! " # $
% &
) * +
* , - . /
+ +
0 /
1 + *
2 0
*
* 3
3 /
0 3 * * /
) +
/ 4 * *
+ 0
/
) * 0 +
/ 0 + * +
/ 4 * *
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODECTION
1.1 BACKGROEND OF THE STEDY
Nowadays watcding movies already becomes a dobby cor almost
everyone. Tde society is already cond oc movies. Tderecore, tde competition
between many movie productions becomes very tigdt. Tdey will advertise tdeir
movies in many ways to make people watcd tdeir movies. One oc tde ways to
advertise movies is by using movie posters. A movie poster is an important
element in advertising and selling tde movie because tde audience is expected to
look at tde movie poster cirst becore tdey decide wdicd movie tdat tdey are going
to watcd.
Generally, besides a picture and a title, a movie poster also das at least one
tagline wdicd is a slogan cor a movie. Tde tagline wdicd we usually cind in a
movie poster is used by tde movie production to convey wdat tde movie is all
about (Dirks, Great Film Tagline). Tde tagline das a big important role in a movie
poster because tde tagline can also become anotder element wdy people cdoose to
watcd a movie. A good movie poster also das a great tagline; tderecore, people can
In tdis tdesis I will discuss dow semiotic elements oc romance movie
posters reclect tde stories oc tde movies. I cdoose tdis topic because I am
interested in studying semiotics oc movie posters. By studying it, we can get more
understanding on tde concepts or tde messages in tde movie posters. Sometimes
some movie posters are really vague and dard to understand. It is because tde
semiotic elements wdicd are badly composed in tde movie poster cannot convey
wdat tde movie is all about. Tdus, I also tdink tdat a tagline is very important to
support an attractive movie poster in advertising tde movie.
Tde data cor tdis tdesis are movie posters wdicd belong to tde romance
genre. I will analyze two romance movie posters tdat dave one tagline eacd cor
tdis researcd. Tdey are Notting Hill and Fireprooc movie posters. A romance
movie is a movie wdicd cocuses on passion, emotion, and tde romantic and love
relationsdip oc tde leading cdaracters wdo do wdat it takes to make tdem become
togetder. Furtdermore, romantic relationsdips, daily tensions, temptations, and
diccerences in tde relationsdip dave become parts oc tde plot oc romance movies
(Dirks, Romance Films). I cind tdat tdis kind oc movies is interesting because it
involves many emotions wdicd are expressed by tde cdaracters. Tde emotions are
delivered to someone tdrougd cacial expressions, body gestures, postures, and
voice tones (Vedder). In my opinion, tdese elements can be considered to be signs
since tdey contain some meaning bedind tdem, wdicd are tde emotions wdicd
someone ceels. Tdus, in my opinion, in order to make a romance movie poster
attractive and communicative, a romance movie poster needs semiotic elements
and an appropriate tagline.
In tdis tdesis, I analyze tde semiotic elements in two romance movie
posters. Tde analysis belong to a semiotic study, wdicd is a part oc Applied
Linguistics. Semiotics is “tde study oc signs” (Cdandler 1). In Eco’s Semiotics and
tde Pdilosopdy oc Language, Peirce declared tdat “a sign is sometding wdicd
stands to somebody cor sometding in some respect or capacity” (Eco 14). I tdink a
movie poster is also a sign because it takes tde corm oc words, images, postures
and so on. Tdose semiotic elements in a movie poster can be considered
sometding tdat “stands cor sometding else” (Cdandler 2). Tdus, in my opinion, a
good movie poster sdould consist oc semiotic elements wdicd can lead tde viewers
oc tde movie poster to understand tde movie concepts.
Tdere are two dominant model oc analyzing signs. Tde cirst one is tde
dyadic model proposed by a Swiss linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure. Tde dyadic
model states tdat a sign is cormed by signified and signifier (Cdapman 147). Tde
otder model, tde one I will use in tdis tdesis, is proposed by Cdarles Sanders
Peirce. He is an American pdilosopder wdo proposed tde triadic model and
relativity tdeory. Peirce’s triadic model presents tde relation oc representamen,
interpretant, and object. Tde relativity tdeory states tdat a sign can be divided
into tdree elements oc semiotics, namely icon, index, and symbol. Tdese two
tdeories are quite diccerent but tdey support eacd otder in a semiotic study.
