Theory and Hermeneutics

Useful tools for evaluating cinema:

1. Christian Metz and the channels of communication:

• Image
• Text & Graphics: diegetic
• Text & Graphics: extra-diegetic
• Sound: dialogue
• Sound: diegetic effects
• Sound: extra-diegetic

2. Semiotics

• Sign: Signifier (word), Signified (idea), Referent (thing)
• Symbol, Icon, Index

3. Barthes' Image meanings

• Denotation - the unaugmented, direct meaning of the image. What are you seeing?
• Connotation - the story of the image. What's happening?
• Myth - the cultural baggage informing the image. What influences its meaning?
• "Third meaning" - (often) against the grain extra meanings that bubble up to the surface.