Blog Post 3

Having gone through all the AP English classes in high school, I had become accustomed to analyzing text. I could pick apart paragraphs and chapters to find the deeper meanings behind them, but I didn’t ever try to analyze visual media, especially not movies and TV. After learning about semiotics, I have been picking apart what I’m watching. I now take more time to think of the many choices that are made to make the entertainment. I’ve always known the music behind a TV show or movie is conveying the emotion that they want you to feel, but I never thought about paying closer attention to it, or even omitting it altogether. I look at how scenes are lit in a different way. The shadows or brightness can really say a lot about the characters, setting, scene. In one show I saw recently, I noticed a character’s face half covered in shadow after they had made a decision for ‘the greater good’ that would end up killing some people. All the other scene’s this character was in were lit where we could see her face. Before this class, I wouldn’t think deeper into why they would do such a thing in the TV show. I would be more annoyed that I couldn’t see her face, rather than realizing it was hinting at the terrible thing she was letting happen. I’m excited to learn even more in this class to improve my skills at analyzing media, now that I can already see my view changing.