Semiotics

Semiotics - This is known as the study of signs and sign systems - the social production of meaning by sign systems, how things come to have significance and meaning.

Signifier + signified = sign

There are two parts of a sign:

• Signifier: Ant symbol, image, or word that can be seen or read. 
• Signified: The particular meaning or meanings of the signifier in a particular context or situation.

There are three types of a signifier:

• Iconic: These signifiers always resemble what they signify - 'a window on the world'.
• Indexical: These signifiers act as evidence - Smoke means fire, sweat is proof of effort etc. 
• Symbolic: These are the visual signs that are arbitrarily linked to referents. The diamond hats of monarchs, crowns, symbolise monarchy. 

Denotation: signs signify or 'denote' different aspects of our experience of the world. They are the work of that part of the sign (the signifier), which is immediately recognisable to the reader and which has a direct relationship to a real world entity or referent. The colour red for example we know as a colour in the light spectrum, different from blue or pink.

Connotation: These are the meanings interpreted from a sign, which link other values to it. For example: the colour red brings up notions of love, blood, stop signs, danger, hot, roses etc.

Semiotic terms:

• Binary oppositions: sets of opposite values said to reveal the structure of media texts. These define through their opposite and chose a lesser and greater position. E.g: man/women, weak/strong.  
• Conventions: 'un-written rules' in the production of mainstream texts. Conventions are the dominants codings in any media. 
• Anchoring: written text used to control or select a specific reading of an image. 
• Mise-en-scene: literally 'putting together the scene' how we read the actions of the creative personnel in a film crew who visualise. Everything on screen.
• Mode of address: How a text 'speaks' to its audience. How the audience is positioned in relation to text.  
• Polysemic: literally 'many signed' an image in which there are several possible meanings depending on the ways in which its constituent signs are read. 
• Metonemy: literally 'substitute naming' possible meanings depending on the ways in which its constituent signs are read. 
• Index: Measures a quality not because it is identical to it but has an inherent relationship to it. 
• Symbol: an arbitrary sign in which the signifier has neither a direct nor an indexical relationship to the signified, but rather represents it through conventions.  
• Synecdoche: The idea that 'part' of a person, an object, a machine, etc can be used to represent the 'whole', and work as an emotive or suggestive shorthand for the viewer, who invests the 'part' with symbolic associations.
• Icon: A sign in which the signifer represents the signified mainly by its similarity to it, its likeness.  

Film distribution

Film distribution from isabelle humm

Hustle - Representation of gender essay

  

The clip starts off with a fairly old woman looking at some dress in the shop. David Walliams approaches her and asks her what she is looking for. When talking, Williams is seen as having a higher status compared to her and they have used a high angle shot so we look down on the older women. The use of the high angle shot forces the audience to look down on her, even though we do not as we feel sympathy for her. Also, this builds the initial sense that she is inferior and the shop if too expensive and upmarket for her. Already the clip has proved how men are above women, as we see the older lady being inferior to Walliams. Furthermore, when Walliams mentioned the price of the dress to the older women, another woman who entered the shop at the starts looks up. This implies that she is intrigued by the cost of the dress (£700), which could imply that she is only interested in money and that she is a gold digger. In contrast to this first scene, the next scene shows two men sitting at a bar. Here we can see that they are at equal height to each other which suggests how all men are at an equal status no matter what. Also in terms of editing it lacks a shot reverse shot which is generally used when two people have different opinions on something, but they have not used this because they have similar opinions as they are both men. As well as this they are both smoking and drinking which is generally shown as a manly thing in TV dramas.

Following the scene with the older lady, once Walliams finished speaking to her he noticed another lady in the shop. She is wearing very smart clothes and what looks like expensive jewellery. We can instantly see that he came over to her due to her expensive taste. This implies that he is only interested with people who can spend money in his store. The next shot is a two shot of Walliams and the lady trying on the dress. She asks how expensive it is and she says its £3000. The use of dialogue between them makes her seem like she is teasing with him and is trying to be sexual. During this scene, we can hear upbeat classy non-diegetic music playing in the background, which implies an upper-class atmosphere.

