semiotics- a single man, analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aypyJtHzC70 - follow the link to view trailer

Studying this film trailer, there a lot of signs and symbols from aspects of the footage that are extremely frequent, and play a massive role throughout the film.

Our first image is of a naked man drowning, the nudity and surroundings is what signifies and portrays messages that signify traits of disturbed, lost and weak. Within the first few seconds of the trailer we know as much as that this film primarily focuses on a single man, weak and lost. In fact, there are a few references to water throughout this trailer, decoding their meanings, water can be seen as freshening and also portray cleanliness, but alongside the harsh, strong classical music(original piece by Abel Korzeniowski) and the constant ticking noise (representing a clock), we are confronted with time, and frustration. In this case, water with this particular context, suggests a series of negative meanings. Time and purpose strung together with this man's life seem to be an issue.

Throughout the trailer there is a mass of mixed emotions throughout the majority of the trailer, snapshot images of things that connote danger, depression (guns, miserable chore of fixing your tie in the morning), to other signifiers that signify love, passion, happiness (roses, smiles, kissing). It could be argued that this trailer introduces viewers into the world of this 'single man', as being him, metaphorically, falling. The colour also changes as the different images change. The roses are a bright, intense red colour, with a much higher contrast and saturation as appose to the far more dull look other images (guns) have. It is made clear how important colour is by studying an extract from (Barthes, Roland (1977): Image-Music-Text. London: Fontana), 'its signifier is the bringing together of the tomato, the pepper and the tricoloured hues (yellow, green, red) of the poster; its signified is Italy, or rather Italianicity.' This shows how effective colours can become, in this case, the three colours red, yellow and green represent Italy and therefore connote Italianicity which could authenticate the product itself. Referring back to the trailer, the intense bright red colour of the roses seems to express their love, passion far better than if they were a duller, less bold, red.

The constant reference of him drowning easily communicates this, with the footage flipping back and fourth, from happy to sad connotes confusion, ultimately the result of our final image, what appears to be Colin Firth's lover in the film. His motion and orange/brown colouring suggests warmth, reassurance and a sense of hospitality. This could be what the drowning man is drowning for?

Summarising text, The idea of the Modern World

Starting in the mid eighteenth century a historical art movement occurred due to impactful social and cultural changes , it's duration was roughly two hundred years. The french city, Paris probably became the most authoritative place in which artists of the 'avant garde' began to really explore modern art. This was mainly expressed through the titles, Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism. Futurism and Expressionism clearly show modernism, as they deal with whole new concepts and are extremely experimental when comparing modern and historical art. Cubism, however, still held onto the traditional traits of art, like portrait and still life paintings. Due to the 'technical innovation', Cubism was able to be considered along the lines of modernism, because it is able to keep up with, what sums up modernism, change.

It seems that art had to be capable of changing with the times, a lot of the art that was being portrayed as artist's work, was rarely seen. Modernism became an area where humanity and art worked together as a force detaching themselves from its traditionally historicist viewpoint and instead people looked to themselves by embracing significant technological and scientific ways of entering the modern world.

Harrison, C. and Wood, P. (ess) (1997)
'Art in Theory: 1900-1990', Oxford, Blackwell, pp 125-9

Lecture notes,

graphic design

modernism in design

modernity&modernism

Russian revolution

(art), the mass media and society

the document

Photography is an effective way to document, it can be purposeful or neutral. James Nachtwey said, "I have been a witness and these pictures are my testimony. The events I recorded must not be forgotten and must not be reported"

Photography is the ability to capture moments in time, document historical events, see and enable everyone to see what you have seen. Spreading your visual word.

PHOTOGRAPHERS-

• Lewis Hine, child labourers in Indianana
• Roy Shoyker, photojournalist "the photo as both photojournalism and the perfect lobbying tool"
• Margaret Bourke, sharecroppers home (1937)
• Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother (1936)
• Walker Evans, documentary photographer
• Robert Frank, Parade (1958)
• Robert Capa, Normany, France (1945) Historical record
• Magnum Group, founded in 1947 by Cartier Bresson and Capa. It was an ethos of documenting the world and its social problems. One of the photographs was taken by Nick Ut, 'Accidental Napalm attack' (1972)
• WAR PHOTOGRAPHY, held a sense of exhaustion, and another way to document historical events:
• Don MaCullin, shell-shocked soldier, 1968
• Robert Haeberle
• William Klein, St Patricks day, 1954-55

CRITICAL REALISM, "we actually need to construct something"

Argument- documentary photography is irrelevant to life, everyone can record?

advertising, publicity and the media