Semiotics

Semiotics

    Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols which signify something which may not so obvious to all and may need a certain aspect of shared understanding and tradition.
   Two theories I have looked in to are Ferdinand Sassure's Dyadic Semiotic System and Pierce's Triadic System.
    Ferdinand Sassure (1857 - 1913), proposed the Dyadic Semiotic System showed that signs are purely psychological and only make sense in a formal abstract system. The sign, otherwise known as the signifier would be the actual symbol or the denotation. The signified is what this represents, the connotation.
   A sign does not represent what the object means, for example the image of a cat makes us think automatically of a cat, however a the word cat does not look, take shape or sound like the actual animal.
   Sassure believed that signs do not represent reality but construct it, we come to know the world through language. The relationship between the sign and signifier is not a matter of personal choice, "it is because the sign is arbitrary that knows no law other than tradition".

                          Charles Sander Pierce's (1839 - 1914), Triadic System categorised signs as he believed the audience understand different signs in different ways. His three most important categories are: index, icons and symbols. The category in which the symbol lies is dependant on the relationship between the referent, which is the sign its self and the actual meaning.
  Index: The signifier is no arbitrary directly connected to a sign. They refer to their objects through a causal link, for example, smoke is an index of fire and physical pain is an index for abnormality in the body. The relationship between the sign and the object is that they have something in common as the object generally effects the sign.
    Icon: An icon is a sign that represents an object by resembling it, examples of these include pictures, maps and diagrams. The relationship is one of similarity. There is a relationship as the features of the signifier bare similarities to the signified.

Symbols: There is no relation or link between the referent and meaning. Symbols refer to their objects through law, rule, tradition, culture, institution and convention among others. Examples of this are words and numbers. This means with many things signs can be perceived by different viewers in many different ways. For example the referent of a mother may have other meanings to others such as mum, mom, mother or mam.

Concept 3

The third concept we have is a zombie horror film which focuses on humans trying to survive in a world which has mostly been destroyed, focusing on the people in the group much in the style of The Walking Dead and Dawn of the Dead, however this is unlikely to be utilised due to the excessive budget requirements.

Film trailers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKEp7WYrMmY
This is a trailer for The Ten Commandments (1956), which is immediately noticeable as being very short by modern film trailer standards at just over 1 minute. The directors name is announced first as opposed to today where often the main stars will be boasted. There is also the boast of it being "intact" and "uncut", as films were often very heavily edited back then from their original intent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13EUXqIwDkQ
Here we see the trailer for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly exactly ten years later (1966), which is drastically different at almost 3 and a half minutes, longer than most modern film trailers and showing off some of the more spectacular battle sequences such as the infamous bridge battle. The scenes are much less edited than Ten Commandments and the hanging scene from the trailer is almost intact, only cutting off to avoid a spoiler.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDGw1MTEe9k
In 1973 this trailer for The Exorcist again demonstrated change for film trailers, the trailer is once again shorter than a typical modern trailer though one interesting feature to note is how the more vile scenes are absent entirely, possibly to secure wider distribution, as the suspenseful nature is now much more prevalent rather than simply displaying the most prominent shocks or spectacular action scenes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1XmZ9_ckdw
This trailer for Conan the Barbarian again shows changes to the overall aesthetic and structure of trailers, with far less actually occurring story wise but a greater emphasis for the voice over narration and the showing off of its main star, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eajuMYNYtuY
Finally this trailer for Terminator 2 shows much more emphasis in general, with title cards and narration being put to their full usage and using music from the film to match the sequence on screen. One noticeably problem though is that the trailer actually gives away a twist in the finished film, which is obviously a problem.

Golden Trailer Awards

The Golden Trailer Awards is an awards category that is somewhat similar to the Oscars with many of the same categories, such as Best in Show, Most Original etc. The awards have been handed out since 2000 and have recently extended to video game trailers due to the increasing levels of cinematic elements present in video games.
Some of the companies include AV club, Open Road Entertainment, Ignition Creative Studios, Buddha Jones and many more.

Film Idea 2

Our second is a horror film utilising the "found footage" style used in films like Blair Witch Project and The Last Broadcast which would be very easy with the avaliable budget and would be easier to edit together than most.

Film Idea 1

Our first concept is a script called Three Months of April, focusing on the final months of a girl named April as she gradually fights a losing battle against an inoperable brain tumor. This idea would potentially be very easy to act out but make-up budget could be an issue.

Intro

My name is Michael Rushton, for this Media A2 course I will be producing a 2 minute (approximately) film trailer of my and my groups creation supported by promotional materials in the form of a front cover for a film magazine and a theatrical release poster.