We are then brought to the next scene which I talked about in the first paragraph. Two men are sitting at a bar smoking and drinking alcohol. They both have an equal status as they are both shown at an equal height. Also between this scene and other various scenes the director has used non-diegetic sound to introduce different scenes. A swoosh sound has been used which gives the TV drama a comedic feel. Moreover, the next scene has brought us back to the shop again, but this time it has a completely different feel. Instead of upbeat classy music, we have upbeat manic jazz music, (both are non-diegetic). The style of music has changed because the lady has lost her ring, and she frantically runs around the room trying to find it. The director has purposely used a handheld camera for this section as it makes the scene seem more frantic and crazy. The music suddenly stops when Walliams suggests an idea, and as soon as that happens the music stopped with the sound of a deck spin at the end of it. All you can hear is both characters talking for a few seconds and then the manic music starts of again. We then get a mdi shot of Walliams and at this point he finds out that if he finds the ring he will be given £5000, and as soon as money is involved his mood instantly changes and he is suddenly trying hard to find the ring. This tells us like before that he is only interested in money. The younger lady talks to Walliams and as she does the camera zooms into her face. The camera stops zooming in and she talks directly to the camera, by saying ‘’I’m sure I can’’ (trust him).  She says this in quite a sarcastic way which tells us that she is up to something, and that she knows something that Walliams and the audience do not. This implies that the TV drama is saying the women are sneaky and secretive. As well as that it implies how a women uses her dependency on a man to get what she wants. She seems to play this damsel in distress character which is counter typical as she is subconsciously more powerful and dominant than Walliams.

The next scene starts off with a non-diegetic swoosh sound. As I mentioned before they put this sound at the starts of certain scenes. We then see a man trying to turn off an alarm by fiddling with the wires. He sets the alarm off and straight away the camera zooms into his face which expresses his frustration for setting of the alarm. This scene could imply that men get easily frustrated and annoyed. Non-diegetic sound is used again as we hear the swoosh as the scene changes. We are now back at the shop and Walliams is trying to find the ring. The camera pans to him searching on the floor and looking under dresses. A man then approaches Walliams and the camera follow him up from his feet to his face. Instantly we can see that this man will be have a higher status compared to Walliams because he is above him. As well as that is can imply that for women to complete their plan, they need a man to help which emphasises a woman’s dependency on a man. In addition, as soon as we see this man’s face we notice that he has his top button unbuttoned and he is also chewing gum. This connotes that he is at a higher status than Walliams because he seems more calm and cool about the situation. Also, this scene contrasts with the other scene with two men, as in this scene one is above the other (status wise), and in the other scene they both have an equal status.

The scene changes again back to the men sitting at the bar, but this time it shows an establishing shot. The scene tells us that men are represented as smoking and drinking alcohol while having important conversations. At the same time the upbeat jazz music is playing in the background as non-diegetic music. This only lasts for a few seconds until it changes back to the shop scene. Back in the shop we noticed that this whole losing the ring problem is just a scam to get money. I knew this, because the man had the ring and he pretended to find it. This shows how men can be deceiving just as well as women. Further on in the scene the dialogue is used effectively, because the man already knew what Walliams was going to say. What I mean is that the man gave Walliams a decision and he then walked away. As he walked away he started to countdown and when he got to one Walliams changed his mind. At the same time as him counting down the director zoomed the camera into his face, and when Walliams spoke he looked into the camera and smiled, which implies how he was not surprised Walliams changed his mind.

The last scene started off with a pan of the man walking into a café. We see the lady notice that she has different coloured hair, (as she wore a wig). We now defiantly know that it was all a scam. We then have a shot reverse shot of the two characters where they discuss how much money they got.

Merlin - Representation of class and status essay

The scene starts off with an establishing shot of Merlin walking along a hallway. The camera has been placed side on and pans across the hallway. The use of this is so people can get an idea of where the scene is set. Juts from looking at the shot we can already establish that he is in a castle which implies high status, but due to his clothes he seems as if he may be a servant of some sort. Due to editing the shot changed to Merlin walking into a room. We then have a pan of the room, which you could also say is an establishing shot, because it tells the audience where he is. We then have a mid-shot of Merlin placing a small jar of the desk. The director has zoomed into a closer shot of the jar which implies that it has some significance to the scene. The same thing has been done for other objects in the scene. Merlin picked it up and the director has zoomed into a close-up of the object. This happened for a book and straw doll. We can tell that Merlin is suspicious by these objects because of the way he picked them up and looked at them. A medium/long shot of a lady is shown when she enters the room. We can imply that Merlin is not meant to be in that room and looking at the object by the way she is looking and speaking to him. The use of dialogue between them shows us that Merlin is a lower class compared to her because she asks ‘’what are you doing’’. Also, eye-line match has been used in this scene. What I mean is that the camera is facing the lady and was then changed by the director of her the mirror. This was only a small glimpse of a shot, but when we saw it the lady is not who we think she is. She is wearing cheap clothes and looks like a witch. The use of special effects tells us she is in disguise and trying to hide from someone or something. Throughout this whole scene non-diegetic sound was used and this helped give the scene more tension between the characters.

