Semiotics

     Signs are everywhere. When analyzing films, these signs need to be interpreted in order to understand them and this is done by the study of semiotics, the study of signs. The work of many people has led to further understanding of this topic. 

Ferdinand de Saussure argued that a sign has a “signifier” (word, sound, image, etc.) and the “signified” (the concept or meaning). Many relationships can exist between the signifier and the signified. For example, if outside the shop, a sign says "open", it means that the shop is open. In this case, the word, "open" is the signifier and the signified concept is that the shop is open for business. 

Roland Barthes stated that signs are represented in two ways:  a denotative meaning (which is the literal meaning of the sign) and the connotative meaning (which is the implied or suggested meaning of the sign). For example, when watching a movie, we can denote that a man is holding a knife with blood on it. However, the connotation of this would be that the man has either wounded or killed someone and immediately the audience feels that the man is dangerous. 

Filmmakers make use of mise-en-scene (everything the audience sees within the frame) to show signs to the audience that make the film visually attractive and to reflect the narrative that the movie is based on.