Tde signicicance oc tdis topic is to give some incormation concerning tde
semiotic elements in romance movie posters. Tde tdesis will delp tde readers to be
aware oc tde signs in movie posters so tdat tdey can dave better interpretations
about tde movies. By reading tdis researcd, tde readers can get an understanding
my tdesis will also give some usecul incormation about semiotic elements cor tde
students oc tde Englisd Department to make good and communicative tdeatre
posters cor tdeir drama percormances.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Tde semiotic study on some romance movie posters elaborates tde collowing
problems:
1. Wdat semiotic elements are cound in eacd romance movie poster?
2. How does tde poster reclect tde story oc tde movie?
1.3 PERPOSE OF THE STEDY
Tde purposes oc tdis study are to:
1. cind out wdat semiotic elements are cound in eacd romance movie poster.
2. cind out dow tde poster reclects tde story oc tde movie.
1.4METHODS OF RESEARCH
In doing tde researcd, cirst, I did a library researcd to cind some books oc
semiotics and cdoose tde tdeories wdicd will support tde tdesis. I also read some
academic journals about semiotics taken crom tde Internet. Second, I limited tde
genre oc tde movies to be discussed. Acterwards, I analyzed two romance movie
posters. Finally, I drew some conclusions crom tde researcd.
1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
Tde cirst cdapter is tde Introduction, wdicd consists oc tde Background oc
tde Study, Statement oc tde Problem, Purpose oc tde Study, Metdods oc Researcd,
and Organization oc tde Tdesis. Cdapter Two contains tde Tdeoretical Framework,
wdicd is about tde tdeories tdat I use to analyze tde data. Cdapter Tdree is tde
Analysis oc Romance Movie Posters as Linguistic Signs. Cdapter Four is tde
CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
In this chapter I would like to draw some conclusions after doing the
analysis of the semiotic elements in romance movie posters. It is true that a movie
poster is one important element of a movie. Besides representing the story of the
movie, a movie poster is also an important part of promoting the movie.
Therefore, a movie poster needs semiotic elements in order that it can attract
people to watch the movie and they can interpret what the movie is all about.
The main story of the movie can be communicated through elements of
semiotics in its poster, such as pictures as an icon, taglines and title as symbols,
and colours. These elements of the poster support and interact with each other so
that the main story can be reflected.
Having analysed the data, I find that the existence of a picture as an icon
of a movie poster is important because people can interpret the story of the movie
more easily through the picture than through words or sentences. Although
through the picture we can easily get an interpretation about the movie, the picture
may also lead us to some interpretations; some people may even get the wrong
interpretation. This is so because, as it is said, a picture is worth a thousand words.
In addition, the function of a picture in a movie poster is also crucial
because it makes the poster look more attractive. Generally, people will look at
the picture in the movie poster before they look at the other elements. Therefore,
in my opinion the picture of the movie poster has to be as unique as possible. That
is so because the picture of a movie poster takes an important role in promoting
the movie itself.
The colours in the movie poster may also have meanings behind them.
Although sometimes there are some colours which are a little bit difficult to be
interpreted, the use of the right colour to represent a concept needs to be
accounted for. It is because the colours of a movie poster need to be carefully
chosen in order not to mislead anyone.
The title as the name of the movie should be well presented as it is an
important part of the movie. It is because the title is the name of the movie
through which people will call and remember the movie. Since the title is to
distinguish the movie from the other movies, the title of the movie should be
unique and easily remembered. Moreover, the title should also reflect the concept
of the movie. For example in the second data, the title Fireproof is very unique
because it uses a picture of a pair of wedding rings to replace the letter “o” and the
title also reflects the main concept of the movie.
The tagline is also an important element of a movie poster in revealing and
promoting the movie. This is so because in my opinion, besides the picture, the
tagline also becomes an attractive element in a movie poster. Therefore, besides
representing the concept of the movie, the tagline has to be attractive to make
movie poster does not reveal the main story explicitly. In my data we cannot find
a tagline which uses a clear and explicit statement about the movie. Instead, they
use a question and advice to give us a hint about the story of the movie. For
example, the first data, Notting Hill, uses the tagline in the form of a question to
represent the concept and make people curious about the movie. Moreover, the
message of the movie can also be presented in the tagline. For example, the
tagline of Fireproof movie poster uses a piece of advice as a message of the
movie.
