CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Previous Studies
The previous study is needed to research since it helps the writer research and the next researcher. Previous studies provide the example of how to do the analysis and conduct research in good research quality. It also has the function of a guide for new research findings. In conducting this research, the writers review some previous studies related to the topic to support the analysis.
Kasih & Fitratullah (2018), in their research entitled Minority Voices in Power Rangers Movie: A Study of Popular Literature, found the signified meaning from five heroes in Power Ranger movies. This study aims to respond to the controversial issues toward the movie Power Rangers considered harmful for children and expose some critical issues related to minority groups. These issues links to liberties which include freedom of life stated in United States’ Bill of Human Right. This research applied Barthes’s semiotic and Stuart Hall’s representation theories. Research result shows that the minority voices reveal the positive image of minority groups such as the powerful and independent individual. Then voices also portray courage, confidence, humanity, care and love, friendship and teamwork, trust and support, justice and anti-bullying. Those issues become the center of the acceptance of color people and the right of LGBT represented by some characters. This study revealing some images which were contributes on how the author analyze the scene based on
the picture order in the analysis, moreover Barthes theory is used in the analysis.
This study gives more information how to analyze using semiotic approach and Barthes theory. The analysis of connotation and denotation contributes on how to use the same approach in analyzing Robin Hood (2018) movie.
Ridwan did the other research (2013) entitled Analysis Semiotic in the Novel
"POISON" by Sara Poole applied the semiotic theory to analyze signs in the novel.
In his study, he interpreted signifier and signified and Poison's meaning in the novel using the semiotic approach. He used the qualitative method to do the research. The researcher found that two parts of the semiotic theory were signifier and signified.
Nineteen signifiers and signified were found in her research. He concluded that the poison meaning inside the novel was a conspiracy. He also applied Barthes's theory of semiotic. In the form of the qualitative method, he found some words that implied the meaning of poison. He classified and arranged the data using a table of analysis.
Ridwan's thesis has different from this study as he interpreted poison in a different meaning from the film interpretation. This study contributes for giving enlightment for conducting research using semiotic approach and Barthes theory which focus on sign, signified, signifier and myth.
Another previous study was done by Sinha (2017) in his journal entitled The Ideology of Inception. In his research, he applied Marx's capitalist ideology and combined Roland Barthes semiology to analyze the Inception movie. He discussed the idea of mythology that explains the bourgeoisie and proletariat in the film. He
tried to explore the idea of capitalism that unconsciously understand what the real meaning was. He stated that through the evocation of dreams and memory, the unconscious substrate that forms the basis of human subjectivity reveals capitalism's ideological and mythological character. Sinha’s study emphasizes his curiosity on ideology while this study focuses on the new finding of bourgeoisie and proletariat after semiotic reading from the film. This makes this study contribute for this thesis in applying Marxist and Barthes Semiotic theories to analyze Robin Hood Movie.
Another previous study by Putra & Widyastuti (2014) entitled 123 Class Struggle as the Impact of Oppression Seen in Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty focuses on the oppression of the high class toward the lower-class. This study applied the Marxism theory to do the research. The findings classified the high-class society (bourgeoisie) and the lower class (proletariat). They found five members of the proletariats by showing the proof of conversation on their findings. On another side of the capitalist or bourgeoisie, two characters are classified as the capitalists. This study applied the qualitative method. The study's result stated that society is divided into two classes: the capitalist and the proletariat. The capitalists are the employers and the one who has power. The other one is the proletariat, who acts as the worker.
The gap leads to the proletariat's struggle to improve their lives since the capitalists cannot provide it. Putra & Widyastuti’s finding on their research mainly reveals on capitalist and proletariat’s issue while this study centers on bourgeoisie and proletariat issue by semiotic approach. This study helps the author to analyze
bourgeoise and proletariat in Robin Hood movie which the class system in this movie is clearly seen.
2.2 Semiotic Approach
This study applied semiotic theory to analyze sign and symbol in the movie and the form of analysis in the movie is interpreted from sign, images, and scenes. This study needs semiotic theory to analyze the movie. In some literary works, the semiotic approach is applied to portray and find the meaning of sign in certain literary works (Kardiansyah, 2016). Chandler (2007) defined that semiotics is a science or method of analysis for examine signs. Signs are the tools we use in trying to find a way in this world. Interpretation means that objects carry information, in which case they want to communicate, and constitute a structured system of signs.
Things in this world are a sign and there are lots of things that have no intrinsic meaning. They can be signed if we invest them in meaning. Barthes (1986, p. 12) stated that sign could be in images, gesture, musical sound, etc.
Barthes uses the denotative and connotative levels of meanings to analyze the signs in the visual object. Bouzida (2014) stated that denotation is what all individuals see without referring to their ideology, culture or philosophy. Therefore, the basic meaning of visual signs is called denotation meaning and stated as the first level of significance. Connotation describes the interaction that happens when the sign encounters the emotions or thoughts of its users and the values of their society.
Roland Barthes (1986) claimed that “connotation is itself a structure that includes
language, meaning and the mechanism that unites the former with the latter” (p.
