Communication Theory

Notes taken in lecture
As a Visual Communicator I am always looking at the possiblities of communicating a message effectively and trying to answer important questions which will make my work more successful such as

'who say what to whom in what channel with what effect' Harold Lasswell's maxim

This is a quote from Lasswell on the different stages of Communication such as

Who is the communicator?
What is their message?
How are they communicating?
and who are they communicating to?

According to theorists there are 7 different communication theory traditions which are:

Rhetorical-key theorists Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero
Semiotic- Key Theorists Saussure, Barthes, Eco
Phenomenological-'' '' Husserl, Merleau-Ponty
Cybernetic/information systems-'' '' Shannon and Weaver, Chang-Gen Bahg
Socio-Psychological- '' '' Cialdini, Petty, Zimbardo
Socio-Culture- '' '' Vygotsky, Rogoff
Critical- '' '' Bourdieu, Faocoult

We communicate everyday and because we transmit these messages to and from each other verbally, it has been proven that communication can be miss understood due to the process it goes through whilst travelling from one brain to another. There are 3 different potential communication problems-

Technical-Accuracy
Semantic-Precision of language
Effectiveness-Does message effect one?



Shannon and weaver's model of communication explains how this process happens.



Image taken from
www.shkaminski.com/Classes/images/Shannon-Weaver%20model.gif-26/02/2010

This model explains how communication works
Info source-Brain
Transmitter-Mouth
Channel-message travels through noise interferance
Receiver- ears
Desination- Brain which makes a meaning out of what has been said

As you can see there is a long process in which the message goes through and so this is why Claude Shannon's suggest that this is why the meaning behind the message can be interfered with. http://stevefournier01.tripod.com-26/02/2010


John Berger also suggests that seeing things a certain way can be altered by our life experiences.

'The way we see things is affected by what we know and what we believe'- John Berger

Semiotics is also a system language which communicates to us on a sub-concious level everyday-As Daniel Chandler gives an introduction to Semiotics and its key thinkers he says
'Semiotics is the study not only of what we refer to as 'signs' in everyday speech, but of anything which 'stands for' something else. In a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gestures and odjects'-Daniel Chandler, Semiotics for beginners

To get me thinking about the communication theory I decided to look at narrative within film and look for any of the communication traditions to try understand the film better.

Thinking about narrative
Narrative originates from old folktales and nursery rhymes which have developed over the years into books, films, and other forms of visual communication, but the meanings and messages behind these narratives are something which have lasted throughout time.

Jonathon Young said in his article:Once upon a time.
How fairytales shape our lives.Inside Magazine fall 1997
"we see that all the characters can represent aspects of our own personalities. These tales are psychological mirrors and we become more complex as we mature. The storytellers intentionally loaded the adventures with heavy symbolism to reveal more meanings as we develop a deeper awareness of ourselves. Bedtime stories have enormous influence over our identities. People identify with certain characters in the stories they heard in childhood. To some degree, many live out these stories, largely unaware of how much the old tales may be shaping our lives."
"We must hold them (stories)ct gently for a time until they deliver their message to us. The effects of what we learn might well last for a lifetime."http://www.folkstory.com/articles/onceupon.html

From reading the article I found that the reason why Romantic Comedies continue to be successful although very repetitive in theme, plot, and style is because they appeal to our deepest dreams and hopes which have been manipulated by ideology.
We could associate this behaviour with the socio-psychological and socio-cultural communication tradition where one behaves a certain way through being influenced by society for instance. In this case it is saying we grow up with certain expectations of ourselves because this is what we are told should happen at such a young age and we conform to that.

Looking at film Romantic comedies in particular they all seem to be based on ideals to we have created and society has now become transfixed on the idea that this is what is supposed to happen in real life to be truely happy.
When we listen to a story or we watch a film which has derived from a folktale (e.g romantic) it always contains character types which are based on what we see as ideals and appeals to us, whether it be heart throb/damsel in distress/villan and we naturally want to be statisfied by a film/program and we always want a happy ending. This movie is amongst many movies brought out each year which all share a similar theme. Looking at Rom-Coms you can see a theme there is always a boy and girl at logger heads who eventually fall in love what ever happens in the middle just bulks the film out, there is no surprises the same things happens in them all. This trend within these films and stories have resulted in us becoming transfixed with life being about growing up, finding love and living happily ever after. For most of us we see it as an essential stage in life for one to remain ‘normal’ and to be happy. These ideas have been passed down through generations of Fairytales and into society.

This is where we can see how this type of film may communicate a different message to its audience depending on gender and cultural experience and expectations. A woman for instance will relate and interact with a romantic comedy differently that to what a man will simple because of her life experiences as a woman, because of the expectations society have of women which has had an infulence on her behaviour, and because of the way she interacts with others this is the phenomenological tradition.

'We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves. Our vision is continually active, continually moving, Continually holding things in a circle around itself, constituting what is present to us as we are'- John Berger pg 9

I did an informed analysis on How to lose a guy in 10 days and this was very benificial as it encouraged me to think about how visual language is used within films, to create a mood, or to give an underlying message to its audience. This proved quite effective as I was able to think about the semiotic denotations and connotations throughout each scene.

2003 Romantic Comedy, How to lose a guy in 10 days, directed by Donald Petrie.
The film what made an estimated £11,009,445.28 worldwide is based on a self help book that has the same name and written by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long.
The film was produced and distributed by Paramount pictures and released on the 7th February 2003 in the USA. Releasing a film of this sort, around Valentines Day was a tactical marketing strategy.

