Denotative and Connotative Meanings in Movie Posters

Home , Bloodaxe (character), Fandral, Magni (character), Volstagg, Zeus (Marvel Comics)

DENOTATIVE AND CONNOTATIVE MEANINGS IN MOVIE POSTERS

OF MARVEL COMICS COMPANY: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

A THESIS

RINI SAFANTA

REG. NO. 140705007

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA

MEDAN 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I, RINI SAFANTA, DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS

THESIS EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS

THESIS. THIS THESIS CONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED

ELSEWHERE OR EXTRACTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A

THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR OR AWARDED ANOTHER

DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S WORK HAS BEEN USED WITHOUT

DUE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IN THE MAIN TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS

THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF ANOTHER

DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION.

Signed :

Date : May 25th, 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

NAME : RINI SAFANTA

TITLE OF THESIS : DENOTATIVE AND CONNOTATIVE

MEANINGS IN MOVIE POSTERS OF

MARVEL COMICS COMPANY : A

SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

QUALIFICATION : S-1/SARJANA SASTRA

DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH

I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR

REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES,

UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT

USERS ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR OBLIGATION UNDER THE LAW

OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA.

Signed :

Date : May 25th, 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, praise and gratitude I send up only to Allah SWT who has given the mercy, the blessing, guarding, and guidance in my life, especially in accomplishing this thesis. This thesis is written as a partial accomplishment of the requirements for S1 Degree of English Department at Faculty of cultural studies,

University of Sumatera Utara. Shalawat and salam are presented to the prophet

Muhammad SAW, the greatest leader who brought human beings from the darkness to the light one.

It is also impossible to be accomplished without guidence, support, motivation, change, valuable knowledge from many people whose name can not be mentioned. First, the writer would like to express her sincere gratitude to the Dean of

Faculty of Cultural Studies, Dr. Budi Agustono, M.S., the Head of English

Department Dr. Deliana, M.Hum and the Secretary of English Department

Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M. A., Ph.D., for the encouragement and valuable advice during her study in this faculty until the writer finished her study. The writer also would like to express the gratitude to the Bidikmisi scholarship, for giving me the chance and finance to finish this four academic years in University of Sumatera

Utara.

Second, her special gratitude goes to the Dr. T. Thyrhaya Zein, M.A as her supervisor and Dian Marisha Putri, S.S., M.Si as her co-supervisor for their valuable advice, knowledge, patience, guidance, motivation constructive comments and the previous time spent on the process writing and finishing this thesis. Gratitude also goes to the lecturers, the administrative staff for the kindness, encouragement, patience in accomplishing this thesis.

vii

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Deepest gratitude, appreciation, respect and honor are presented to the writer‟s dearest family. Budi Setiawan and Rusmiati, the writer‟s beloved parents for becoming the source of the most influential prayers, motivation, support, encouragement and unconditional love. My beloved brothers Darwis, A.md and

Ricky Robianta, my aunt Nur, my grand mother sa‟diah, my uncle Agus Salim, S.Ag and all of my family who always support and pray for her. This thesis is dedicated to you.

Moreover, a special debt of gratitude goes to all of her friends and her second family in Kaum Muslimin, Duwi Akbar, Ekanzha Rizqandy Kamny, Irma,

Muhammad Dwi Yahya, Namira Uswah and Vinny Miari Irania for the valuable time spent together and humbly thankful for the close friendship since Senior High school.

My next appreciation goes to class where the writer used to share ideas, emotions and opinions, all of her classmates in English Literature A 2014, especially Ade

Fatmawati, Rafiqa Hardi, and Nila Asmalasari and many others. The writer is thankful for the amazing academic years.

Finally, the writer realized that in the writing of this thesis is still far from perfection. I am truly appreciate criticism and suggestion from the readers to make it better.

