Semiotics

Above is the original theatrical poster for the first ever ‘Star Wars’ instalment. It signifies a fantasy/ sci-fi film, one of the most celebrated sci-fi franchises of all time at that. The signifier is a hand rendered collage of all the main characters featured in the film, with the title ‘Star Wars’ placed just below and to the right. The signified is broken down into the denoted; the Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo characters battling the cloaked and shrouded mysterious character that is Darth Vader, and the connoted; the ever present struggle between good and evil forces whilst a rag-tag group of accomplices and sidekicks, who pose no actual reason to be there, stand by and idly watch whilst others fight battles for them.

Star Wars has become probably the biggest sci-fi / space franchise of all time, with competition at the time from the likes of Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ features, and more recently the child orientated ‘Harry Potter’ series. It was first released in 1977 and fast became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. However this was not known at the time, therefore the utmost effort had to be put into the correct composition and portrayal of certain characters.

The poster promoting a film is always vital as it is the only opportunity to gain prospective viewers to buy into the premise that is being sold. It must be visually engaging and somehow communicate the complex plot within a single frame. This is probably why so many different aspects and scenarios are depicted within this example. Whereas in more recent years if I or anyone else were to see just a singular image of one of the aspects shown, varying from the entire character of C3PO to the most specific detail of Princess Leia’s hair style, we would know what is being communicated.

The most obvious subconscious message that is being connoted is the striking difference between the characters. For example the subtle way in which Luke and Leia are dressed all in white, a colour traditionally associated with all positive connotations such as purity and innocence. Whilst Darth Vader in the background is cloaked from head to toe in black, which is more often that not closely linked with death and all round negative connotations. It is also interesting to see how Han Solo, a character who was introduced as a ‘reckless mercenary’ only interested in serving himself, but turned out to be inherently good, is dressed in predominantly black with a strong white highlight. Other aspects that require analysis is the simplicity of the logo in the bottom right corner. It may seem like a simple sans serif design with stars in the background, but it actually connotes the now infamous ‘scrolling text’ beginning of the first feature film. This is communicated by distorting the simple two word phrase so that it is smaller at the top than the bottom.

As time has gone on and more Star Wars films were released and subsequently more posters put into production, many things featured have disappeared but also many denotations have remained. For example the star-lit sky background has featured in all posters, connoting the vast unexplored space in the universe and the mystery that surrounds it, to the constant inclusion of objects like ‘light-sabers’ and ‘spaceships.’ On the surface these may simply denote technology, but ultimately connote something much deeper like the gradual overpowering of the modern world and how machinery and things we can no longer control will take over all we know now.