Semiology The Study of the Social Production of Signs

CAUTION Media studies students tend to proceed on the premise that nothing is in the frame accidentally; They believe rather that everything is carefully and purposefully constructed; Each item being placed there carefully, their purpose being to construct meaning. The well worn phrase, "you're reading too much into this" was coined by a reluctant media studies student who suffered from severe failure of the imagination.

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Over and over again the Board's examiner stresses the need to use the appropriate technical terminology. We must therefore get out of the habit of putting the analysis in our own words and must always try to use the appropriate terminology demanded by the text.
Take for example the area of formal codes of construction two words are important here: codes and construction.

Codes clearly can be decoded. Constructions similarly can be deconstructed.

Based on the theories of De Saussure/ Peirce and the previously mentioned references message types are either symbolic, indexical or iconic: An iconic message is one which resembles-according to some conventionally accepted criterion-some agent of the real world to which it refers.
An indexical message is one which "points to" an object or is a sample of it. A symbolic message is one whose needs a

The Creation of Meaning

The creation of meaning: is the understanding the reader brings to bear on a piece of music, a collection of still photographs or an extract from a film etc. Desired meaning: is when the reader interpretation and ultimate understanding of the text, matches the desired ambitions of the sender (creator). It is the practice of advertisers/ TV & film makers and all others in the media to construct collections of known/shared meanings. Audiences (the reader), are invited to read, interpret and ultimately understand the the given media text in the desired way. It is the ambition of all in the media to strike a chord with audiences and encourage the consumption of a product or service.

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of x using the following: Camera shots, angles, movement and composition Editing Sound Mise en scne

Batman- The Dark Knight

Signs: a Matter of Interpretation

Distinctively, we make meanings through our creation and interpretation of 'signs'. Indeed, according to Peirce, 'we think only in signs' (Peirce 1931-58, 2.302).
Signs take the form of words, sounds, images, odours, flavours, acts or objects etc. Signs have no intrinsic meaning but become signs only when we give signs meaning(s). 'Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign', declares Peirce

Signification
Saussure offered a 'dyadic' or two-part model of the sign. He defined a sign as being composed of: a 'signifier' - the physical form which the sign takes; and the 'signified' - the mental concept it represents. The sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified .The relationship between the signifier and the signified is referred to as 'signification'.

The signifier is the picture of a tree The signified is the mental concept of something green, tall, plant life etc.

1st Order of Signification

The signifier: the word or picture of a collection of newspapers The signified: a source of news information, collection of typed papers edited by journalist commenting on domestic, world events. The signifier: a red flower The signified: a specific red flower commonly known as a rose The social production of meaning is known as signification. Attention to the process of signification at this stage remains merely descriptive and is commonly referred to as the first order of signification

2nd order of signification - connotation

Whereas the first order of signification operates at the level of description, the 2nd order of signification is much more sensitive to other meanings (interpretations) which a culture might associate with a particular sign.

3rd order of signification: Ideological

Semiologist Roland Barthes (1973), believes it is at this third and final order of signification that ideologies underpinning varying forms of representation can be successfully unmasked. According to Barthes all forms of representations should be understood as ideological myths . Barthes, calls for myths to be considered as sets of shared ideas, values, social norms and practices which a given culture wishes to explain (understand), aspects of reality.

Third order of signification

The existence of competing sets of ideologies in the mass media are regarded as the manifestation of contradictory themes, themes which are informed by the competing sets of values of those group and individual who produce and mediate them. Semiologist ask that the study of signification at its ideological level be treated not as a distortion of reality or a substitute for a more real or true representation, but rather a process of meaning which is culturally and historically charged.

sign
sign sign

signifier signifier

signified signified

myths, values, attitudes, social practice

Ideological Functions of Signs

Desired meanings are frequently constructed, mediated and repeated to represent a given reality. Dominant sets of desired meanings and given representations of realities, are viewed as serving ideological interest i.e. a system of values, beliefs and interest a given society holds important. Deconstructing given dominant media representations can help media academics reveal not only those realities which are privileged and whose are suppressed but in whose interest dominant representations of realities) serve.

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of x using the following: Camera shots, angles, movement and composition Editing Sound Mise en scne

Candidates should be prepared to discuss, in response to the question, how these technical elements create specific representations of individuals, groups, events or places and help to articulate specific messages and values that have social significance. Particular areas of representation that may be chosen are: Gender Age Ethnicity Sexuality Class and status Physical ability/disability Regional identity