This document introduces some key concepts in media semiotics, including signs, signifiers, signifieds, denotation and connotation. It explains that semiotics examines how meaning is constructed and understood through symbolic and technical signs. A signifier is the form that a sign takes, like an image or color, while the signified is the concept or meaning it represents. Signifiers can have both denotative (surface) meanings and connotative (deeper) associations that depend on culture and context. The document uses examples to illustrate these concepts and asks readers to analyze signs and their meanings in different media texts.
6. TASK: Pink What does the colour ‘pink’ signify when used on this magazine cover? List five signifiers.
7. TASK: What do the following signs signify? Make a list of all the meanings and associations you can think of for each signifier: A E D C B
8.
9.
10.
11. This image denotes the movie star Marilyn Monroe
12. The image connotes glamour, stardom, sexuality, beauty If this was one of the last photographs of Marilyn Monroe, we may also associate it with her depression, drug-taking and ultimately death
13. This image denotes a tropical island The image connotes peace, tranquility paradise, holiday, summer to some readers. … but think about the film ‘Castaway’, the victims of the Bali bombings or the recent tsunami - in this case the image may connote isolation, fear or even death It is important to note that images have different connotations depending on the reader of the image/text
![KEY TERM: Semiotics ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)