Introduction, Semiotics and Anchorage

I took Media Studies as one of my four AS Levels this year. I am very interested in the media, and particularly in films. I think that Media Studies will help me to understand more about how films and things in the media are made. I believe that looking at other aspects of the media will help me expand my understanding and knowledge of how things in the media work.

In lesson we learnt more about symbolism and 'codes' and how semiotics is the science of signs. For example, you could take a picture of a spiders web on a red background.

The spiders web would suggest that a spider would be near by, which could be seen as a symbol of warning, danger or fear. The red background could be a connotation of fear or danger, making the spidersweb warning more urgent. However, if you put a rose on a red background, the red would signifry lust, or of love, which the rose would emphasise. This shows how something reasonably small would change the entire effect of symbol.

The same would apply to films and things in the media. Something as seemingly minor as background music can change the entire effect of the piece, giving it a dramatic or relaxing feel.

Anchorage is used because the viewer/audience is said to be "all at sea" in a media world full of potential meanings... there is no such thing as a "fixed meaning". The best a media producer can do is to anchor the audience around preferred readings. The most obvious form of anchorage is a caption.