Semiotics

Part 2: Media Magazine theory drop - Semiotics 

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

2) What does ‘polysemy’ mean?
- When a signifier can have multiple interpretations 

3) What does Barthes mean when he suggests signs can become ‘naturalised’?
- It means that certain meanings are brought about in society and over time these newly constructed meanings are accepted and agreed upon.

4) What are Barthes’ 5 narrative codes?
- Hermeneutic code or ‘enigma code’, Proairetic code or 'action code', Semantic code, Symbolic code, Cultural code.

5) How does the writer suggest Russian Doll (Netflix) uses narrative codes?
-The camera lingers on a close up of a rotten fruit bowl that is entirely rotten which creates enigma codes for the audience .

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?
Both icons and indexes convey meaning to an audience without using words which is good for all media texts so they can be understood to anyone.

3) Why might global brands try and avoid symbols in their advertising and marketing?
They try to avoid using symbols in advertising and marketing since it may not attract enough people because people might not know the meaning behind the symbol.

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).
In 2002, there was a Starbucks advert that depicted two drinks next to each other with a dragonfly coming towards them and it had 'collapse into cool' written on it which was seen as very ignorant towards and/or poking fun at 9/11 which was very offensive. 

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