Semiotics

 1) What meanings are the audience encouraged to take about the two main characters from the opening of the film?

A negative one as they are seen to be disturbing the Homeless Man


2) How does the end of the film emphasise de Saussure’s belief that signs are polysemic – open to interpretation or more than one meaning?

Because our opinion change and we see the main Character in a more positive light 

Part 2: Media Magazine theory drop - Semiotics 

Greenford Media department has a subscription to Media Magazine - a brilliant magazine designed exclusively for A Level Media students and published four times a year. We strongly recommend you read it regularly and also set plenty of work for the course based on the articles inside. You can find our Media Magazine archive here and for this task need to go to MM68 (page 24) to read the introduction to Semiotics. Once you've read it, answer the following questions:

1) What did Ferdinand de Saussure suggest are the two parts that make up a sign?
Signifier  , Signified 

2) What does ‘polysemy’ mean?
Multiple interpretations 


3) What does Barthes mean when he suggests signs can become ‘naturalised’?
They can be commonly accepted in society

4) What are Barthes’ 5 narrative codes?
Hermeneutic , proairetic , semantic , Symbolic , Cultural

5) How does the writer suggest Russian Doll (Netflix) uses narrative codes?
The Title acts as a Symbolic Code as their universe is becoming smaller much like Russian Dolls

Part 3: Icons, indexes and symbols

1) Find two examples for each: icon, index and symbol. Provide images or links.

Icon:








Index:








Symbol: 










2) Why are icons and indexes so important in media texts?
Able to convey meaning quickly 

3) Why might global brands try and avoid symbols in their advertising and marketing?
Not everyone will understand their meaning or intent 

4) Find an example of a media text (e.g. advert) where the producer has accidentally communicated the wrong meaning using icons, indexes or symbols. Why did the media product fail? (This web feature on bad ads and marketing fails provides some compelling examples).










Yes, Pepsi again. In 1993 in the Philippines, Pepsi ran a lottery, in which—if you found the bottle cap with the right code on it—you could win $40,000.

The problem? Pepsi announced the wrong code. So instead of 1 winning bottle cap, there were suddenly 800,000 winning bottle caps. Pepsi refused to pay; outrage ensued.








5) Find an example of a media text (e.g. advert) that successfully uses icons or indexes to create a message that can be easily understood across the world.







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