Medan, May 25th 2018

Rini Safanta

Reg. No. 140705007

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRACT

Thesis which entitled Denotative and Connotative Meanings in Movie Posters of Marvel Comics Company: A Semiotic Analysis is a study about the meanings of signs in movie posters. The objectives of this study are to describe the denotative and connotative meanings found in movie posters of Marvel Comics company. The theory that supports this study is semiotics theory of Order of Signification proposed by Roland Barthes. This analysis divides into three concepts: denotative, connotative and myth. The method of this study is qualitative descriptive. The data of this research are verbal and visual texts in movie posters. The source data of this research are five movie posters that produced by Marvel Comics Company. Those movie posters represent the famous characters such as Captain America in Captain America “The Winter Soldier” 2014, Spider-Man in Spider-Man 2002, Iron Man in Iron Man 2008, Hulk in The Incredible Hulk 2008, and Thor in Thor “The Dark World” 2013. From the analysis, the writer found that there are 15 verbal texts and 10 visual texts in movie poster of Captain America, 7 verbal texts and 10 visual texts in movie poster of Spider-Man, 12 verbal texts and 7 visual texts in movie poster of Iron Man, 12 verbal texts and 7 visual texts in movie poster of Hulk, 12 verbal texts and 9 visual texts in movie poster of Thor. The writer found denotative meanings from all of verbal and visual texts represent to the real meanings from movie posters and some of verbal texts also used to inform the important informations such as the name of actors and actresses, the time released, the official websites, the ability and other companies that support Marvel Comics company. On the other hands, the writer also found connotative meanings in movie posters such as strength, miracle, American dream, form of defense, passionate, temptation, leader, masculine, protection, freedom, American flag, human life, mystery, strong, skyscraper, growth, dependence, leadership, ambition, goodness, life, hope, warmth, cleanliness, bleesing, consecration, bold, energetic, stability, wisdom, confidence, undeniable power and death. Myth is also presented in all of movie posters such as greek mythology. It can be seen from the performance and appearance of the characters in movie posters.

Keywords: Movie Poster, Denotative Meaning, Connotative Meaning, Verbal Text, Visual Text

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRAK

Skripsi yang berjudul Denotative and Connotative Meanings in Movie Posters of Marvel Comics Company: A Semiotic Analysis merupakan suatu penelitian tentang makna dari tanda-tanda dalam poster film. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menjelaskan makna denotatif dan konotatif yang ditemukan dalam poster film dari perusahaan Marvel Comics. Teori yang mendukung penelitian ini adalah teori semiotik Order of Signification yang dikemukakan oleh Roland Barthes. Analisis ini dibagi menjadi tiga konsep: denotatif, konotatif dan mitos. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah kualitatif deskriptif. Data penelitian adalah verbal dan visual teks dalam poster film. Sumber data penelitian ini adalah lima poster film yang diproduksi oleh perusahaan Marvel Comics. Poster film tersebut menampilkan karakter-karakter terkenal seperti Captain America dalam Captain America “The Winter Soldier” 2014, Spider-Man dalam Spider-Man 2002, Iron Man dalam Iron Man 2008, Hulk dalam The Incredible Hulk 2008 dan Thor dalam Thor “The Dark World” 2013. Dari analisis data, ditemukan bahwa ada 15 verbal teks dan 10 visual teks dalam poster film Captain America, 7 verbal teks dan 10 visual teks dalam poster film Spider-Man, 12 verbal teks dan 7 visual teks dalam poster film Iron Man, 12 verbal teks dan 7 visual teks dalam poster film Hulk, 12 verbal teks dan 9 visual teks Thor. Penulis menemukan makna denotatif dari semua verbal dan visual teks yang menunjukkan makna sebenarnya pada poster film tersebut dan beberapa dari teks verbal juga digunakan untuk menyampaikan informasi penting seperti nama aktor dan aktris, waktu dirilis, situs web resmi, kemampuan dan perusahaan lain yang mendukung perusahaan Marvel Comics. Di sisi lain, penulis juga menemukan makna konotatif pada poster film seperti kekuatan, keajaiban, impian Amerika, bentuk pertahanan, bergairah, godaan, pemimpin, maskulin, perlindungan, kebebasan, bendera Amerika, kehidupan manusia, misteri, kuat, pencakar langit, energi, pertumbuhan, kepemimpinan, ambisi, kebaikan, hidup, harapan, kehangatan, kebersihan, berkat, pengabdian, berani, energik, stabilitas, kebijaksanaan, keyakinan, kekuatan tak terkalahkan dan kematian. Mitos juga terdapat di semua poster-poster film seperti mitos yunani. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari pertunjukan dan penampilan tokoh-tokoh dalam poster film.

Keywords: Poster Film, Makna Denotatif, Makna Denotatif, Verbal Teks, Visual Teks

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ...... v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...... vii

ABSTRACT ...... ix

ABSTRAK ...... x

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... xi

LIST OF TABLES ...... xiv

LIST OF FIGURES ...... xv

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of The Study ...... 1

1.2 Problem of The Study ...... 8

1.3 Objective of The Study ...... 8

1.4 Scope of The Study ...... 8

1.5 Significance of The Study ...... 9

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Concept ...... 10

2.1.1 Semiotics ...... 10

2.1.2 Advertisement ...... 12

2.1.3 Poster ...... 14

2.1.4 Mythology ...... 16

2.1.5 Marvel Comics Company ...... 18

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.2 Semiotics Theory of Roland Barthes ...... 27

