Week 7: Structuralism & Semiotics

Rapid Cutting Montage
• Many shots in rapid time.
• Shock rhythm to heighten dramatic urgency, move audience emotionally

"Psycho" (1960)- Alfred Hitchcock
-Example of rapid cutting montage in shower sequence
-Makes audience feel violated, disoriented; putting them in place of victim; invoking scream from audience

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977)- Steven Spielberg
• Use of sound as a Formalistic Element (to condense space and time, and confuse the audience)
Function of sound in film:
• Set location
• Establish Mood
• Direct Attention
• Reveal Character
“Gimme Shelter” (1970)-Rolling Stones Documentary
-Capture the essence of the band and its impact on their fans
-Women crying in the front (happy I suppose?)
-A male fan in front is shown mouthing "your awesome" to Mick Jagger
What was the “found moment” that impacted the form of this documentary?
-The found moment was when the camera captured the African American male in the yellow suit attempting to pull out some kind of weapon, and the Hell's Angels subdued the man, one man in particular, stabbing him and taking his life. It was eerie to see something like that unexpectedly caught on camera.

Structuralism:
• Structuralism – a method for analyzing the deep structuring logic of cultural products and practices.
• Structuralism stresses that each element within a cultural system derives its meaning from its relationship to every other element in the system
"The Birds" (1963)- Hitchcock
• “Structuralist” Approach of 6 minute sequence
• Alternation of shots:
-- Melanie sees…
-- What Melanie sees…
-- Disruption within the rhythm
Semiotics:
The study of signs and signification
• Semiotics studies the way “signs communicate and the rules that govern their use.”
Denotation vs. Connotation
• Denotation – signifies, having a literal meaning.
• Connotation – implies, having an implied meaning

Signs: Three Categories
Icon – resemblance (pictures, statues)
Symbol – conventions (language, traffic sign)
Index – causal connections (smoke, footprints, medical symptoms)

Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" is an interesting experimental piece that I had seen in many other film classes before, but never realized the great influence and direct correlation to that of Eisenstein's structural montage elements and George Méliès magical editing techniques.  The dream like mise-en-scene juxtaposed with a vast amount of symbolism makes for a complex and somewhat confusing short film, but nonetheless an entertaining piece of work.  I have studied the original founders/ground breakers of early film, but never truly realized how influential these artists were, and the effect they still have on filmmakers today. I really enjoy when things I have learned in class come together and connect, showing their validity and importance.