Cruella is an American 2021 crime comedy film staring Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil from The One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Set during the punk rock movement of the 1970s, the film focuses on Estella, an aspiring fashion designer as she explores the path towards becoming an up-and-coming fashion designer known as Cruella de Vil.
Barthe's semiotics theory creates the idea of texts presenting their meanings through a process of signification, as well as this, Barthes believed that signs had both a signifier, which is the physical form of the sign as we perceive it through our senses and or meaning that is interpreted. Barthes also believed that every ideological sign is either a Denotative sign system or a Connotative sign system.
Barthe's codes include the following:
- Action Codes
- Enigma Codes
- Symbolic Codes
- Semantic Codes
We can apply Barthe's idea of 'Enigma Codes' to this poster, this creates the idea of texts portraying mystery to attract an audience. Instantly, we hear Cruella stating 'I saw the world differently than everybody else, that didn't sit well with some people' as the scenes instantly reveals the.... other villain. From this, the audience becomes curious about the relationship between the main protagonist and the villain, the fact that she is shown within the first couple of shots indicates the importance of their rivalry. Shortly after this we see Cruella with a close up shot of a concoction, creating a mysterious atmosphere.
Barthe's idea of 'Semantic Codes' refers to the use of connotations to give the audience an insight into characters or settings that we learn to read through our knowledge on representations and narratives which could be as simple as connotations of certain colours used. At one memorable scene, the protagonist sets her white gown on fire revealing her red, self-designed dress. The colour connotates danger, which highlights her characteristics, as typically a red dress worn by a female signifies sexuality, power, confidence and strength in media texts.
Comments