2.3 Relevant Study ...... 31

2.4 Theoretical Framework ...... 33

CHAPTER III: METHOD OF RESEARCH

3.1 Research Design ...... 34

3.2 Data and Source of Data ...... 35

3.3 Data Collection Procedures ...... 36

3.4 Data Analysis ...... 37

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS AND FINDING

4.1 Data Analysis ...... 41

4.1.1 Captain America “The Winter Soldier” 2014 ...... 41

4.1.1.1 Denotative meanings ...... 41

4.1.1.2 Connotative meanings ...... 44

4.1.2 Spider Man 2002 ...... 51

4.1.2.1 Denotative meanings ...... 51

4.1.2.2 Connotative meanings ...... 54

4.1.3 Iron Man 2008 ...... 57

4.1.3.1 Denotative meanings ...... 58

4.1.3.2 Connotative meanings ...... 60

4.1.4 The Incredible Hulk 2008 ...... 65

4.1.4.1 Denotative meanings ...... 65

4.1.4.2 Connotative meanings ...... 68

4.1.5 Thor “The Dark World” 2013 ...... 71

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4.1.5.1 Denotative meanings ...... 72

4.1.5.2 Connotative meanings ...... 74

4.2 Findings ...... 80

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

5.1 Conclusion...... 83

5.2 Suggestion ...... 84

REFERENCES ...... 85

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Movie Poster of Captain America “The Winter Soldier” 2014

Appendix 2: Movie Poster of Spider-Man 2002

Appendix 3: Movie Poster of Iron Man 2008

Appendix 4: Movie Poster of The Incredible Hulk 2008

Appendix 5: Movie Poster of Thor “The Dark World” 2013

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA LIST OF TABLES

No Title Page Table 3.1 Data of Websites ...... 36 Table 4.1 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Captain America...... 41 Table 4.2 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Captain America...... 42 Table 4.3 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Spider-Man...... 51 Table 4.4 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Spider-Man...... 53 Table 4.5 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man...... 59 Table 4.6 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man...... 59 Table 4.7 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Hulk...... 65 Table 4.8 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Hulk...... 67 Table 4.9 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Thor...... 73 Table 4.10 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Thor...... 73 Table 4.11 Data of Verbal and Visual Texts in Five Movie Posters...... 80

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA LISTS OF FIGURES

No Title Page Figure 1.1 Marvel Comics Company‟s Movie Poster...... 7 Figure 2.1 Captain America Movie Poster...... 21 Figure 2.2 Spider-Man Movie Poster...... 22 Figure 2.3 Iron Man Movie Poster...... 24 Figure 2.4 Hulk Movie Poster...... 25 Figure 2.5 Thor Movie Poster...... 26 Figure 2.6 Order of Signification...... 28 Figure 2.7 Theoretical Framework...... 33 Figure 3.1 Scheme of Data Analysis...... 39 Figure 3.2 The Incredible Hulk Movie Poster...... 40 Figure 4.1 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Captain America...... 42 Figure 4.2 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Captain America...... 43 Figure 4.3 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Spider-Man...... 52 Figure 4.4 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Spider-Man...... 53 Figure 4.5 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man...... 58 Figure 4.6 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man...... 60 Figure 4.7 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Hulk...... 66 Figure 4.8 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Hulk...... 67 Figure 4.9 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Thor...... 72 Figure 4.10 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Thor...... 74

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Communication is a process that used by every humans being.

Communication can be run smoothly if there is an understanding between speaker and hearer. Because in communication, the speaker will send information to the hearer. Humans use communication for their needs such as communicating with other people, giving and receiving information, expressing themselves, and increasing our knowledge. Communication can not be separated with language.

Humans use language to make the communication be able to be understood by others. Communication is impossible without language. Language is a human‟s ability that can be used to express themselves and to communicate with other people.

In other words, language can not be separated from human life. According to Kirk

Hazen (2015) “Language is the discrete combinatorial system humans use most for communication”. Discrete means „separate‟ here, and combinatorial means „ability to add together.‟ It takes small separate parts, push them together in specific combinations, and create larger parts of language. It is clear that language is a system used to communicate in human‟s daily life. Language is a system of sound that presented by using the words and sentences also contain meaning.

Language is divided into several types, namely written language, spoken language and body language or gestures. Language also can deliver by using sign. So the sign contains meaning for another. If it is seen more closely, there are a lot of differences in terms of sound or meaning that caused of the differences in

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA geographic, cultural, and so forth. Thus, there are many varieties of the language in a society. The written language can not be separated from human life and can be found in the text on banner, articles, magazines, textbooks and novels. The language that is used in a text comes from one language and does not create double meaning or ambiguous.