10). He also adds that the study of sign in this semiology subject has aim to understand any system of signs from images, gestures, musical tones and objects.
The application on Barthes’s semiotic theory can be explained in the figure below.
Figure 1. The Example of Barthes’ Level of Signification Source: Gonsalves (2010), adapted from Barthes, The Fashion System
In explaining the level of signification, Barthes theory actually breaks down the process of reading the sign (Barthes, 1986). It focuses on its interpretation derived from what it lies in cultures or societies. According to Barthes, a sign has a marker, namely the physical form of the sign as we perceive it through our senses and which is signified, or the meaning that is interpreted. According to de Saussure, Barthes' semiotic theory is almost primarily obtained through language theory and has more important role in film studies. In film studies, the sign system works more to interpret the behind meaning from the movie displayed. Ferrell (2000, p. 53) stated that a film could utilize a particular theme to connect symbol with the action in the scene. That symbol which "may or may not be directly associated with the action
connects in a superconscious or subconscious or abstract sense to amplify the meaning or theme" (Ferrell, 2000, p. 53).
2.2.1 Definition of Sign
Sign is the relationship between an object or idea and a sign, and symbol signifies something other than itself to give meaning. Signs can be accessible or received through our senses. In every activity and human behavior, signs will transmit information or written messages (Sobur, 2006, p. 64). Moreover, Barthes (1986) clarifies that a sign in this context is something that refer to covey some meaning according to the sign that occurs.
Graham (2004, p. 41) stated that through a new definition of words or the sign, the relationship between language and the world. A sign is made up of a signified and a physical signifier. The signified is the mental concept, not the object or activity.
There are two signs that are caused by people in addition to signifier and signified.
There are two types of signs: verbal and nonverbal. A gesture is a nonverbal sign, while a vocal sign is an utterance.
2.2.2 Signifier and Signified
Barthes' theory is closely tied to Saussure's. Sign has two entities, according to Saussure: signifier and signified. This is the distinction between Saussure and Barthes, despite the fact that Barthes uses Saussure's signifier-signified. According to Barthes (1986, p. 114)
contents can be given to them. Here are a few examples: for Saussure, who worked on a particular but methodologically exemplary semiological system - the language or langue – the signified is the concept, the signifier is the acoustic image (which is mental) and the relation between concept and image is the sign (the word, for instance), which is a concrete entity Both a signifier and a signified are required for a sign to exist. A completely meaningless signifier or a completely formless signified are not possible. A sign is a recognizable combination of a signifier and a particular signified. A single signifier could be used to represent several separate signifiers.
2.2.3 Definition of Myth
Barthes (1986, p. 114) stated that myth is a way of thinking about things in a culture, a way of perceiving or understanding something. The myth, according to Roland Barthes, is a collection of interconnected ideas. This idea of how the people perceiving something according to the history that they know. The role of myth, as Barthes explains, it is to expose the signs to show what appears to be determined by history.
Myth is also called as popular belief. Barthes is rather specialized one of the terms of myth refers to a chain of concepts widely accepted throughout a culture, by which its members conceptualize or understand a particular topic or part of their social experience. (Barthes, 1986, p. 115)
From the figure above it can be described that, the first order of language argues that when a signifier/denotation is added to a signified/connotation, it becomes a sign/meaning. When signifier/denotation is combined with signified/connotation, myth is formed.
2.3 Marxist Theory
This study applied the Marxist perspective to focus the class issue especially the bourgeoisie and proletariat in the movie. Marxist is then not considered as approach and is applied to delineate the bourgeoisie and proletariat issue rotten from materialism society. Castle (2009, p. 109) stated that Marxist is "a form of dialectical materialism". It is specifically derived as "specific forms of labor and production" (Castle, 2007, p. 109). Marx and Engels (1964, p. 12) also clarify that social forces such as materialism believe in only money and possessions, and anything can happen. Moreover, materialism claims that all social realities are essentially material, that they originate and exist in particular forms of labour and production, and that the history of society is the history of dialectical transformations in the labour-production relationship. Thus, materialism is creating reality through the process of contradiction to gain absolute truth and movement.
According to Marx and Engels (1964, p. 14), Marxist is well known by the history of class struggle, and the terms are familiarly called bourgeoisie and proletariat. The bourgeoisie is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of social production and employers of wage-labor. Moreover, Marx and Engels also clarify that”The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural superiors," and has left remaining no other nexus between other individuals” (Marx & Engels, 1964, p. 42). Next, the proletariat is noted as the class of modern wage-labourers having no means of production of their
own and reduced to sell their labour-power in order to live. Moreover, they become an aspect of the machine, and all that is required of them are the most basic, monotonous, and quickly acquired skill. As a result, a worker's cost of production is almost entirely limited to the means of survival that they need for their maintenance and the propagation of his race. Which means all of their production is restricted for their own.
The notion from Marx and Engels implies that the bourgeoisie is someone who has total control over the workforce's actions and all property and benefits. In comparison, the proletariat consists entirely of workers who do not have the freedom to own what they do. Marx and Engels' statement refers to the economics gaining in society which sometimes becomes issue in film production. Filmmakers mainly work and explore cinema and filmmaking’s production as an economic and ideological institution through Marxist lens (O’Regan, 2008, p. 249). This means that film in Marxist perspectives contributes more to delineate the ideology of the class system.