The next scene starts off with another establishing shot of Merlin. He is walking down some stairs outside. Due to this establishing shot we can now see what the area is like outside the castle. We can tell that all the lower class and poor people live outside the castle. This was the typical thing in that time. The director then cut the scene to the next one which is of Merlin and Arthur. A shot reverse shot was used between them both when they were talking. The director has used a range of close ups, and over the shoulder shots when they speak. Through dialogue and mise-en-scene we can tell that Arthur is at a higher class compared to Merlin. I know this because firstly by what they are wearing. Arthur is wearing silver plated armour, whereas Merlin is wearing some old cheap clothes. This implies Arthur must live in that castle and Merlin works there. And secondly how they speak to each other. Merlin calls Arthur a prat, and Arthur mentions how he should not speak to him like that. That shows how Arthur has authority over Merlin. But Merlin is not afraid of what might happen to him is he messes with Arthur, because afterwards he tried to be funny by says 'how to be part, my lord'. This shows how Merlin is not scared of Arthur and his authority. Also during the conversation we hear diegetic sound from the characters in the background. We hear people mumbling and talking about what they both said to each other. Before Merlin calls Arthur a prat, Arthur throws Merlin a mace. Merlin does not catch the mace, and as it falls to the floor the camera follows it. This emphasises on how Merlin is not ready to fight, and is not as well trained as Arthur. They both then have their conversation and the fight starts. As soon as the fight starts, non-diegetic music starts to play in the background. I would describe this music as medieval and heroic. This type of music best suits this scene as the episode is set in medieval times. During their fight, the director has chosen to use an aerial shot, which gives us a high view of the fight. The camera then cuts to Merlin getting his mace caught in a bunch of different objects, which shows that he is not fighting material. Furthermore, within this scene we get a slow motion of Arthur hitting an object. They have used a slow motion to emphasise how the mace almost hit Merlin and how he is not safe.

While both Merlin and Arthur are fighting the scene cuts to a new setting. We see and older man, (who I think is Merlin's friend) walk towards a window and look out at it. We then see both of them fighting. The director has used an eyeline match, and i know this because we see the older man looking out the window and then we see what he sees because the camera changes to us looking out the window, Doing this implies that he has something to say about this and also that he is an important part to the scene. After that the director then changed the scene back to Merlin and Arthur fighting. Like before we get another slow motion, but this time it is of Arthur smashing his mace into some a piece of fruit. They have used slow motion to emphasise what will happen to someone if they get hit by this mace. It also links to Arthur's authority as he is the one who smashed the fruit, which implies how he is highly trained to kill. And only royals were highly trained in those times. Both characters carry on their fight by making their way into an inside part of all the markets. Merlin falls onto bags of straw or food, and this is when we find out Merlin has magical powers. Once he fell the camera cut to a shot of Merlin looking at some metal bars, (the camera has been placed to face Merlin). A pull focus has been used for this part. What I mean is that the focus was on Merlin, but then it changed to the metal bars being in focus and Merlin not. This shows how Merlin has come up with an idea. Then the director has cut to a zoomed in close up of Merlin's eye, and here we see Merlin's eye changed colour. This shows that Merlin has just used his magical powers to try beat Arthur. The director has used special effects in order for Merlin's eye to change colour. Seeing this slightly changes the hierarchy, because Merlin has powers that no one else has. I think that due to his powers Merlin would be higher up on the hierarchy, however this is not possible because no one knows he has powers, (except from his old friend). During this whole scene it looks like they have used a steadicam. I think this because some shots seem like they would need to be created by using a steadicam. Moreover, we then see Merlin use his magical powers again. The camera uses an eyeline match to show what Merlin is looking at. Merlin looks at a wooden box and then Arthur hits his leg on that wooden box. This happens again but with some rope. Merlin looks at some rope and we see the rope magically move by itself. Like before they used special effects in order to do so. The rope is pulled tight and Arthur falls over. By this part in the scene the hierarchy as completely changed. Arthur is no longer at the top as Merlin is. This is shown literally in the scene as Arthur is below him on the floor. However this completely changes and Arthur fights back and Merlin falls to the ground. This has again changed the hierarchy back to what is was before. When Arthur hits him, the hits match the beat of the non-diegetic music. This emphasises how Merlin has been beat, and that if your are poor you will never be at the top the hierarchy.  

