Semiotics

This is the film poster of The Breakfast Club. I use semiotics to study the signs which are in the picture.

 

A denotation that I can see is that the boy on the far left is wearing a much more casual outfit than the other four characters shown in the picture. From this I use connotation to make me understand things about the picture. I can understand that the boy on the left seems to be some sort of rule breaker and doesn't seem to have much care, from his laid back outfit, as well as this he has grown his hair out long, making it seem as though he has not put much effort into how it looks. The colour red can represent negativity, and he is the only one which is wearing this colour. He is also showing an unhappy emotions on his face, making it also seem as though he is not happy and once again showing that he is negative.

 

The second person in from the left is a girl who is sitting on the floor. The girl is sitting in a hunched up position making herself look nervous and shy. She also has her hood up, as though this will help to hide and cover her face so that she is not noticed. Seeing as she is sitting down it makes it seem as though she is not as important as the other characters, who are physically higher up than her, and makes them seem as though they are more superior. Her clothing is dark and dull and often includes black, this makes her look quite gothic and almost quite scary, or different compared to the other characters which are wearing bright colours.

 

The middle character is in blue, this is a calm colour, this shows that he is quite a chilled character. The way in which he is standing makes him look as though he thinks he is more superior than the other characters that stand beside him. This is because he is standing with his arms crossed and is right in the middle of everybody. He also has a sporting type jacket on which shows that he might have some sort of authority in the school and be respected by others.

 

The girl who is standing two in from the right is wearing a pink top, this seems as though it is quite an innocent colour, this therefore makes her look quite pure and makes her seem as if she is quite well behaved. She is definitely the most well dressed out of all the characters and seems as though she is posing for the picture. This could mean that she has a lot of money and she clearly thinks that she is better and more superior to the others by the way she is standing in the picture.

 

The boy on the far right is wearing a green top, this can represent freshness, this makes him seem as though he is a well behaved boy. He is the only one out of the group of five which actually looks reasonably happy, and is actually making an effort to smile for the picture. He seems as though he is not trying to make an effort to stand out among the others next to him, unlike the other characters. This is because he is standing upright, with his hands behind his back and is not trying to draw much attention to himself.

 

It also seems as though the boy and girl in the middle of the photo are in some kind of relationship as they are very close together in the picture.