Semiotic Analysis

Semiotics

Sign (Something agreed by a social consensus) - Signifier Signified - Denotation Connotation Myth.

How meaning is created, the structure of meaning.

Codes - This is England

We got into a group and read an article on Semiotics whereby we read a section on Codes. We then interpreted what we felt the article was saying about Codes, what they are and their purpose. From this we discussed together our own interpretations and came up with ideas that we felt Codes would be shown through images. We then took these ideas and applied them to an image/illustration/advert/TV clip.

From the article my understanding was based on these key quotes 'a set of basic ingredients or directions for making representations of something.' 'Organisational systems or grids for the reoccurring elements that go into the constitution of anything humans make - signs, spectacles, behaviours.' I liked the idea of it being like a recipe, something imbedded into us without us even realizing forcing us to make our own analysis. A set of directions that are converted into another form. With reference to 'Superman' in the article it gave me a better understanding of how codes make things recognizable due to predictable aspects included. For example Superman will be recognizable for his costume, the Superman sign would be recognizable in any media, in any form because this is a code. The Superman character and his love for Lois Lane would be recognizable in any way that it was illustrated.

I came up with the idea of using 'This is England' as an example of using codes because it has so many stereotypes and signs within it that we recognize as England. However, this may not a true interpretation of England at that time but it gives us a sense of the people united and their anger at society and politics by their facial expressions. Their clothing, the skin-head culture and the England flag all included as codes to embed this idea into us. Our group also suggested that codes are popularly illustrated in fairytales such as Cinderella. Aspects of the story that would be recognizable in any media, for example Cinderella with the glass slipper.