The fight was now over and the scene was cut to a new scene. Merlin and his friend walk into the room where they live. There is a possibility that the camera might be on a dolly as it is pulled back when both characters walked in. They have done this so they can keep the size of the frame the same between the two characters. A shot reverse shot was then used when they both talk. The director has used over shoulder shots and medium close ups in the shot reverse shot. The dialogue between Merlin and his friend is quite significant, because Merlin mentions how he is nothing without his magical powers. This makes us sympathise with Merlin. Moreover, watching this clip i would say that Merlin was the protagonist and Arthur was the antagonist. I think this because compared to Merlin, Arthur has everything and Merlin has almost nothing, which makes us feel sympathy for Merlin and which makes u think we want him to win and beat Arthur.

Representatiob video - Hustle

Editing vocabulary

Action match: A shot that cuts to another continuing a piece of action or movement between the shots.

Continuity editing: An editing style that aims to present the text in chronological order to emphasize the real-time movement of the narrative and to create a seance of realism for the viewer by giving the impression of continuous filming.

Cross cutting (also known as parallel editing): When an editor cuts between two separate scenes happening in two separate locations at the same time, The narrative technique of showing two ro more scenes happening at the same time by cutting between them.

Cutaway: A brief shot that is not totally necessary but is cut into a scene to show a related action, object or person, not necessarily part of the main scene, before cutting back to the original shot.

Dissolve: When the first shot is on the screen and the second shot starts appearing on top of it more and more until all you can see if the second shot.

Ellipsis: The removal or shortening of elements of a narrative to speed up the action, (e.g. an editor might use ellipsis on a sequence about a young man taking a drink by cutting straight to him as an old man, drunk and alone).

Eyeline match: A type of editing that maintains the eyeline or level when cutting from a character to what the character sees.

Fade: A type of moving image editing where the image gradually fades and disappears, leaving a white black screen.

Graphic match: A cut from one shot to another that look visually the same. This could be possibly linked by a similar shape or colour etc.

Jump cuts: A cut that moves to a very similar part of the same scene but missing a piece of action out.

Linear narrative: A sequential narrative with a beginning, middle and an end in that order.

Long take: Each time a shot is recorded it is called a take. A long take is one that is allowed to remain on screen for long periods of time.

Montage: This is a series of shots edited together to show time passing and something happening in that time.

Short take: A short take is allowed to remain on screen fro a short time before the editor cuts it to something else.

Shot/Reverse shot: cutting between two people having a conversation can help contrast them and make the seem different.

Slow motion: When the action is slowed down.

Split screen: the cinema screen being split into two or more parts to allow the showing of events that are taking place at the same time.

Superimpose: The appearance of writing/symbols or images on top of an image so that both are visible at once, increasing the amount of information the viewer has in one shot.

Visual effects: Often it depends on what the characters reactions to those special effects are. For example: a man who has no reaction to an explosion will seem brave and masculine.

Wipe: A moving image editing technique that involves one image wiping another off the screen.

Camera vocabulary

Aerial shot (crane): A view from directly up ahead to give a clear view. ( a shot which involves a camera being lifted on a crane to get a higher shot).

Canted angle: A shot which is tilted to one side.

Crab shot: A type of shot that involves it being put into a small space. (e.g. placed in cupboard).

Deep focus: When objects both near and far from the camera are in focus.

Hand-held shot: A shot filmed by someone holding the camera in their hand.

Head-on-shot: A type of shot where the camera is coming directly to them.

High-angle: when the camera is placed above a character so you are looking down on them.

Low-angle: When the camera is placed below a character so you are looking up at them.

Loose frame: A shot where there is a lot of room around an object.

Master shot: A shot used a the beginning of a sequence to establish the component elements and relationships in such a way as to allow the audience to make sense of the action that follows.

Point of view shot: A shot taken from the position of the subject.

Pull focus: This describes a shot where one thing was in focus and then the lens is changed so that something else stops being blurry and become in focus.

Rule of thirds: This is when rather than placing a person directly in the centre of the shot they have placed him to the side.

Shallow focus: A shot when the objects nearer the camera are in focus and everything else is blurry.

Soft focus: This is the use of a special lens or filter to create a hazy light around the subject.

Subjective filming ( or POV): A type of shot in which the camera is poisoned as if looking at the world through the characters eyes.

Tilt: A camera movement that involves moving the camera vertically up and down from a fixed position.

Tracking shot: A camera shot in which the camera moves along rails to follow the subject.

Whip pan: A very fats pan between two or more characters all points of interest.

Wide shot: This can be used as an establishing shot or to set a location or to show a large crowd of people.

Zoom/Reverse zoom: The adjustment of the camera lens so we can progressively move closer or further away from the subject.

180 degree rule: When during a scene which includes two or more people, we can imagine an imaginary line joining those two people together. Adhering this rule would mean that the camera would stay on one side of that line and would never cross over to the other side.