Signs and Signifiers

Having learned the basic Sign= Signifier + Signified concept, I found it quite clever how ideas and thoughts can be planted into the audiences head with the use of signs in different contexts. The idea can’t be directly controlled; the audience are free to interpret signs and events as they will, but you can offer strong signifiers that will most likely be interpreted in the desired manner.

Reci Reci Reci Michaela Pavlatova 1991

We were shown this animation that makes use of arbitrary signifiers such as physical speech bubbles, and using puzzle pieces slotting together to illustrate a conversation going smoothly. The appeals here, is as the characters only communicate via imagery and simple sounds, that even though there is a setting, the media text can still be understood and appreciated by anyone of any nationality. I personally find this kind of story telling a lot more powerful than those driven by a heavy story line; I think I’m driven more by the emotive side of things. I can hopefully make the audience think in a similar manner for future animation work I produce. The art style of the above clip links very well with the way in which the story is told. The signifiers are extremely abstract, so it makes sense that a very abstract, illustrative style be used to accompany it, and it works.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the art direction until I realised how appropriate it was with regards to abstract story telling method. I like the imagery used a lot more as a story telling device rather than just a pretty picture.