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How Are Semiotics Used In Films

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Semiotics is the science of the signs (Biemann, no date). One system of signs we know is language. Films are also capable of using a kind of language made up by sounds and pictures containing semiotics. The great thing about film language is that it is universal. We can all interpret a film language and get different meanings from it (Biemann, no date).
We live in a world of signs, and of signs about signs (Hawkes 2003). Semiotics play a big role in our world as they seem to interpret how to read things, how to describe them as well as how we react to them. Signs are also read on other people, either by reading it on their faces or physical appearance and gestures. This essay will analyse the semiotics used in films, narrowing it down to Halloween …show more content…

Theatre is a polysemic text, that is, there are many possible meanings (Semiotic Theatre, no date). The main purpose of a theatre is to be able to transmit signal to the receiver, which is the audience. The signals are encoded by the senders (including: writers, actors, directors) and then decoded by the receivers, with different meanings (Semiotic Theatre, no date). Although it’s up to the writers and directors to include any semiotics within their films to convey to the audience, the message is not always the same as the creators of the film intended it to be. Depending on the receiver’s feelings, emotions, awareness and education, different meanings can be attained as a result of them having different point of views of the film and how they want to enjoy …show more content…

Semiotics within the film industry are very important to analyse while watching any type of film, to understand the characters, the narrative and to be able to separate the weak from the strong, the good from evil. The horror genre takes advantage of semiotics by using different signs that define the characters, as well as the villains or monsters. Within the horror genre, especially the Halloween sub-genre, we can always define the characters by their costumes and their first impressions of anything unorthodox that happens during the beginning of the film. Also, the mask plays a big role as you can only read the mask, and the person behind the mask is completely hidden, as Paul (2015) described it referring to his clown make-up. Therefore, semiotics play a big role in our world as they seem to interpret how we read things, how to describe them as well as how we react to

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