Semiotics: Analysis Of Movie Posters

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols, all posters use semiotics to communicate with the public and their audiences. Communication is composed of three aspects “Sender” (someone who is trying to address a message or initiate communication), the “message” (the subject of communication; what the sender is communicating to others) and “receiver” (the person who accepts the message and interprets what is being communicated).  For example Movie posters use a set of imagery and symbols known as paradigm to convey the message of their film to the audiences. Signs all have different connotations, the connotation is the implied meaning behind the sign collectively a set of signs are more commonly known as a “syntagm” connotations of signs can vary between cultures. Movie posters use signs to create a syntagm for their movie, movie posters use more closed text compared to more open text posters; the term “open and closed text” was coined by Umberto Eco, open text leave more to the receivers imagination these are more abstract texts and can be interpreted in multiple ways unlike closed texts that have only one message.    

Multiple signs and symbols can be found in movie posters we use these interpret the genre and the style of the movie. This movie poster has:

A young girl, connotations of this can be youth, purity and peace.

A Dead tree which has connotations of death, decay, neglect.

Night time setting which signifies horror, fear, lost, absence.

Gothic stoneworking usually has connotations of the horror genre.

   

The poster’s use of signs creates an idea of its message for example  little girl leads us to believe that this movie is a children’s film due to its associations with purity and vulnerability however her positioning in the poster hints us to believe she is lost or she is somewhere she shouldn’t be. The scenery reinforces this idea the dead trees and dark weather links to a horror genre or a place that has connotations of unhappiness and dismay. The lighting in the middle of the poster is seen to be enticing and alluring however due to the message given off from the scenery it leads us to believe that danger is lurking, the message of the poster can be signified as a horror or dark film.   

Selfies

Selfie is the term given to a self-portrait photo taken on a mobile phone of one’s self. Selfies have become more mainstream in the last 5 years as the modernization of mobile phone technology has skyrocketed. Millions of selfies have been uploaded to online social media, the internet and mobile social apps. Selfies have become a craze and have each have their own category some such as: Car selfie, "just woke up" selfie, Duck face selfie, Gym selfie, etc... The purpose of a selfie from the senders perspective is to depict them self in a desirable manner, this could be through jealously, wealth or attractiveness. The sender most commonly depicts their most cynical identity this is to promote themselves to friends or even strangers, the sender tends to use their most cynical personality 'whether this is a photo where they look most attractive compared to previous photos' to boost their own self esteem. This is usually to appeal to what we deem as socially desirable or attractive. Boosting their self-esteem makes them feel happier about themselves as a person and they will also tend to seek reassurance of this message from others, most likely through comments or feedback on their selfies. The message the sender is trying to send is usually one of envy, selfies tend to have the effect of envy on the receiver who views it. However what they are viewing isn't always a true representation of the senders’ true identity,        

Top 15 Selfies

http://uk.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/10/the-15-types-of-selfies/   

Women in media

Objectification of women in media

The media’s representation of women in our modern patriarchal society constantly objectives and extorts the female image for advertising gains and to increase the popularity for branded items and products. 

The use of women as a method of increasing marketing and sales for production is used in excess, especially in cultures such as the western world (America and Europe). One of the main purposes of the objectification of women in advertising is too sell sex as a means of marketing; appealing to the male populations the female body image is constantly being exaggerated and sold as objects of sexual desire to boost sales. For example REDTAPE (a male footwear label) has used this method of objectifying women to portray females as something male populations can “own” when wearing their footwear, comparing women too objects of possession that a man can simply buy from a vending machine when they please too “live their fantasy”. 

The extortion of women isn't just in advertising retail; the use of women as objects of sexual desire is in use in all over media such as: movies, sporting and especially music videos.

Music videos for decades have used the female body to increase viewership and appeal to male audiences. Among hundreds of examples one most recognized Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” the video has caused controversy as it plainly demonstrates the sexism in the music industry. Women are depicted with minimal to nothing clothing dancing around an arrogant shaded male “artist”, with using lyrics that focus on the sexual exploitation of women for album sales it is a key example of how the media is guilty of undermining the female race as 2^nd class compared to men.

A major problem that faces our western culture is the impact of the objectification of women on our children and females who grow up and feel the need to compare themselves to the women that are presented in our media. The self-esteem can be hindered as trying to replicate this ideal body image and behaviour of an exaggerated role model to fit what we deem as culturally attractive can cause lasting emotional distress on younger generations.  Barbie is considered  the most well-known plastic doll for girls since the early 50’s even dolls that children play with represent an unrealistic image of the female body and is even considered as sexualized this just as the media does can have a negative impression on girls and represent a false representation of sexual attractiveness.    

  

Links to representation of women in media:(Blurred Lines, REDTAPE, barbie) 

http://defpenradio.com/wp-content//2013/06/robin.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VINfi_zGKG8/U2u52eP4x0I/AAAAAAAAAAg/aN-NVx4l7lI/s1600/women+for+sale.png

http://queensuopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/barbie2.jpg?w=500