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Javier Bardem played Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men. In the film, his character had a long bowl haircut. The reason for this haircut was to make the character appear not just physically scary and intimidating, but presenting him as not possessing normal human characteristics. Javier Bardem stated that the pyschological reasoning behind the hairstyle was to give the character a "dimension of being very methodical. Everything is in its place, Its kind of mathematical. Like perfectly structured" to coincide with the cold and calculated personality and actions of the character. The psychological representation of the characters' haircut had a much deeper value and meaning than the physical representation.
Semiotics is the study of signs. Filmmaking uses semiotics as precise images are used to tell the story, and every picture tells a story. There are three main types of sign; The Icon, a sign which is similar to what it signifies, The Index, which is affected by what it represents and The Symbol, a sign that is connected to what it signifies by a law or convention.
Filmmaking uses signs visually. French Semiotician, Roland Barthes stated that 'trivial aspects of everyday life can be filled with meaning'. This can be things small such as a characters costume or hairstyle.
The basic idea of semiotics is a sign that has two parts: the physical and psychological. Filmmakers visualise this by using signs such as scars, guns, smiles and hairstyles. The audience can connote these physical signs to their psychological signs. The scars and guns can connote to genres such as action and thriller, whereas the smile can connote to genres such as comedy or romance.
SEMIOTICS &
NARRATIVES TO COMMUNICATE IDEAS
Films construct meanings through signs. A sign has two parts, the Signifier and the Signified. The Signifier is the physical part, the thing the audience can see and hear. The Signified is the psychological part, the reaction to the object, the internal response to the signifier.
DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION
Denotation is the primary, direct meaning and suggests what we see in a picture. The Connotation is the secondary, indirect meaning and depends on an audiences cultural/ personal associations.
Roland Barthes says that there are five codes:
THE ENIGMA CODE:
Films set puzzles, create problems and hint at secrets. They make the audience ask questions such as:
1. What is this going to be about?
2. Whats going to happen next?
3. Who did it?
4. What happens at the end?
The enigma code is the principal structuring device that demands the audiences attention.
THE CONNOTATIVE CODE:
The code is about the signs that give characters and settings meaning. These signs can include speech, clothing, gestures and movement. This code creates an illusion of real people having real experiences in a real world. The idea of the connotative code is that the meaning is the result of the audience interacting with the film.
The title sequence of Reservoir Dogs contains aspects of the connotative code. The seven characters in the film are all identically dressed, wearing black suits with a white shirt and black tie, walking in slow motion to 'Little Green Bag' by George Baker. The costumes, music, style and setting all give the illusion that these characters are real people.
The Action Code:
This refers to the signs that convey a pattern of action. For example, a poster that has a romantic couple on the front tells us that the film is a love story. A poster with a person with a gun or images of fire and explosions tells us that the film is an action story.
This poster gives signals about the genre the film is in due to the visual signs. People can tell that this is an action film due to the character holding a gun and the images of fire and gunfights.
This poster gives signals about the genre the film is in with visual signs. The bright colours and the way the characters are
positioned gives signals that this film is in the romantic comedy genre.
The Symbolic Code:
The Symbolic Code refers to the way an audience receives texts by organising all experiences into binary patterns. Good/Bad, Hero/Villain, Master/Slave, True/False.
The Cultural Code:
The cultural code describes the text's references to things the audience already know. It depends on certain shared beliefs of cultural behaviour, politics and morality. Films that use the cultural code raise questions about the codes of conduct in a social order. For example, Brokeback Mountain contains a romantic relationship between two men. The cultural code will vary according to the viewer's attitudes towards homosexual relationships. This could mean that the meaning of the film does not inhabit the film itself but is a result of interaction between the film and its viewers.
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