Defined as the study of signs, or of the social production of meanings and pleasures by sign systems, or the study of how things come to have significance.
Philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce once said : 'we think only in signs'..
‘Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign'
There was also Saussure, who offered a two part model…
• A sign consists of a physical signifier
(gestures, words on the page, music)
• An immaterial signified (the idea
associated with this gesture, word etc)
Pierce however came up with the third term which is
The referent - to emphasise that the ‘signified’ is itself a
culturally shaped concept
There are 3 sets of signs which CS Pierce came up with. They are the following:
• Symbol - Signs for which the relation is based on random choice or personal whim rather than a reason or system
• Icon - iconic signs resemble what they stand for
• Index - Indexical signs are those in which there is a casual link
between the sign and that for which it stands
Decoding Media:
According to Barthes’s view, media texts can be either:
Polysemic / Open Text – open to many interpretations.
Or
Closed Text – prefer a particular meaning.
Encoding / Decoding Media
Model for analysing forms of media:
Encoder: author or production team of the text, e.g. film, website
etc.
Decoder: receiver, audiences.
Decoding Media:
McMahon & Quinn provide a framework for classifying codes:
Technical – Camera angles, lens choice, framing, shutter speed,
DOF, lighting, exposure.
Written – Headlines, caption, speech bubbles, style.
Symbolic – Objects, setting, body language, clothing, colour.
Overall Look - impression, style, aim.
Design:
John Sutherland suggests that two main types of typeface used..
• Serif - used for comment and analysis headlines, 'subliminally’ this relaxes
the reader.
• Sans Serif - used for no-nonsense news headlines and reporter’s by-lines.
