SEMIOTICS

• Meaning is communicated through signs which are made up of the signifier (the thing itself) and the signified(the meaning).  This process depends on the connotations of a sign.
• Barthes uses the word myths to describe the way the connotations suggested by a sign have come to be seen as normal and natural.
• The meanings created by these myths often reflect dominant values and ideologies.

What signs are used to communicate meaning?Identify the signifier/signified and denotations/connotations. What values might the signs suggest to the audience?

Consider the signs used in the sequence which introduces Hopper.  Signifiers such as his badge, gun, uniform, and the empty beer cans all communicate meanings in relation to the character but they also suggest values and ideologicalmessagesaround power and masculinity.  This demonstrates the way objects develop a social meaning which reflects dominant ideology.    




The establishing shot of the Wheeler house in the opening sequence is another example of the way signswork as myths. Whilst the house is just a physical object, the meanings it suggests about ideas of family and home, and the way in which those ideas are viewed as the expected social norm showhow signs accrue social meanings which can communicate ideological messages.    




Semiology is useful for identifying some of the ways in which meaning is communicated in LFTV drama, and for considering how those meanings might relate to social values and ideology.  A limitation in its application to LFTV dramais that it does not account for the importance of other media language elements such as genre conventions or narrative structures in creating meaning.  It may result in readings which do not reflect the potentially diverse meanings and values audience members may construct.