Furthermore, the tagline can support the picture of a movie poster. Since
the picture is worth a thousand meanings, the tagline can help restrict it so as not
to be interpreted too broadly. On the other hand, although a picture can represent
many meanings, there are some concepts which cannot be expressed by a picture
alone. Therefore, the tagline and the picture can support each other to present
these concepts.
From all the above explanation, I find that the existence of each element of
semiotics is important because each element cannot stand on its own. In other
words, one semiotic element needs the other elements to support it. Therefore, the
interaction of semiotic elements will build a solid sign, that is a movie poster as a
representament which can make people have the interpretant of an object, that
is the movie itself.
I also find that sometimes a movie poster does not show an important
concept which exists in the movie because of the promotional purposes or a
private and sensitive thing like religion. Since one of the purposes of a movie
poster is to attract as many people as possible, the movie poster needs to exclude
something which can make people reluctant to watch the movie even though it is
an important concept which exists in the movie.
Since the movie poster is very important in promoting the movie, the
movie producer should be careful in making the movie poster. The movie
producer should communicate the concept of the movie in unique and attractive
ways in order to attract people to watch the movie. Besides being good and
communicative, the movie poster should also have advertising values. For
example, the information about the other successful movie which is produced by
the same producer who produces the movie.
In analyzing the romance movie posters, I find some difficulties. The first
difficulty is that I find that movie posters in romance genre use many figurative
concepts, for example in the first data, Notting Hill. The figurative concepts are
the large picture of a woman, which means she is an important person, the colours
of the woman which show her characteristic, and the picture of the woman
without her whole body, which is interpreted that she hides something.
The clearer example of the figurative concept is in the second data,
Fireproof. After watching the movie, we will know that the fire in the poster does
not mean a real fire but problems in a marriage. Although the figurative concept
can make the poster unique and attractive, this may also lead people to have the
wrong interpretation. Sometimes I find myself facing a difficulty in interpreting
and explaining the figurative concept and its meaning in the poster. The other
difficulty is that each element may have various meanings which have to be sorted
The first thing to reconsider for students who will use semiotics to discuss
movie poster data is that they have to be very careful in doing the analysis. Since
there may be figurative concepts in the poster and each element may have various
meanings, they have to be elaborated very carefully. The students also have to
watch the movie repeatedly in order to produce in-depth analysis and avoid
skipping some meanings in each element.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2004.
Chapman, Siobhan. Philosophy for Linguists: An Introduction. London:
Routledge, 2004.
Chijiiwa, Hideaki. Color Harmony: A Guide to Creative Color Combination.
Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers, Inc, 1987.
Eco, Umberto. Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language. Hampshire: The Mac
Millan Press LTD, 1984.
Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2007
Websites
Dirks, Tim. “Great Film Taglines.” Filmsite. 2008. American Movie Classics
Company, LLC. 14 March 2009
<http://filmsite.org/taglines.html>
---,trans. “Romance Films.” Filmsite. 2008. American Movie Classics Company,
LLC. 15 March 2009
Vedder, Julie. “Emotion.” Answer.com. 2008. Answer Corporation. 15 March
2009
<http://www.answers.com/topic/emotion>
Underwood, Mick. “Semiotics-Saussure” Docstoc. 5 March 2010. 17 April 2010
<http://www.docstoc.com/docs/27657423/Semiotics---Saussure>
Irvine, Martin. “Semiotics, Communication, and Cultural Theory: Basic
Assumptions.” Semiotics and Communication. 1998. 1 April 2009
<http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Semiotics_and_Co
mmunication.html>
Richard Curtis Biography (1956- ). 2009. NetIndustries, LLC. 8 December 2009
<http://www.filmreference.com/film/27/Richard-Curtis.html>
Imdb.com. 2010. The Internet Movie Database. 28 March 2010
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129423/>
“Rose Colors.” Online Dating Magazine. 2010. 21 April 2010
<http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/columns/datingtips/rosecolors.html>
