Semiotic Analysis of The Film Posters of 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy Tomb of The Dragon Emperor'.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis dua buah poster film petualangan, yaitu The Mummy dan The Mummy Tomb of The Dragon Emperor dengan menggunakan teori Semiotik (Ilmu Tanda). Topik ini bermanfaat karena dapat membantu kita untuk mengerti pesan dalam sebuah poster film.

Dalam menganalisis poster ini saya menggunakan dua buah teori Semiotik untuk mendukung analisis saya, yaitu teori Semiotik yang diformulasikan oleh Ferdinand de Saussure tentang signifier dan signified. Selain itu, saya juga menggunakan teori dari Roland Barthes yang mengaplikasikan teori Semiotik Saussure dengan menambahkan unsur mitos, yang terdiri dari dua sistem yang dinamakan first order dan second order. Saya juga menggunakan teori orientalisme dan teori Kress dan van Leeuwen sebagai teori pendukung.

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APPENDIX

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

As social creatures we need to communicate with one another in our

society. It goes without saying that we need language to speak with other people. Language is important in our life. It is because we use language as the communication system. By means of language, we express our thoughts, imagination, feelings and creativity. This is in accordance with the argument of Saussure, a Swiss linguist who states that language is ‘the most important of all of the systems of signs’ (Saussure 15).

In correlation between language and Semiotics, Saussure argues that

‘nothing is more appropriate than the study of languages to bring out the nature of

the semiological problem’ (Saussure 16). Aside from Saussure, another linguist named Claude-Levi Strauss notes that ‘language is the semiotic system par

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Maranatha Christian University Nowadays people use technology as a way to support language as the communication system. By using technology, we can more easily express our creativity and imagination to reach our purposes.

One way of using technology is in visual signs such as radio, television, films, novels, newspapers, advertisements, pamphlets, magazines, books, photographs, and posters. People use technology, especially visual signs which contain some pictures with a special meaning to express their messages through the signs in the illustrative pictures.

What we routinely refer to as ‘signs’ in everyday life is such signs as road signs, pub signs and star signs (Chandler 1). The signs which are around us can be analyzed in semiotics as it includes the study of all these. Semiotics is ‘the study of signs’ (Chandler 1). Semiotics is not a thing and a name, but a concept and a sound image (Saussure 66). Therefore, the signs can also be visual signs, drawings, paintings, photographs, words, sound and body language (Chandler 1). This thesis is concerned with one of the visual signs, namely a film poster. A

film poster can convey the ideology of the film maker to the audience. In my opinion, it is important for us to discuss the hidden meaning of the pictures in the poster by making a semiotic analysis.

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Maranatha Christian University I take the data from the posters of two adventure films which I find appropriate for my research. I use the posters of The Mummy film series entitled The Mummy and The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I choose those films because they have the same myth, which can be seen from the historical background and the cultural background. In addition, those films are about the battle between good and evil in Hollywood movies.

The significance of this topic is that it can enable people to understand the message of the film by analyzing its poster. The audience can imagine the story and the ideology of the adventure film before deciding to watch the film. It will also enable the film maker to communicate with the audience better and to explain as well as inform the main story of a film simply by looking at the film poster. The research in this thesis deals with linguistics, particularly semiotics. The main semiotic theories that I use in this research are the theories by Ferdinand de Saussure, who creates the two-part model of the sign and those by Roland Barthes, who focuses on the model of signs using myth as a semiological system of sign. Besides, I also use the theory of Kress and van Leeuwen as well as Said’s Orientalism to support the semiotic analysis of the two posters.

(Words : 719)

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In this thesis the problems analyzed are formulated as follows:

1. What semiotic elements are found in the posters of the films The Mummy and The Mummy Tomb of the DragonEmperor ?

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Maranatha Christian University 1.3 Purpose of the Study

This research is conducted:

1. to find the semiotic elements in the posters of the films The Mummy and The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

2. to analyze the myth applied in the film posters.

1.4 Method of Research

In writing this thesis, first I choose a significant topic to analyze. Afterwards, I find the references in the library and browse the Internet to enrich my knowledge about semiotics. I choose the adventure film posters for my data. After that I analyze the film posters. In the end, I write the research report.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I would like to draw a conclusion based on the findings I have in Chapter Three concerning the semiotic elements found in the film posters The Mummy and The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and the myth applied in the film posters.

