Communication
The first exercise we did was quite interesting; some people had to turn away from the front of the lecture hall so people behind could explain an image to them, which they had to draw according to the other persons instructions. I was one of the people that had to turn around, my end result wasn't too far off surprisingly. This exercise showed the use of communication by means of an end result. You could see how well someone was able to communicate what was on screen and in how much detail, this exercise also showed how people interpret information they are given (which is in essence Semiotics) by comparing the drawn images to the original.
We were then introduced to the basic principles of Communication;
- A common language is needed to communicate (Vocally - English etc. or another form i.e. Binary)
- You must have two points in which the information is moved between, these are called the Transmitter and Receiver.
- The channel is which the information is carried is called the Medium.
- If the message has changed between transmitter and receiver then is has been effected by Noise (i.e. static on the radio)
Semiotics
* Semiotics is a science that was proposed in the early 1900s by the Swish Linguist; Ferdinand de Saussure and the American Pragmatist; Charles Sander Piece. Saussure believed there was no relation between the Signifier and the Signified. Piece believed there were three kinds of signs and the group in which the sign was allocated was as result of how the Referent (sign) and the Meaning are connected.
We then moved on to Semiotics which was explained in a few ways; The Study of Meaning, Sign Interpretation/ How we Process signs. My personal interpretation is, Semiotics is the process of observing and interpreting signs relating to a subject matter.
Firstly the two main aspects of semiotics were explained;
- Signifier, Physical presence (word or symbol)
- Signified, Meaning carried (actual thing or mental concept)
C A T 
*The word CAT is meant to signify the idea of a cat (right) however the fact that this is an image of a "Cat" also makes it a signifier itself. They are however different kinds of signifiers.Our lecturer then spoke about different kinds of Signifiers; Iconic and Arbitrary (Symbolic).
Example From above;
-An image of a Cat is classed as iconic because it has a strong relation to the original subject (it is essentially a direct representation of the cat) but can still be classed as slightly arbitrary as it is not completely true to its origins (its just a picture i.e. doesnt share the same mass as a real cat).
-The word CAT is more arbitrary then an image because it does not represent the cat fully (does not look, sound, smell etc. like a cat) but still has the initial notion of representing one.
In my own time I looked a little closer into this subject, I looked at Charles Sander Piece's idea of three different kinds of signs; - Iconic *resembling the sign/similarity (photos, maps, diagrams)
- Index *refer to the actual link *no similarity (i.e. a logo of a battery to indicate how much battery life for a phone is left)
- Symbol *word/text *can be governed by law, rule, culture, convention, religion
Examples of Semiotics
Semiotics are used in everything as a way of processing information and interpreting it to make a conclusion about something.When looking at the text bellow you would assume by the font and composition that it is derived from a comic book or maybe even cartoon.
You would assume that the Sepiroth bellow is a "bad guy" or "villain" because of his costume; wears black, the shapes in his clothes are pointed/jagged, the red detailing (assuming red symbolizes danger). A less obvious representation is the "one wing" which is black and represents a fallen angel (although you wouldnt necessarily know this unless you already knew the character). You could perhaps also tell he is a villain by his expression and his stance.
*To help me better understand Semiotics I looked at youtube video entitled; Semiotics: the study of signs, created by Matt Dewey, Erin Monnie and Eddie Cordtz.
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