Television is a “close-up” medium, better suited to revealing character than to capturing action.
In applying semiotics to television, then, it makes sense for us to concern ourselves with aspects of the medium that function as signs, as distinguished from carrying signs. What is interesting about television, from this point of view, are the kinds of camera shots employed in the medium. Table 1.13 lists some of the most important kinds of shots, which function as signifiers, and what is usually signified by each shot. A famous Chanel advertisement featuring an extreme close-up of a woman’s lips is an example of how advertising focuses on sexually exciting parts of women to sell products. The woman’s lips are slightly open, a convention used to suggest sexual excitement. And there is nothing else in the advertisement except the name of the company, Chanel, which gives the brand an association with sexuality and arousal.
Table 1.14 illustrates how camera work and editing techniques can be examined in the same way. These tables represent a kind of television grammar as far as shots, camera work, and editing techniques are concerned. We all learn the meanings of these phenomena as we watch television, and they help us understand what is going on in particular programs.
There are other matters that might be considered here also, such as lighting techniques and the use of color, sound effects, and music. All of these are signifiers that help us interpret what we see (and hear) on television. Television is a highly complex medium that uses verbal language, images, and sound to generate impressions and ideas in people. It is the task of the television semiotician to determine, first, how this is possible and, second, how this is accomplished.
Read pages 1-14 in Berger's Chapter on Semiotic Analysis and upload a semiotic analysis of your favorite 30 minute television show
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