Semiotics of music videos

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Semiotics of music videos is the observation of symbolism used within music videos.

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Overview

Semiotics in popular music, or mesomusica, [1] is different from semiotics in other musical forms, because pop music denotes a cultural object [2] (Matusitz, 2004). Popular music has many signs in itself because it has many components and uses, but it also appeals to the emotions of a generation. Music is the “logical expression” of feelings, a "symbolic form". [3] Music videos are an example of syntagm, wherein interacting signifiers form a meaningful whole. [4] Music videos are also considered a multimodal genre because one semiotic system is joined syntagmatically to another semiotic system, which results in a signified indexical meaning. [5] The process of music correlated with visuals can be described in terms of two basic mechanisms: temporal synchronicity and cross-modal homology. [6] By incorporating the two modalities, sound and image, we can interpret a unified syntagm. [5] Music videos are known to be visually secondary signified in combination with the semantic content of the lyrics. [7] Semiotics in music videos is different from a pragmatic analysis because we can uphold that semiotics searches for meaning by considering sign production and progress, while pragmatics searches for meaning by considering the intentions of semantics and the context it has evolved in. [8]

There are early critics of the importance of analyzing music videos as a semiotic system. Frederic Jameson's definition of music videos is as a schizophrenic string of isolated, discontinued signifiers, failing to link up into a coherent sequence, thus a string without a center. [9]

Invisible editing

Many semiotic analysts have examined music videos to decode messages that are being sent to viewers.

Invisible editing (a semiotic term) refers to what film editors use to almost decode a song's message for the audience through narrative actions. Daniel Chandler's example from famous film editor Ralph Rosenblum describes this progression: "a man awakens suddenly in the middle of the night, bolts up in bed, stares ahead intensely, and twitches his nose. Then the film directs towards a room where two people are desperately fighting a billowing blaze" [4] (Chandler, pp. 166, 2007). Because of the actions of the actors, the audience is aware of the next scene before it is shown.

Other examples of invisible editing in music videos are in a more formal narrative style, consisting of a plot or storyline of events and characters. [10] Music videos-making that use a narrative-style script is considered as the more formal approach because the editing involved adds emphasis to the song's chorus, giving it a deeply-ingrained musical archetype. Michael Jackson's Thriller music video is one such work developed from a narrative script. However, Thriller's storyline is also seen as one that exceeds the eponymous song itself; that is, the context of the visual narrative semantically overpowers the meaning of the song. [7]

In contrast, music videos that aren't formally organized may have no segmentation markings that flow with the lyrics and contain abstract images. The music video for Peter Gabriel's song "Sledgehammer" is an example of a formally unorganized music video.

Generally music videos can be said to contain visuals that either represent the potential connotative meaning of the lyrics or a semiotic system of its own. Although many analysts would explain a music video as a narrative structure, there are many videos that defy narrative conventions. [10]

Intertextuality

Intertextuality, for media purposes, references other popular culture objects within their video, and then the audience creates their meaning of the video according to the intentional suggestion created with relationships between primary and secondary texts. [11] In general terms, intertextuality is considered links within a context or medium that bind text to other text (Chandler, pp. 166, 2007 [4] ). Many editors and directors use intertextuality in music videos because it combines different cultural codes taken from previous texts that are sensible for many audiences. Using intertextuality in music videos allow a viewer to identify with their theoretical framework of knowledge, and use it to define their identity. This approach can be used to gain popularity for referenced ideas, and influence consumers with a persuasive agenda. Material Girl , by Madonna is an example of using intertextuality because she is acting like Marilyn Monroe in Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend. This is a direct cinematic reference which allows an active audience to draw conclusions to the meaning of the message.

Intratextuality

Intratextuality is a term that is derived from intertextuality, but is considered combining secondary references for marketing and promotional purposes. This type of technique is also called anchorage, found by Roland Barthes: [12] anchoring text to a context that changes the intentional meaning. An example of this would be, the music video, Right Now, by Van Halen. The lyrics of the song Right Now suggest an entirely different meaning than the social empowering messages shown through the music video.

Bricolage

Bricolage is also an example of using many different texts within a context for promotional, marketing, or popularity value. [13] Lady Gaga uses cultural bricolage in her music videos by using fashion and previous memorable characteristics of former pop stars. Michael Jackson's Leave Me Alone is also a form of bricolage because it is a collage of already popular people and pop culture artifacts combined to portray his own message.

See also

Related Research Articles

Semiotics is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter.

In linguistics and related fields, pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the interpreted. Linguists who specialize in pragmatics are called pragmaticians. The field has been represented since 1986 by the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland Barthes</span> French philosopher and essayist

Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popular culture. His ideas explored a diverse range of fields and influenced the development of many schools of theory, including structuralism, anthropology, literary theory, and post-structuralism.

In semiotics, a sign is anything that communicates a meaning that is not the sign itself to the interpreter of the sign. The meaning can be intentional, as when a word is uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, as when a symptom is taken as a sign of a particular medical condition. Signs can communicate through any of the senses, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or taste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual communication</span> Method of communication

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In any communication, in any medium or format, "subtext" is the underlying or implicit meaning that, while not explicitly stated, is understood by an audience.

