Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Objects in Films: Analyzing Signs
Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7631-6608
2009 (English)In: Contemporânea: Revista de Comunicação e Cultura, ISSN 1809-9386, Vol. 7, no 2Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The focus of this essay is the analysis of daily objects as signs in films. Objects from everyday life acquire several functions in films: they can be solely used as scene objects or to support a particular film style. Other objects are specially chosen to translate a character’s interior state of mind or the filmmaker’s aesthetical or ethical commitment to narrative concepts. In order to understand such functions and commitments, we developed a methodology for film analysis which focuses on the objects. Object interpretation, as the starting point of film analysis, is not a new approach. For instance, French film critic André Bazin proposed that use of object interpretation in the 1950s. Similarly, German film theorist Siegfried Kracauer stated it in the 1960s. However, there is currently no existing analytical model to use when engaging in object interpretation in film. This methodology searches for the most representative objects in films which involves both quantitative and qualitative analysis; we consider the number of times each object appears in a film (quantitative analysis) as well as the context of their appearance, i.e. the type of shot used and how that creates either a larger or smaller relevance and/or expressiveness (qualitative analysis). In addition to the criteria of relevance and expressiveness, we also analyze the functionality of an object by exploring details and specifying the role various objects play in films. This research was developed at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada and was supported by the Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada (DFAIT).

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2009. Vol. 7, no 2
Keywords [en]
Film analysis; Methodology; Communication
National Category
Media and Communications
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-39306DOI: 10.9771/1809-9386contemporanea.v7i2.3643OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-39306DiVA, id: diva2:1202551
Available from: 2018-04-27 Created: 2018-04-27 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full text

Authority records

Gambarato, Renira R.

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Gambarato, Renira R.
Media and Communications

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 730 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf