Star Wars III Textual Analysis
[pic] (Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith n.d.)
Star Wars III DVD cover- Textual analysis
Communication is imperative to the life of our culture. Fiske (1990:2) describes communication as “the production and exchange of meanings. It is concerned with how messages, or texts, interact with people in order to produce meanings”. All humans instinctively look for meaning amongst countless forms of texts all the time, whether it be in television commercials, friends ' fashion sense or architectural structures. However, I will be providing an analysis of the signs within the text Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith in the form of a DVD cover. A textual analysis makes an educated guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might …show more content…
The characters displayed on the front of Star Wars III assist the audience in creating a likely interpretation of the text 's intended meaning. The visual design shows an ascending formation of four serious-faced characters, shadowed by a menacing figure in the background. Three of the characters in the foreground of the image are facing left and appear to be human, while the other extra-terrestrial being has its back turned to them in the other direction. This deliberate positioning represents a sense of conflict (Harrington, 2013b) or a clash of morale, thus working in relation with the title of the film and it 's signification of good versus evil. Most viewers would determine that the evil is represented in the form of the alien. Although there is an arbitrary connection between aliens and wickedness, it can be noted that Western Society has long held the notion that the unknown is something to be feared, as proven by alien commentators (Bowman, 2007). Similarly, the relationship between the human characters and the dark figure in the background could easily be interpreted as a representation of good and evil, stemming from cultural symbolism. The three humans are presented under a luminous, white light, which can be interpreted as them being upright and pure, while the dark figure behind them is deliberately masked in black, signifying evilness or …show more content…
The first and most obvious sign is the “DVD video” logo appearing on the bottom-right side of the image. This small symbol works circumtextually to indicate that this is a digital video disc and not a CD. Circumtextual framing relates to the material immediately surrounding the text (Harrington 2013a). Another sign that reveals the cover 's DVD format is the horizontal banner running across the top of the page reading “THX: Digitally mastered for superior sound and picture quality” (Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith n.d.). Not only does this boast the film 's enhanced feautures, but it also tells the audience that this text has audio and visual qualities, which are the primary elements to a motion picture. The “THX” symbol indicates to viewers that have extratextual knowledge, or dependent knowledge unspecified by the text (MacLachlan, Gale, Reid, 1994:3), that this brand as an audio-visual enhancement seen in various other motion pictures . From a wider cultural context, both the “DVD” and “THX” symbol may not carry such meaning within countries that have limited access to technology. The “M” symbol on the bottom-left corner of the movie poster gives insight into the text 's format and genre. Most viewers in Australia would immediately recognise this conventional sign as a national classification seen on plenty of other DVD 's and hence see
Star Wars III DVD cover- Textual analysis
Communication is imperative to the life of our culture. Fiske (1990:2) describes communication as “the production and exchange of meanings. It is concerned with how messages, or texts, interact with people in order to produce meanings”. All humans instinctively look for meaning amongst countless forms of texts all the time, whether it be in television commercials, friends ' fashion sense or architectural structures. However, I will be providing an analysis of the signs within the text Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith in the form of a DVD cover. A textual analysis makes an educated guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might …show more content…
The characters displayed on the front of Star Wars III assist the audience in creating a likely interpretation of the text 's intended meaning. The visual design shows an ascending formation of four serious-faced characters, shadowed by a menacing figure in the background. Three of the characters in the foreground of the image are facing left and appear to be human, while the other extra-terrestrial being has its back turned to them in the other direction. This deliberate positioning represents a sense of conflict (Harrington, 2013b) or a clash of morale, thus working in relation with the title of the film and it 's signification of good versus evil. Most viewers would determine that the evil is represented in the form of the alien. Although there is an arbitrary connection between aliens and wickedness, it can be noted that Western Society has long held the notion that the unknown is something to be feared, as proven by alien commentators (Bowman, 2007). Similarly, the relationship between the human characters and the dark figure in the background could easily be interpreted as a representation of good and evil, stemming from cultural symbolism. The three humans are presented under a luminous, white light, which can be interpreted as them being upright and pure, while the dark figure behind them is deliberately masked in black, signifying evilness or …show more content…
The first and most obvious sign is the “DVD video” logo appearing on the bottom-right side of the image. This small symbol works circumtextually to indicate that this is a digital video disc and not a CD. Circumtextual framing relates to the material immediately surrounding the text (Harrington 2013a). Another sign that reveals the cover 's DVD format is the horizontal banner running across the top of the page reading “THX: Digitally mastered for superior sound and picture quality” (Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith n.d.). Not only does this boast the film 's enhanced feautures, but it also tells the audience that this text has audio and visual qualities, which are the primary elements to a motion picture. The “THX” symbol indicates to viewers that have extratextual knowledge, or dependent knowledge unspecified by the text (MacLachlan, Gale, Reid, 1994:3), that this brand as an audio-visual enhancement seen in various other motion pictures . From a wider cultural context, both the “DVD” and “THX” symbol may not carry such meaning within countries that have limited access to technology. The “M” symbol on the bottom-left corner of the movie poster gives insight into the text 's format and genre. Most viewers in Australia would immediately recognise this conventional sign as a national classification seen on plenty of other DVD 's and hence see