To make easier understanding about language, the study of language is needed. Linguistics is a scientific study of language and its structure. In general, language consists of words, phrases, sentences and each parts consist meaning. So it is very important to learn about every parts which support the language. In linguistics, there are many branches of linguistics which discuss about all of the structures of language and linguistics also has the specific branches study of language. One of the Linguistics branches is semiotics. Semiotics is a science to study a sign in human life. This study can lead in interpreting the implied meanings of the signs.

Language is also very important in advertising. Advertising is the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services.

Generally, the function of advertisement is to introduce a product to society. In advertisement, the designer will make the simple and as interesting as possible.

Advertisement is represented in three ways: visual, audio and audio visual. In visual, the advertisement is represented by using picture and sometimes added short message about the product. In audio, the advertisement is represented by using sound while in audio visual, the advertisement is represented by using sound and also picture. In this research, the writer use the visual advertisement. There are many division of advertising media such as movie poster.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Movie and poster are not same. Movie is a type of visual communication which uses moving pictures and there are conversations between characters in that film. Whereas, poster is a relatively large printed card or sheet of paper, often illustrated, posted to advertise or publicize something. Movie poster is a part of movie‟s marketing technique used to promote and advertise a movie. Originally, movie posters were produced for the exclusive use by the theaters exhibiting the film also the poster was created for, and were required to be returned to the distributor after the movie left the theater. According to Ni Luh Putu Juliantari (2014), “ The aim of a movie poster is to gain interest in a movie, an effective way to distribute a movie in a wider range of locations, and movie poster can also give us important information about the production context of the movie ”.

Language can not be separated with movie poster. Language is usually informal, uses simple and short sentences and interactive words, because the purpose of the language in advertising is to persuade the audience to do something and make the audience easier to understand the message of the advertisement. In movie poster, the reader will see pictures, color, and also short sentences which contain messages about the movie. A picture can represent something because it represents a meaning on a poster.

Movie maker or company can promote and introduce their product by using picture and short sentences without talking and promoting directly to the costumers.

When the customers see the picture on movie poster, they do not only see about the picture, but also think about the movie. Therefore, movie maker must show the interesting and specialty of the movie by using the picture in order to reach the attention and sympathy of society about the movie. In America, there are many

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA famous production such as Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics, American media and entertainment company that was widely regarded as one of the “big two” publishers in the comic industry. Its main company, Marvel Entertainment, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Disney Company. Its headquarters are in New York City.

In movie poster, the movie maker uses the signs that contain meaning or information about the movie. Movie poster consists of picture that illustrates the film and some short messages in written form to further clarify that movie. In understanding the sign, it is needed to understand one of branch of linguistics that related to sign. The study is Semiotics. Semiotics is a science to study of signs, objects and its meaning in human life. A sign is something that means something else for someone. A sign at that time means a thing which is referred to other thing.

Semiotic study can analyze not only visual elements such as written and spoken language but also can analyze non visual element of the advertisement. The reader of movie poster may find the difficulties in understanding about the sign of a movie poster. There are many ways in expressing the idea or conveying the information which delivate from semiotics field, such as signs that deliver denotative and connotative meanings.

Based on the explanation above, the writer is interested in conducting research about Denotative and Connotative Meanings in Movie Posters of Marvel

Comics Company: A Semiotic Analysis. This study will analyze the semiotic signs used in movie poster advertisement using semiotic theories. The analysis will be focused on denotative and connotative meanings of all of elements in movie poster.

There are many theories about signs in semiotics. In analyzing the data, the writer will use Roland Barthes‟ theory which focused on order of signification. From

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Barthes‟ book entitled Image Music Text, he discusses about denotative and connotative signs. According to Barthes, “Denotation what is in actual fact a double structure - denoted-connoted” (1977:22). “Connotation is not necessarily immediately graspable at the level of the message itself (it is, one could say, at once invisible and active, clear and implicit) but it can already be inferred from certain phenomena which occur at the levels of the production and reception of the message: on the one hand, the press photograph is an object that has been worked on, chosen, composed, constructed, treated according to professional, aesthetic or ideological norms which are so many factors of connotation” (1977:19). There are semiotic signs such as the denotative and connotative meanings that found on five selected Marvel

Comics movie posters.

