Blog #3

The biggest change for me is I’m noticing just how dense everything seems to be with semiotics. After having to scan the first episode of Once Upon a Time, I’m unable to watch anything now without seeing different signs and symbols. 

One of the first ways I’ve noticed it this week was while surfing YouTube. The thumbnail photos for most YouTube videos are action shots of what happens in the video. The choice to portray the most climactic part of the video in a single image drew my attention, and often times I’d watch a video just to see that once moment that was shown in the thumbnail image.

I realized that thumbnails for YouTube clips (or any other for that matter) are essentially the same as a movie trailer. They give you the best part to hook you, and sometimes what’s in the thumbnail isn’t even in the video! Which also happens in movie trailers more often than you’d think.

I’ve also noticed it in the TV shows I love so much. In fact, I’ve noticed a lot of foreshadowing semiotics, which I’m only noticing because I’ve seen the shows so many times I know what happens in all the episodes. I never even began to think that there could be semiotics that we don’t even consciously recognize at first, but later everything seems to fit so perfectly and we don’t realize how the writers did it.

Honestly it’s more frustrating than helpful. Looking behind the curtain is ruining the magic.