead of listening
 solitary reading possible
 we begin to think more visually
 move into visual space
Printing
 200AD
 intensifies this tendency
 handwriting = personal
 printed book = uniform text,
unknown reader
 less personal, interactive
Evaluation
 McLuhan isn’t judging:
just different environments
 writing and printing encourage
individualism, segmentation
 society, i.e. the environment,
changes
Any Questions?
Electronic Media
 acoustic space emphasises:
immersive, inclusive,
interactive, instantaneous
 visual space emphasises:
distance, fragmentation,
isolation, delay
 electronic media:
a return to acoustic space…
Telephone, Radio, Television
 telephone = acoustic, interaction
 radio = acoustic
 television = simultaneous broadcast
 cyberspace…
Cyberspace
 online technologies:
email
 instant messenger
 chat rooms and forums
 blogs and websites
 social networking e.g. facebook,
tumblr, twitter
 written but still have acoustic
qualities…
Cyberspace
 interactive & instantaneous:
Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat
(even websites, email & forums)
 immersive & inclusive:
all web-pages connected (hypertext)
‘worldwide web’
Essence of Cyberspace
 is the internet fundamentally
acoustic in nature?
 websites aren’t text but data
 this can be read or spoken…
Essence of Cyberspace
 Speech recognition applications
e.g. Iphone voice control
 Video conferencing; Skype
Summary
 writing and print shift us from
acoustic to visual space
 acoustic space: immersive,
inclusive, interactive, instantaneous
 visual space: distance, fragmentation,
isolation, delay
 society and individuals
segment and separate
 electronic communication:
a return to acoustic space
Any Questions?
Module Forum
 key themes:
sign, semiotics, paradigm, syntagm
acoustic space, visual space
 reply, or start a new topic
Module Forum
Remember:
 to post 10 or more comments in
sessions: Media, Matrix and McLuhan.
 comments in Miscellaneous will not be
counted in the assessment.
 comments must be written over
several weeks
Module Forum
Assessment:
 engage with theory
 apply theory and ideas to your own
media examples
 interact with others’ posts
Before Next Week
 read Ch. 3 of Branston & Stafford on
‘‘Genres’ and Other Classifications’
 register and post on the Module
Forum