Semiotic reading essay example

Semiotic reading involves the art of reading and interpreting signs thus assigning them particular meanings and themes (Elam, 2002). Semiotics is categorized into three branches. The syntactics which involve the study of signs and their mutual relationship, pragmatics which studies the effect the relations between signs have on people and semantics that denote the relationship between a given sign and its referent (Elam, 2002).
In this particular cinematic frame, the branch of semiotics to be employed in bringing out the meaning inherent in the frame is syntactic. The cinematic frame denotes a political meeting that is fully dominated by men. There is only one woman present. Only her back is emphasized denoting that she is not really significant in this political meeting. The meeting is largely patriarchal even though it seems as if the woman was addressing the men since they are seem to be looking at her attentively.
The color scheme used in this cinematic frame is favorable of the male gender. The female gender prefers bright colors and bright environment that signify some sort of being soft. Men on the other hand prefer dull colors like black that signify lack of fear and possession of strength.
The room organization and the furniture present signify that this was largely a patriarchal political meeting. Women it seems are only allowed a partial opportunity to air their views but the decisions are left to the men.
The manner in which the building is built is also gender biased. The walls seem to be rough with bare stones on which no plaster is applied being visible. This is also an indication that this is largely a male dominated political meeting. The posters showing various sections of the world maps are a characteristic of male dominance. Women would have other pictures hanged on the wall rather than maps posters. This frame in general brings out the theme of gender imbalance and male dominance as evident in the world’s political sphere.

Elam, K. (2002). The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. London: Routledge.