Semiotics in Science Fiction Films

Paper Summary:

This paper explores science fiction films. It particularly discusses semiotics and how it expands our understanding of popular culture and visual signs in our mass media culture. The paper argues that modern cinematic technologies allow directors an unprecedented capability to shape the visual cinematic codes and iconography of their works and thereby multiply the levels of signification upon which their films operate.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Cinema of the Mind's Eye
Special Effects and the Post-modern
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"In this regard, the assertion that "films are metaphorical mirrors of life" (Danesi 88) is placed under significant pressure as the "real-life activities" (Danesi 88) that are represented in the science fiction film increasingly bear no connection at all to real-life as we understand it in the modern world. In particular, with the advent of digital technologies, entire cinematic environments can be created in which - while the characters are still recognizably human and have human concerns - the visual signification is alien to anything in our existence. In this way, science fiction films can be seen as visual signs of postmodernity, simulating a reality so perfect that it is indistinguishable from our own and yet, at the same time, utterly alien, that it calls into question our understanding of reality itself."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Craig, J. Robert. "Establishing New Boundaries for Special Effects: Robert Zemeckis's Contact and Computer Generated Imagery." Journal of Popular Film and Television, 28 (2000), 158-168.
• Danesi, Marcel. Messages, Signs and Meanings: A Basic Textbook in Semiotics and Communication Theory. Third Edition. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 2004.
• Greenwald, Jeff. "Trumbull's Vision." Wired. January, 1997.
• Kuhn, Annette. Introduction. Alien Zone: Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema. London: Verso, 1990, 1- 14.
• Searles, Baird. Films of Science Fiction and Fantasy. New York: AFI Press, 1988.

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