Narrative and Games

Narrative and Games

In this lecture we looked at how signs have particular meanings and how we interpreted these signs with their meanings.

Ferdinand Saussure

Signifier – Denotation: - Marks on paper, Sound in the air, An Object. (A real physical entity)

Signified – Connotation: - The mental concept in my mind when I hear the sound, look at the object.

(A cultural experience)

The Iconic Sign

This is where you look at a photo and you think or know they look like a person that you know i.e. seeing an actor play different kind of roles but still know who the actor is initially, this is easily explained by Johnny Depp as he is known to play many types of characters.

We can also look at this with signs on toilets in public, we know which sign goes with which as they represent a person or object this giving us the knowledge on which one to use and which ones we can’t.

A diagram can also represent an object but the diagram will not be an exact interpretation. This is best describe with the map of the London underground as it does not have the exact distance mapped out but it shows upcoming stops and changes.

The Symbolic Sign

The letters do not look like a ca t, the word is not the ‘sound’ of a cat. The relationship to the creature is established by Convention.

Conversation

The more symbolic the signifier, the more conventional the sign is. This is where you are having a conversation and using words the other person will know what you are talking about. Cat is the same as Clog they are both signifier of a cat (the pet), but showing the picture of a cat will then become signified in the conversation.

Misinterpreting Signs – Anchorage

This is where according to the information we get we can interpreted what is going on in a particular image. This will be different every time if we had an image of a car and we told someone this is a getaway car from a robbery, this will have a lot more to say when it comes to why this car was selected for this particular job. Thinking about speed or even its ability to blend in with other cars. This will be different if we told the person this the car was for a new car company, they will then think about how the car can be used is it suitable for everyday use, thinking about cost efficacy and spay more than speed or looks.