Paradigmatic analysis is the analysis of paradigms embedded in the text rather than of the surface structure (syntax) of the text which is termed syntagmatic analysis. Paradigmatic analysis often uses commutation tests, i.e. analysis by substituting words of the same type or class to calibrate shifts in connotation.

In semiotics, syntagmatic analysis is analysis of syntax or surface structure as opposed to paradigms. This is often achieved using commutation tests.

In the broadest sense, a code is a correspondence or rule between patterns. It can be an arrangement of physical matter, including the electromagnetic spectrum, that stores the potential to convey meaning. For instance, the pattern of vibration we call 'sound' when activated within the mind, triggers an image; say the word "cat". Also, seeing the shapes we call 'letters' forming the word makes one think of or visualize a cat. The words upon the screen were conceived in the human mind, and then translated into computer code.

In semiotics, the commutation test is used to analyze a signifying system. The test identifies signifiers as well as their signifieds, value and significance.

In semiotics, denotation is the surface or the literal meaning, the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary.

In semiotics, connotation arises when the denotative relationship between a signifier and its signified is inadequate to serve the needs of the community. A second level of meanings is termed connotative. These meanings are not objective representations of the thing, but new usages produced by the language group.

Decoding, in semiotics, is the process of interpreting a message sent by an addresser (sender) to an addressee (receiver). The complementary process – creating a message for transmission to an addressee – is called encoding.

Encoding, in semiotics, is the process of creating a message for transmission by an addresser to an addressee. The complementary process – interpreting a message received from an addresser – is called decoding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Representation (arts)</span> Signs that stand in for and take the place of something else

Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else. It is through representation that people organize the world and reality through the act of naming its elements. Signs are arranged in order to form semantic constructions and express relations.

In semiotics and discourse analysis, floating signifiers are signifiers without a referent. The term open signifier is sometimes used as a synonym due to the empty signifier's nature to "resist the constitution of any unitary meaning", enabling its ability to remain open to different meanings in different contexts.

Social semiotics is a branch of the field of semiotics which investigates human signifying practices in specific social and cultural circumstances, and which tries to explain meaning-making as a social practice. Semiotics, as originally defined by Ferdinand de Saussure, is "the science of the life of signs in society". Social semiotics expands on Saussure's founding insights by exploring the implications of the fact that the "codes" of language and communication are formed by social processes. The crucial implication here is that meanings and semiotic systems are shaped by relations of power, and that as power shifts in society, our languages and other systems of socially accepted meanings can and do change.

Visual semiotics is a sub-domain of semiotics that analyses the way visual images communicate a message.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multimodality</span> Concept in communication

Multimodality is the application of multiple literacies within one medium. Multiple literacies or "modes" contribute to an audience's understanding of a composition. Everything from the placement of images to the organization of the content to the method of delivery creates meaning. This is the result of a shift from isolated text being relied on as the primary source of communication, to the image being utilized more frequently in the digital age. Multimodality describes communication practices in terms of the textual, aural, linguistic, spatial, and visual resources used to compose messages.

Film semiotics is the study of sign process (semiosis), or any form of activity, conduct, or any process that involves signs, including the production of meaning, as these signs pertain to moving pictures. Film semiotics is used for the interpretation of many art forms, often including abstract art.

References

  1. ↑ Tagg, P (1987). "Musicology and the Semiotics of Popular Music" (PDF). Semiotica. 66-1/3.
  2. ↑ Matusitz, J. "Semiotics of Music: Analysis of Chinese Rock and pop in the Post-Cultural Revolution Era". Conference Papers. International Communication Association.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. ↑ Langer, S.K. (1942). Philosophy in a New Key: A Study of the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art. Cambridge, Mass: Pelican book.
  4. 1 2 3 Chandler, Daniel (2002). Semiotics: The Basics. USA and Canada: Routledge. p. 264. ISBN   978-0-415-36375-4.
  5. 1 2 Lemke, J (2009). "Multimodal Genres and Transmedia Traversals: Social Semiotics and the Political Economy of the Sign". Semiotica. 173 (1–4): 283–297. doi:10.1515/SEMI.2009.012. S2CID   145735885.
  6. ↑ Eisenstein, Sergi (1943). The Film Sense. London: Farber.
  7. 1 2 Bjornberg, Alf (1994). "Structural Relationships in Music Video". Popular Music. 13: 51–74. doi:10.1017/S026114300000684X. S2CID   162389987.
  8. ↑ Chattah, J.R. "Semitoics, Pragmatics and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis". (Doctoral Dissertation). Electronic Theses, Florida State University. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  9. ↑ Peeters, H (2004). "The Semiotics of Music Videos: It Must be Written in the Stars". Image & Narrative. 8 (1760–678X).
  10. 1 2 Vernallis, Carol (2004). Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN   978-0-231-11798-2.
  11. ↑ Bennett, James (2008). Film and Television after DVD. NY: Routledge. ISBN   978-0-203-89429-3.
  12. ↑ Barthes, Roland (1977). Image, Music, Text . New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN   978-0-374-52136-3.
  13. ↑ Corona, V (2011). "Memory Monsters and Lady Gaga". The Journal of Popular Culture. 46 (4): 725–744. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00809.x.
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