CCT210 - Signs, Referents, and Meaning

Nike Just Do it Commercial (I’m Not a Soldier) Various signs used to portray a message: images, texts, music Use of semiotics to sell their products Also the use of famous figures and athletes such as Michael Jordan Signs are indirect everywhere in movies, video games, commercials (Ex. If you buy running shoes, you will run this way). Thus, there is indirect use of signs to sell the product Signifier in the Nike ad includes a flower blooming, which signifies development Another signifier is n

Denotation and Connotation All images have two levels of meaning Roland Barthes describes them as denotative and connotative Denotative: Denotation tends to be described as the definitional, ‘literal’, ‘obvious’ or commonsense meaning of a sign. It is relatively self-contained Connotative: The term connotation is used to refer to cultural, and historical, and personal association of the sign allowing us to expand application of signs creatively. Codes ti which have access are also used in connot

Codes The meaning of a sign depends on the code within which it is situated Codes provide a framework within which signs make sense Codes can be cultural, religious, gestures (Ex. Rolling your eyes, raising hands), smell, pitch in voice, clothing, appearance. Codes that we agree to as a culture There are dress codes as well. The way we dress marks as a social background. Judgements in society can be based on the way someone is dressed (Ex. Men dressed as punk or men dressed formally indicating a

Modality and Realism Modality: The reality status claimed or according to a sign, text, genre Modality Judgement: Making sense of the text we see. We make a modality judgement of the text we are looking at (Ex. That seems real, that I don’t believe). We perceive some things as being more realistic than others Things do not exist independently of the sign systems which we use. Reality is created by the media seem simple to represent it. All media texts are REPRESENTED (Ex. Someone takes a news s

Newspaper Syntext: A text that imparts the illusion of connectivity among what would otherwise be perceived as fragmented random texts by simply synthesizing them in an organized fashion. It’s this text that provides an illusion where things are uniquely connected to other things, where we read them as unique texts At the level of the signifier, newspapers are perceptibly different The Toronto Sun vs. The Globe and Mail: The Toronto Sun provides various news that is different. But using syntext,

TV as a Social Text Television can be characterized as a social text, that is, an overarching representation that guides and informs the wider society on issues of current concern TV has an impact on people’s behaviour, just like other media. Television mainly reinforces already established lifestyles and ideologies. It is rarely innovative However, it can be a doubled bind, where it can provide social change (Ex. War images on TV that led to huge riots to stop the Vietnam War) It functions as a

Power of Movies Film at the level of signifier is chain of images only. We read films at the level of the signified. How those chain of images affect us, mean to us DVDs, VHS, home theatre The Rise of Blockbusters: People not going out to movies because movies became available at DVDs, VHS. However, the attendance of going to a movie theatre to watch a movie has not dropped. Because watching it in a theatre is a spectacle. People like to watch movies before it comes out on DVD Going to a movie i

Summary Advertising is the most widespread mode of communication Does an advertiser shape us or do we shape advertisement? Some argue that advertisement displays already accepted social values Basic advertisement has been around since ancient Rome With electricity, advertisement changed with illumination of billboards, hear them through radio, television sets Trends in Advertising 19th century and earlier, advertisements consisted of literal descriptions of products Late 19th to early 20th cen

Convergence and Constant Exposure to Cyberspace Internet and computers have become embedded in our lives. They are more than what they were designed for Disembodiment: The body and the mind are not a separate identity, since they are connected together. However, virtual reality crates disembodiment, by separating the body and the mind. There is no more care or fear for the human body for the virtual world. You are interacting with representations Cartesian Dualism: Once we get into cyberspace, t