The film itself is based on a journalist Andy Anderson (Kate Hudson) who is bored of her job, which entails writing ‘How to’ articles for the company magazine Composure. To persuade her boss to let her write more freely about more important things she sets herself a task in which she has to date a guy for 10 days where she has to do ‘all the things women tend to do wrong’ and record her experiences for the article. In the hope other women will learn from it (her friends).
On the other hand Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey) tells his boss he can make any girl fall in love with him. Showing how confident he is about this statement, he allows his female colleges to choose a random woman of their choice (Andy) who he will date. To prove she has fallen for him he will bring her to the company ball.

Without seeing the movie, reading the synopsis and looking at the poster for the semiotic tradition you can see that it gives a lot away about what kind of film this is going to be.
These are two Characters who have set themselves similar tasks but at opposite ends of the scale.
You can imagine they will be playing a game of tug of war throughout the film which is obviously going to create tension.The synopsis gives a lot away about the characters as well, you can imagine Andy being quite intelligent, Independent, popular and career minded. Whilst Benjamin being quite a man’s man, arrogant, egoistic and confident.
Looking at the poster there are also obvious signs that these two characters will not get on as their backs are against each other, but still they are showing some interest in the opposite sex as their expressions show. We are able to pick up these semiotic signs and are able to understand what the movie is communicating because in the real world we learn through experiences and through what culture teaches us that green means go and red means stop, and we pick these connotations and denontations sub-conciously.

"Semiotics tells us things we already know in a language we will never understand."
--- Paddy Whannel




The film gives a clear out line that Andy is being forced to be this stereotypical ‘hair headed blonde’ who uses her female attributes and attractiveness to get the ‘how to’ articles done. But you actually find having a good intellectual career is all she wants.
This character type gives you the impression the Director has based her on the ideals every man wants, but also the idea that ever man has, about women being able to turn on/off the ‘I’m a woman’ button. Ideology and the scientific study on the male species has also taught us that men are attracted to a certain ‘type’ of woman, with blondes (stereotypical idea) being the most attractive and fun (Andy). This ‘type’ not only refers to a sexy and good looking woman, but also a woman who can take care of herself and who is intelligent (Andy).

John Berger also suggests in his book Ways of seeing:

'Women are depicted in quite a diffrent way to men-not because the feminine is diffrent from the masculine- but because the 'ideal spectator is always assumed a male and the image of a woman is designed to flatter him' pg 64

The character Ben on the other hand also shares the same drive, but having all the stereotypical traits women think all men have such as ‘egoistic, arrogant, foreign body, and macho man’. Our own life experiences tell us these two characters are not going to get on and as it goes, Women are from Venus and Men from Mars, the story follows on with this trend.

The lighting, colours and costumes throughout these scenes are very gender distinguished too. There are colours such as blue for male shots and softer oranges and reds for female shots with these also being the brighter lit shots too.Their costumes are also very formal and serious until you see them falling for each other where their cloths start to get looser and softer.
The camera shots show a lot too as they very rarely share a shot until the turning point of the film. This all works towards giving the viewer a certain feeling and message of conflict within the film and the film does it exceptionally well.

'Seeing comes before words. The child looks and regognizes before it can speak'John Berger pg7

I would definitely say this film is more appealing to women, but I also can’t help thinking it is an insult to women. In my opinion it is just another film to add to the chain of films, which women are slaves to feeling like they have to live up to. Being based on a self help book, just like the 1950’s how to be a good wife mag, it’s a modern version of how the incapable woman can improve herself.
With it being said that these ‘Stories’ are something we can all relate to it on so many levels, there is nothing challenging about its narrative or hidden concept. It is just a film about an unrealistic but ‘ideal’ take on life between the sexes and is very much gender driven.

These films will continue to be popular with movie goers because they appeal to our inner dreams and expectations of ourselves and society. Creating certain techniques such as semiotic signs, theme, songs, settings, camera movements, sounds, lighting, and editing effects communicates something and allows the audience to connect in some way to what they are watching whilst also making a judgement based on their own situation, and attitude towards culture and society.

Bibliography
http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/~cbybee/j201/overheads/whannel_quote.htm-semiotic quote-04/02/2010
handouts on Visual Language.
Communication theory lecture notes
Reality V’s Hyper-reality and The Gaze Critical Study lecture notes
Web
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306734/synopsis
http://www.imbd.com-reviews/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005028/ -K, Hudson movie profile/biography
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000190/ -M, McConaughey movie profile/biography
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251127/ - How to lose a guy in 10 days movie profile
http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/how_to_lose_a_guy_in_10_days/ - Reviews.
http://www.folkstory.com/articles/onceupon.html-article by Jonathan Young, Inside Magazine, fall 1997.
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/LOSEG.php- Budget and earnings
http://www.the-numbers.com/people/directors/0DPET.php- Donald Petrie profile/biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_film_theory
www.boxofficereviews.com
www.youtube.com/ trailers
-The lord of the rings: Return of the king
-The matrix Reloaded
-spy kid 2
-Somethings gotta give.
Filmography

(Romantic Comedies)
How to lose a guy in 10 days directed by Donald Petrie.
Somethings gotta give trailer- Directed by Nancy Meyers

(Epic Fantasy)
The lord of the rings :Return of the king trailer- Directed by Peter Jackson

(Action/Adventure virtual realty film)
Spy Kid Trailer- Directed by Robert Rodriguez

(Science fiction)
The matrix Reloaded- Directed by the Wachowski brothers
Stephen M. Fournier. http://stevefournier01.tripod.com/hist/hist-6.html-%2026/02/2010
Young Jonathan. Once upon a time, how fairytales shape our lives. Inside magazine. 1997
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. The british broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. London. 1972
Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics for beginners. www.aber.ac.uk/media/documents/s4b/sem01.html. 26/02/2010
Paddy Whannel http://jcomm.uoregon.edu-quote/. 26/02/2010