Structuralism and Film in Film Essay

According to Phillip Rosen in Narrative Apparatus, Ideology: A Film Theory Reader, "The syntagmatic is comprised of the rule-governed relationships among signs present in an actual, concrete signifying "chain" such as a sentence; it is the realm of combination. The paradigmatic is constituted by the relationships among all the possible…alternatives to each element of a signifying chain; it is the realm of substitution." In film, this sort of opposition is somewhat diminished because the director of a film dictates how the signifier is represented in a film with a unique image that is representative of the director believes the signifier is signified. Because of the uniqueness of an image within the context of a film, they cannot be substituted; substitution has the potential of changing the meaning of the film's narrative, which would alter the director's vision.Structuralism is beneficial in helping to deconstruct the different elements that make up a narrative and how the images chosen to represent thoughts and ideas within cinema are selected. However, structuralism requires that viewers be formerly familiar with the nuances of a particular genre or that they be willing to learn the constructs of different genres in order for a structuralist approach to be successful in cinema.

Works Cited

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Phillips, John William. "Structuralism and Semiotics." National University of Singapore. Web. 4

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Rosen, Phillip. Narrative Apparatus, Ideology. A Film Theory Reader. New York: Columbia

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Thompson, John. "Structuralism and its Aftermaths." The Cinema Book. Edited by Pam Cook.….....