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MULTI-SEMIOTIC FEATURES OF FILM DISCOURSE
Qobilova Nargisa Sulaymonovna
BSU, PhD, associate professor
Ollomurodov Arjunbek Orifjonovich
BSU, Independent researcher
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13710160
Abstract:
Cinematography is one of the most influential means of mass
communication. This unique cultural phenomenon is characterised by rapid
development, global distribution and impact on the audience worldwide.
Being a
complex multi-semiotic formation, film discourse consists of systems of signs
that form a certain hierarchy. In this article, multi-semiotic nature of film
discourse will be analyzed and clarified with bright examples.
Key words:
multi-semiotic nature, semiosphere, synergetic feature, film
semiotics, sign system, index, film frame, Cinematographic code, onomatopoeia,
protagonist.
Film discourse is a symbol system that seems to arise from the interplay
between different discourses in the semiosphere and texts in the discourse
sphere. It refers to the analysis, discussion, and interpretation of films as a form
of communication and art. In other words, it can represent the things that are
illustrated in the literary discourse by showing another linguistic layer in a
different way. It involves examining how films convey meaning, emotions, and
messages through visual, audio, and narrative elements.
Film discourse is a vivid
example of synthesis of different types of signs in a common semantic, functional
and structural sphere. The combination of simple signs produces complex signs
of the first order which, in turn, form even more complicated signs of the second
order (Mechkovskaya, 2017). Film discourse encompasses a wide range of
approaches, including formal analysis of film techniques, critical analysis of
themes and representations, and cultural analysis of how films reflect and shape
societal norms and values.
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and how
they are used to convey meaning. When applied to film discourse, semiotics
looks at how the visual, auditory, and narrative elements of a film work together
to create meaning for the viewer. Here are some key concepts in the semiotics of
film discourse.
In film, signs and symbols are used to communicate meaning to the
audience. Signs can be anything that stands for or represents something else,
such as an object, gesture, color, or sound. Symbols are signs that have a specific
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cultural or conventional meaning. Semiotics examines how signs and symbols in
film are arranged and combined to create layers of meaning for the viewer.
Iconicity refers to the resemblance between a sign and what it represents.
For example, a close-up of a character's face in distress is an iconic sign of
sadness. Indexicality refers to signs that have a causal or correlational
relationship with what they represent. For example, smoke is an indexical sign
of fire. In film, these concepts are used to create visual and auditory cues that
guide the viewer's interpretation of the narrative.
Film relies on various codes and conventions to convey meaning to the
audience. These codes include visual codes (such as lighting, framing, and
composition), auditory codes (such as sound effects and music), and narrative
codes (such as editing, continuity, and genre conventions). Semiotics helps
analyze how these codes are used in film to create specific meanings and evoke
particular emotional responses.
Intertextuality refers to the ways in which texts refer to, quote, or mimic
other texts. In film, intertextuality can involve references to other films, genres,
or cultural texts. Semiotics helps analyze how these references shape the
viewer's interpretation of the film and contribute to its overall meaning.
Polysemy is the idea that signs and symbols can have multiple, layered
meanings. In film, different viewers may interpret the same sign or symbol in
different ways based on their personal experiences, cultural background, and
knowledge of film conventions. Semiotics helps uncover the diverse meanings
that can be generated by a single image or scene in a film.
Multi-semiotic and synergetic features of film discourse are studied by
film semiotics – an approach in which the film is viewed as a ‘specific sign
system or set of sign systems.’ Film semiotics is based on structural linguistics,
poetics, ethnology and is a consistent approach to the description of linguistic,
visual and other means that affect the viewer’s perception of a film. Film
discourse is an open, multi-semiotic system that is harder to characterize than
any stable system, whose changes over an extended period of time are
negligible. An endless supply of visuals, or iconic signs, that may be combined in
numerous ways with other signals to convey the open-ended character of film
discourse. According to Mitry (2000), images do not always have explicit
meanings, and their role is not limited to expressing one and the same meaning
every time. In addition, the openness of film discourse is connected with its
multimedia character (which allows the viewer to individually determine the
strategy of perception) and with the operation of many codes (only partially the
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same for the author and the viewer or for different viewers), which eventually
leads to a variability of understanding of a film and the emergence of new
meanings, associations and symbols. Film discourse is characterised by sign
heterogeneity which, according to many researchers, was inherent even in the
earliest silent films where captions and an oral narrative by special
commentators were used (Mechkovskaya, 2017). Furthermore, silent movies
communicated through the motions and facial expressions of its protagonists; all
that may be naturally articulated through words could be conveyed without the
need for spoken conversation. The film changed over time such that the
conversations coincided with the other sign systems; initially, the dialogues did
not blend in with the music and moving image. Subsequently, linguistic ways of
expression started to take center stage, and both the visual and verbal aspects
gained equal weight.
Signs of film discourse are divided into linguistic and non-linguistic. In
each group, according to Pierce’s classification, icons, indexes and symbols are
distinguished. Language means are mainly represented by signs and symbols
that are either written (captions and inscriptions that are part of the film’s
reality – a poster, a street name, a letter) and oral (voiced speech of actors, off-
screen text, a song) (Slyshkin & Efremova, 2004). Indexes and iconic signs are
few in a language; both types, however, are used in film discourse – intonation,
interjections and shifters are all examples of indexes in a natural language while
onomatopoeia is iconic (Mechkovskaya, 2017). The non-linguistic component of
film discourse is to a large extent represented by iconic and index signs which
can be both visual and audial. The audial part (natural noises, technical noise
and music), as well as episodes of documentary films inside a feature film, are
index signs. The visual part (the images of people, animals and objects that
perform sequences of movements, gestures, facial expressions) consists mainly
of iconic and index signs (Slyshkin & Efremova, 2004). In the process of film
perception, the information transmitted by different semiotic systems is being
decoded and the meaning becomes clear. In her study, Donskaya (2007)
identifies fourteen semiotic systems which compound to the multi-semiotic
structure of media discourse. Three of them are linguistic: oral speech, written
text and letter tactics; the others are non-linguistic: colour, film frame division,
dance, kinesics, statics, facial expression, music, singing, sound effects, costume,
appearance and the state of characters / phenomena / objects. Each semiotic
system operates its own signs and rules of their combination – codes. There are
also codes that work between semiotic systems to join them to express a
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particular meaning. Due to multiple codes interacting in film discourse, signs of
different levels acquire special connections, develop a special connotative and /
or symbolic meaning. Film discourse may acquire unexpected implicit meaning,
which is not received directly, but by building close and distant logical and
semantic links, often going beyond the boundaries of film discourse in the
semiosphere of culture (Zaichenko, 2017). The code is the key with which the
viewer can understand where exactly he should be looking for the meaning of an
image or which links are essential at some point. Cinematographic codes include
editing, angle, framing, light, plot and artistic space and some others (Slyshkin &
Efremova, 2004).
This article therefore illustrates that film discourse has a number of semiotic
features which make it different from many other kinds of discourse. The
semiotics of film discourse provides a framework for understanding how signs
and symbols are used to create meaning in film, and how viewers interpret and
decode these meanings based on their cultural, social, and individual contexts.
By analyzing the visual, auditory, and narrative elements of a film through a
semiotic lens, we can gain deeper insight into how films communicate ideas,
emotions, and messages to their audiences.
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