This document provides an overview of semiology and how it can be applied to analyzing images and advertisements. It discusses key concepts in semiotic analysis including signs, codes, denotation and connotation. Specific techniques are described such as analyzing the modality, implied narrative, and anchorage of images. The relationships between images and words are also examined. Both the strengths of semiology in deconstructing meanings and its limitations are evaluated.

1. How semiology
applies to reading
images and
advertisements
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Val Lloyd

2. Overview
• Semiology and key terms in semiotic analysis of media
images and texts
• Aspects, codes and techniques of semiotic analysis
• Discussion of the relationships between words and
images
• The affects of meaning and interpretation by audience,
context and intertextuality
• Evaluation of the strength and weaknesses of semiology

3. Semiology– the science
of signs, or the study of signs
and sign systems. It suggests
that all communication based
on the sign systems work
through certain rules and
structures.
(O’Shaugnessy M. & Stadler J. Media
& Society,2008.p.133)

4. Ferdinand de Saussure’s (1974) communication model of signs
SENDER MESSAGE/SIGN SYSTEM RECEIVER
Sign – is the central aspect of semiology and the representation of a thing
or an idea
Signifier – the visible, tangible, or audible aspect of a sign that carries
the meaning
Signified – the thing or the idea that a sign refers to

5. The relationships between sign,
signifier and signified
SIGN DOG
SIGNIFIER SIGNIFIED
D-O-G
Letters
arranged
into the
word
The
concept
of the
dog

6. Key aspects to semiological analysis
• Signs communicate through codes and
conventions
• The dependence of codes and conventions on
cultural knowledge
• Signs communicate through systems of
difference
• Signs communicate through denotations and
connotations

7. Signs communicate through codes and
conventions
Code – standardised
formulae for communicating
meaning.
Convention – a method of
organising signs to
communicate meaning in ways
that become habituated and
widely shared over time

8. Cultural knowledge
Sign systems will only work
successfully with people who know
and share the same codes.
System of difference
One of Saussire’s central points in
analysing language is the
understanding that words don’t
mean anything on their own.
Therefore they only take a meaning
in relation to other words.

9. Sign communication through two levels of meaning
Denotation
“The first order of signification” (Barthes)
The most obvious level on which a sign
communicates and refers to the common
sense meaning of the sign.
The denotative meaning can be expressed
by describing a sign as simple as possible
Connotation
The second order of signification, which refers
to the emotions, values, and associations that
a sign gives to the reader, viewer or listener. It
can be expressed by quickly jotting down what
it reminds you of or makes you feel of imagine.
Individual connotations – the experiences of
individuals that work in all aspects of our life
including our responses to images.
Cultural connotations – associations that are
shared collectively by many people in a
culture. The image context and cultural
knowledge are important as they may not be
the same for all cultures.

10. Discussion: Let’s talk about the APPLE
MAC LOGO
Why has this sign been chosen and what connotation does it have
to you that contributes to its meaning?

11. Peirce’s analysis of signs
• Iconic sign – the relationships between the signified and the
signifier is based on likeness or resemblance
• Indexical sign – the relationship between signifier is one of indication,
direction or measurement, sequence or causation
• Symbolic sign – the relationships between the signifier and signified
is arbitrary (no natural link) and is based on culture, context and
convention
Saussire’s definition of disconnected sign & symbol:
• Arbitrary signifiers – have no logical connection to their signified. The
signifier does not look or sound like the signified, nor does it point to
the signified in a causal or indexical fashion

12. Discussion:
Can you think of any examples of iconic, indexical
and symbolic signs?

13. What kind of sign it is?

14. The language, or codes, of visual images
Codes of technical representation
• Camera angle
• Framing and cropping
• Focus
• Colour
• Lighting
Codes of content
• Objects
• Settings
• Clothing
• Body language
• Body position
• Colours

15. How has it been photographed? What has been photographed?

16. The concept of modality
Modality – is a measure of the degree of certainty or realism associated
with an instance of communication.
It is an important concept in semiotic analysis as it indicates what the
dominant view of reality is, and it indicates who we are most likely to
believe or trust.
Modality language used in news reports: the statements are not
qualified but asserted to the fact which leads us to believe that the
journalists have done careful research for the story
Applying modality concept to visual texts: whereas live action is more
or less realistic and therefore has a higher or less truth status

17. High modality concept Low modality concept

18. Reading images and Advertisements
Meaning and interpretation
Implied narrative – the story that a picture suggests, including the
events that may have happened immediately prior to the moment in the
image, and immediately afterwards
Intertextuality – the process of knowingly borrowing and referring to one
text in the light of other related texts
Anchorage – the process of limiting polysemy (many meanings)of the
image by articulating the preferred meaning of the text as the caption
labels an image

19. The examples of anchorage

20. Advertisement and ideology
Ideology – is a set of values, beliefs and
feelings, that together, offer a view of the
world. Each image contains an implied view of
society, of the world, and of our roles in it.
The dominant social groups can use sign
systems to give messages that support their
values and their domination.
The dominant group in a capitalist society,
where money is power and success is
measured by the accumulation of material
objects, uses the media to create desires for
products which are associated with the
trappings of success.

21. Analysing television and internet advertisements
1. The difference in representational techniques used by
advertising mediums to give messages to media
consumers
2. The popularity of Internet advertising as more advanced
technology ( DOGs)
3. Considerably less expensive advertising online and access
to the international market
4. The influence on television advertising strategies by the
Internet
5. The impact on online advertisement by television

22. Why use semiology?
The advantages
• Semiology is a helpful method for
taking images apart by using
codes or connotations
• It does not focus on the inventions
of individual creators. Therefore
the texts are related to a wider
social meaning
• Breaking signs into the signifier
and signified. Texts are
constructions of the meaning
rather than transparent reflections
of reality
The limitations
• Semiology is just one approach to
texts and the media
• Signs cannot be entirely accurate as
there are too many variables or
differances – an ongoing process
of signification
• The formal system of rules and
conventions of language (or langue)
does not take the concrete
processes of language (or parole)
into account

23. O'Shaughnessy M., & Stadler, J. (Eds). (2008).
Chapters 8 & 9 (partial).
Media & society (pp.133-148;153;156-161),
South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
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