The semiotic elements found in the film posters can be divided into two parts, namely text and image. Both of the data I use have the text in the form of the titles of the films, The Mummy and The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. These titles are illustrated in a similar way in the posters. They are placed at the top and in the central position. They are also capitalized, which means that the text is very important in those film posters. Moreover, the letter “M” in the middle of the word Mummy in both posters is glowing, which creates

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Maranatha Christian University Another semiotic element in the film posters is the image. When I analyze the data in Chapter Three, I find that both of the data I use have the same elements. They have the Western people, the mummy and the setting, which I think have some similarities as well.

The position of the Western people in both the data is the same; they are placed on the left, which means that they are the context of the story and they are also the important characters in these films. On the other hand, the figures of the mummies in both film posters are always placed on the top and in the central position, which is the focus of attention. This shows that the mummies are the important characters in the two films. It is also supported by the fact that the pictures of the mummies refer to the characters who have considerable power to fight against the Western people. If we see the image of how those mummies are illustrated, I think it can be concluded that the mummies are the bad or the virulent figures.

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Maranatha Christian University The last image found in the posters is the setting. Both posters suggest that the battle is the main story of both films because both the film posters have the setting which shows the battlefield of the Western people and the mummies. When I compare the signifiers of the two battlefields, I find that they have the same signifiers which support the battlefield situation. Those are the soldiers, the fire blasts, and the smoke. Based on the explanation in Chapter Three, the signifiers give a clear impression of the condition in the battlefield.

However, I also find the differences between the two battlefields. It is clear that in the first data the location is in Egypt and it can be seen from the signifiers of the pyramids and the desert. In the second data the location is not so obvious. It may be in China and it may be in other places because I cannot find the Chinese-style buildings or other Chinese-related elements which can support the interpretation that the setting in the second data is in China. The opinion that the setting is in China is concluded from the interpretation of other signifiers, such as the title and the Eastern man in a dragon emperor armor. Therefore, I think the location of the first data is clearer than the second data.

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Maranatha Christian University The next concluding point concerns the myth applied in the film posters. After I have analyzed the signifiers and the signifieds in the first and second orders, I find the same myth, which is the West is always superior to the East. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that the two films are produced by the same producers. It suggests that these films have the same Western mindset.

In my opinion, the myth in the second data is clearer. Here the Chinese mummy is a royal person, not just a common person. He is illustrated as the Great Dragon Emperor, but he is made and illustrated as a bad person with great power. Moreover, this emperor can be defeated by a common Western man who is actually weaker and less powerful than him. Hence, this condition clearly shows the myth that the West is superior to the East.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References:

Barthes, R. Mythologies. New York : The Noonday Press, 1991. Chandler, D. Semiotics : the Basic. London : Routledge, 2004.

Eco, U. Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language. Hampshire: The Macmillan Press Ltd.,1985.

Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen. Reading Images the Grammar of Visual Design. New York : Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.

Said, Edward. Orientalism.New York:Vintage Books, 1994.

Saussure, F. Course in General Linguistics. Trans. Roy Harris. London : Duckworth,1916-1983. Chinese Armor. “Chinese Armor Dingjia Brigandine”. Chinese Swords Guide. 25 February 2011. http:/www.chinese-swords-guide.com/Chinese-armor.html

Dragon Swamp. “Chinese Dragon”.2009. Creature Swamp. 25 February 2011. http://dragonswamp.com/fantasy/Chinese/php

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Manning, Sue. “Unwrapping Secrets of Chinese Mummies” The Associated Press.

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http://www.dailynews/lalife/ci_14769963?source=rss

McClatchy. “Mummies Found in China Shed Some of Their Political Sensitivity”. Tribune News Service. 27 February 2011. http://www.boluderweekly.com/article-3636-mummies-found-in-china-shed-some-of-their-political-sensitivity.html Orcutt, Larry. “Why were the Pyramids Built”. Catchpenny Mysteries. 2006. 25 September 2010. http://www.catchpenny.org/whybuilt.html

Rottgering, Jeroen. “Who were the most uncivilized and the most civilized

people.” Historium. 5 May 2011. 22 June 2011.

http://www.historum.com/general-history/24315-who-were-most-uncivilized-most-civilized-people-2.html

Singh, Amardeep. “An Introduction to Edward Said, Orientalism and Poscolonial literary. 24 September 2004. 26 September

2010.http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2004/09/introduction-to-edward-said.html The Telfort. “Death and the Afterlife”. 26 September 2010. http://www.the-telfords.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/egypt/afterlife.html

Umich. “What are Mummies”. 27 September 2010. http://www2.si.umich.edu/chico/