Marx was well-known about the system of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. There are some distinctions between these two-class systems. The bourgeoisie, “who own the factories and businesses and form the ruling class,” and the proletariat, “the mass of workers who are exploited by this ruling class,” are two classes distinguished by responsibility for the general public in everyday life. (Marx &
Engels, 1964, p. 8). Moreover, the distinction exhibits a gap in the social, monetary
levels. People could not get away from the fact that social order is divided in the way it is. This discrepancy between different social orders becomes the primary goal of social layers later on. The bourgeoisie, in this context, refers to those who dominate the generation of money. The fact will assist cash when talking about the bourgeoisie. This situation demonstrates how the bourgeois are individuals who own processing factories and partnerships and significantly impact the general public, including both the bourgeoisie and the lower class. (Marx & Engels, 1964, p. 16).
Meanwhile, the proletariats are “the exploited and oppressed class (Marx &
Engels, 1964, p. 8)” by the bourgeoisie. The proletariats must work as though they are slaves, despite the reality that they are not. They are forced to survive because of their work hours and the lowest settlement allowed by law. They are becoming the object of injustice by the bourgeois society that hires them to work in one manner or another. They turn dormant because they are unable to perform anything.
Because the proletariat does not take chances in the progressive development, the working class is always becoming a subordinate group. It usually does what comes naturally to them, with no effort to participate. The person in issue may be a member of the lower class. They are inactive because they cannot control and lead any progressive development. (Seldon, Widdowson, & Brooker, 2005, p. 98)
2.4 Cinematography
For the study, the writer uses the film as an object. It is deciding the film in this study as an object of analysis because the film is one of the literary works with certain aspects distinct from other literary works. Another literary work, all represented in the form of text, such as novels, poetry, and short stories, while films use stage play to go through. The film is known on “a par with sculpture, music, literature, and drama as a strong and unique medium of art” (Boggs & Petrie, 2008).
Boggs and Petrie (2008) stated that it is a special art that makes a distinctive difference in visually conveying the plot. It is almost unique to cinematography in this case of film, which can help audiences see how the film can be unique and distinct from other literary works. Nicholson (2010) noted "the element of filmmaking that determines how the story's world is visually presented to the film audience." This aspect of cinematography can allow the viewer to tell the story that satisfies the audience and can believe that the situation in the movie is actual.
(Pramaggiore & Wallis, 2008). As the issues in this study are seen from all movie aspects, there are some aspects in cinematography need to clarify.
- Camera Positioning/ Camera Angle.
Camera angle is the position used to take or shot an object and create a sense of visual between one shot and another. Boggs & Petrie(2008, p. 152) stated that “The angle from which an event or object is photographed”. It implies that camera angle is an important factor in cinematic composition. .
- Camera Distance/ Shot
According to Pramaggiore & Wallis (2008, p. 139) "Camera distance or shot refers to the space between the camera and the subject which can determine how emotionally involved the audience and the character". This camera distance and shot are one of the cinematography aspects to support the movie in convincing an action of character in the certain distance camera position.
It means that distance like broad, close, narrow and medium will introduce the shot location scene and character with a panorama in a film.
- Lighting
Nicholson (2010) stated "lighting is regarded as being motivated when accords to the natural behaviour of light, by being cast from light behaves in reality". It implies that lighting is very important, especially in film because it is needed to create a strong effect on the characters and the environment in the movie. Boggs & Petrie (2008) also adds that lighting is divided into three high-key and low-key aspects and natural lighting.
- Sound
Boggs & Petrie (2008, p. 268) stated, "sounds plays an increasingly important role in the modern film because it is here and now, in reality, relies heavily on three elements that make up soundtrack: sound effect, dialogue and musical score”. It implies that sound is needed in providing the level of meaning and the situation lake make it real. Sound is divided into three aspects, dialogue, sound effect, and music.
- Dialogue
Dialogue is the first aspect of sounds and it is important in telling the story.
Dialogue is the typical stage play that is extremely important elements, and it is essential that audience hear almost every single word of the dialogue (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p. 258). The dialogue is represented as the medium in delivering the story in which the dialogue will give some information to other characters and the audience. If we see the dialogue in excellent control, the audiences will be pleasure in watching the movie and have a clear visual image of the movie.
- Sound Effect
Sound effect in the next part of the sound exists in film or cinematography.
This aspects contribute the essence in order to create certain emotion that depends on the scene illustrated. Pramaggiore & Wallis (2008, p. 253) noted,
“Sound effects can contribute to the emotional and intellectual depth of a scene in three ways.” In other words this sound effect helps the audience imagine the situation and the environment in the actual setting.
- Music
Music in film scores is the last aspect of sounds. Pramaggiore & Wallis (2008, p. 260) stated, “Most narrative films rely on music to engage the audience's attention, yet the same music threatens to make the artificiality of any film obvious.” In telling the story, music plays a relevant element since music helps the audience know how to interpret the mood of a scene.
