Analysis of the Film “La La Land” Poster

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Denotation: definition and application
Icon
Connotation: definition and application
Index and Symbols: definition and application
Myth: definition and application
Ideology: definition and application
Incorporation of research/reading material within analysis
Conclusion
References

Introduction

In the film industry, writers and directors have a direct message they desire to pass to their audience. Thus, when creating the movie’s plot, they always consider their audience and how they will interpret the literature. A single poster can pass this message by using key semiotic concepts. This element will give an ideology of film through simple pictorial presentations. However, the presentation will vary from one individual to the other depending on their knowledge of the symbols used. This element, if well presented, will explain the whole movie and create an expectation for the audience before watching. Although movie producer use different key semiotic concepts to pass their message, the film La La Land uses this aspects in its poster to communicate its ideology.

Denotation: definition and application

The naming of the film La La Land (2016) is a denotation of the movie, giving a literal meaning to the movie. The movie’s title is named after the slang name for Los Angeles, California (De Luca Picione and Valsiner, 2017). Denotation is the use of the literal understanding of an aspect while giving names of titles. The city of Los Angeles, California, is known for its pleasure and best sceneries. However, in the film, it is presented as being out of touch with the reality of the actors.

The movie’s plot shows the main characters having a common desire to do what they love most. Therefore, they are risking many opportunities to increase their satisfaction. However, as they continue growing their careers, they are left in the reality of choosing between their career and love. Hence, the movie’s literal translation to Los Angeles presents the characters as out of touch with reality and having to choose between reality and fantasy.

Icon

An icon resembles its referent in semiotics, including pictures which are a graphic representation of something. The features might portray the exact item in reference or give a representation that can be directly associated with the subject (San-Martín, Delgado-Bolton and Vivanco, 2017). For example, in the movie poster for La La Land (2016), the icons portray images of the two lead actors in the film. The actors are close to each other, hinting at a relationship they exhibit in the film where they are lovers in the art setup. Further, they dance with the acts they perform in the movies regularly. Additionally, the poster picture is taken from the top of the building capturing the city of Los Angeles, California, the city in which the movie is based.

Connotation: definition and application

Connotation is the second interpretation of an act or objects different from its literal meaning. It is the opposite of denotation since it has or describes a hidden meaning represented by the object. For example, the title of the film La La Land is secondary and can be interpreted as Los Angeles, California. However, the city is known to house actors and many businesses making it bigger. With many activities happening in the town, the participants are growing their careers, which affects their relationships. Additionally, the title of the movie can be translated as out of touch with reality. However, the impression turns out to be false because the actors are subjected to reality where they must make tough life decisions.

Index and Symbols: definition and application

Movies do not present messages directly to their viewer in their posters; thus, they use indexes and symbols to hide meaning. The approach will raise curiosity among the subscribers who plan to watch the film to understand the entire meaning (Bowcher, 2018). Using an index will create a connection between the signifier and the signified subject, while symbols represent a hidden meaning to a given act.

The film La La Land uses a spotlight on its poster, which shows perspective and zooms in, focusing on one subject. The spotlight is further depicted in the movie when Mia, the lead actress, and Sebastian first meet. The spotlight focuses on Sebastian creating the illusion that Mia could only see her and did not care about the rest of the people in the hall. Additionally, the color blue on the poster symbolizes classical Hollywood that many aspiring actors dream of achieving, just like the lead characters are working towards achieving their career goals.

Myth: definition and application

Movies could present myths in their plot to pass a particular message to the audience. However, the message could be distorted or invalid, thus requiring audience contribution and interpretation. The myth in the film is referred to as a paradigm used to create an illusion and a particular representation of the subject, although it might be wrong (Langdridge et al., 2018). For example, the film poster shows two close characters dancing together, creating an illusion of love. However, the poster has the phrase “here is to the fools who dream.” When combining the phrase and the whole poster, the myth is that the city of Las Angeles, California, is a city full of enjoyment and love. In the end, this myth turns is wrong since there are struggles in the city.

Ideology: definition and application

While creating a movie plot, directors and scriptwriters present a given ideology to be interpreted by the audience. The idea is achieved by combining a series of events or subjects to represent and pass the desired message (Muşat and Andonie, 2020). Thus, ideology is a body of ideas which represent individuals and class within a video clip. For example, considering the poster of the film La La Land conveys the message of love through its pictorial presentation where two individuals of the opposite sex dance together, expressing joy.

Additionally, the poster creates a theme of serenity and relaxation. The primary color used is blue, representing classical Hollywood, where many aspiring actors dream of and want to live. The city is considered to be flooded with exciting activities and simple life. Further, the posters show stars and a spotlight, which show light and present the dream of romance. However, the creator warns by writing that “here is to the fools who dream,” which should be considered a warning. This caution shows that individuals are likely shocked by the reality they will encounter.

Incorporation of research/reading material within analysis

When producing any art, movie directors and producers must conduct research regarding their subjects. The film depicts the exact activities that are experienced by people in the world thus becoming relevant (Black et al., 2017). The whole poster depicts the expectations people have regarding the city of Los Angeles, California proving that the production team conducted prior analysis before the actual video production. The title of the movie is well studied and analyzed to suit the act with poster portraying the literature that needs high knowledge to interpret.

Conclusion

To sum up, movies have different styles of presenting their message. Some styles and elements are replicated in every movie, primarily through posters. Posters, if analyzed carefully, present the whole message in the film; thus, it is unnecessary to continue to watch the movie. However, directors know the literature behind movie posters; they add symbols, icons, and indices which will create an illusion and admiration of the movie hence watching the whole movie. Therefore, film industries should always consider examining the symbols in their posters and how they relate to the movie before posting them to the public using this analysis. Further, they should know their audience because different groups interpret the message of the literature differently. Lastly, each person should know that each film poster presented has a different and unique meaning that the creator wanted to pass; hence cannot be considered and interpreted literally.

References

Black, H., Rubinstein, R., Frankowski, A., Hrybyk, G., Nemec, M. and Tucker, G., 2017. Identity, Semiotics, and Use of Symbols in Adult Day Services. The Gerontologist, 58(4), pp.730-738.

Bowcher, W., 2018. The semiotic sense of context vs the material sense of context. Functional Linguistics, 5(1), pp.

De Luca Picione, R. and Valsiner, J., 2017. Psychological functions of semiotic borders in sense-making: Liminality of narrative processes. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 13(3), pp.532-547.

Langdridge, D., Davis, M., Gozdzielewska, L., McParland, J., Williams, L., Young, M., Smith, F., MacDonald, J., Price, L. and Flowers, P., 2018. A visual affective analysis of mass media interventions to increase antimicrobial stewardship amongst the public. British Journal of Health Psychology, 24(1), pp.66-87.

Muşat, B. and Andonie, R., 2020. Semiotic Aggregation in Deep Learning. Entropy, 22(12), pp.1365.

San-Martín, M., Delgado-Bolton, R. and Vivanco, L., 2017. Role of a Semiotics-Based Curriculum in Empathy Enhancement: A Longitudinal Study in Three Dominican Medical Schools. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, pp.

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