The words connotative and denotative has different meaning. Denotative is generally defined as literal or dictionary meanings of a word in contrast to its connotative or associated meanings. Denotative of the visual image refers to what all people see without association to their culture , ideology or society. Denotation is the real meaning and refers to the real word that we can find the meaning of the word on dictionary (or sometimes called as the dictionary meaning). In this case, denotative is what we see on the movie posters or all elements of movie posters. In the theory of Roland Barthes, denotative is primary sign and connotative is secondary sign. From this theory, Barthes explains that the primary sign (denotative) is the relation between signifier (expression) and signified (content) in a sign to external reality. Based on Barthes‟ theory that denotation is the real meaning of sign.

Below is some examples of denotative meaning from dictionary (Oxford dictionary):

 Cat – small furry animal often kept as a pet.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  White - Of the colour of milk or fresh snow, due to the reflection of all visible

rays of light; the opposite of black.

 Heart – Organ that pumps blood around the body, centre of a person‟s feelings.

 Red - Of a colour at the end of the spectrum next to orange and opposite violet,

as of blood, fire, or rubies.

On the other hand, in the secondary sign (connotative), interaction happens when the sign converge with feeling or emotion of the reader and also the value of its culture. Value of its culture called myth. In the second stage, content and sign works through a myth. Myth is a way of a culture explains or understands some aspects about reality or natural phenomena. So, in presenting the connotative meaning, myth also be explained because connotative and myth relate to one another. Here are some examples of connotative meaning:

 Cat – in Japan, cat is a symbol of luck; In Islam, cat is the favorite animal of

Prophet Muhammad Saw.

 White - suggests the symbol of purity. But in a war situation, if the enemies give

the white flag means that they give up and invite peace. Most of country in Asia,

white is a symbol of sorrow.

 Heart – it is usually as a symbol of love; In the greek era, “heart” as a

representation of feminine.

 Red – In Indonesia, red as a symbol of braveness; In China, red as a symbol of

happiness.

The primary sign (denotative) and secondary sign (connotative) that is supported by myth are produced to express “the messages” shown on movie posters

(advertisement). The messages, denotative and connotative may be appeared on the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA elements of advertisement especially movie posters. So, semiotics is suitable as the science of the study because it can help the writer to present the meaning of signs as the elements of movie posters.

Figure 1.1 Marvel Comics Company‟s movie poster

From movie poster above, there are many visual and verbal texts. The sign that is used in this movie poster such as the denotative (primary sign), that is seen on the poster. The denotation is what all people see without relates it to the society, culture or ideology. In other word, the representation of denotative meanings is the representation of what people see on this movie poster such as the image of one man and one giant. The position of the man and the giant is back to each other. In this movie poster used connotative and myth (secondary sign) relates to the feeling or emotion of the reader and the value of its culture or ideology. The term „connotation‟ is used to refer to the socio-cultural and „personal‟ associations (ideological, emotional) of the sign and myth which concerns on the cultural values, beliefs, and

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ideological. So the writer interests to analyze the signs on movie poster that represents Roland Barthes‟ theory: denotative and connotative meanings.

1.2 Problem of The Study

Based on the description in the background of study above, the writer focuses on the following problems:

1. What are denotative meanings found in movie posters of Marvel Comics

Company?

2. What are connotative meanings found in movie posters of Marvel Comics

Company?

1.3 Objective of The Study

In this thesis, there are objectives to answer the problem of the study. The objectives are:

1. To describe the denotative meanings found in movie posters of Marvel Comics

Company.

2. To describe the connotative meanings found in movie posters of Marvel Comics

Company.

1.4 Scope of The Study

In this thesis, the writer focuses on movie posters of Marvel Comics

Company. This analysis of semiotics signs based on denotative and connotative meanings (primary and secondary sign) in movie posters of Marvel comics

Company. There are many characters in Marvel Comics Company. But in this research, the writer limits the number of movie posters. The writer chooses five

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA movie posters from a representative famous characters that produced by Marvel

Comics Company, they are Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and

Thor. The writer chooses one of movie poster of each characters because there are many elements of signs in these movie posters and the movie of each poster is very interesting also categorized as a fictive story. So the writer will be easy in describing denotative and connotative meaning. The five selected characters of Marvel Comics

Company have the myth that relates to the culture or belief of society.

1.5 Significance of The Study

The thesis give some significances for the readers. The significances are:

1. Theoretically

Referring to the purpose of the study above, the results are expected to give worthy contribution for all people who want to study semiotics signs to help the constructing of the movie posters. So, the result of this study gives more explanation about semiotics, especially on denotative and connotative meanings and adding the benefit of Roland Barthes‟ theory.

2. Practically

The result of this study is hopefully will be useful for the readers, students and the writer because this study is expected to give and develop the description about the theory of semiotic signs (denotative and connotative), and appreciate the literary works especially meaning on movie poster. Understanding semiotic sign will make the students or readers easier to catch the message of the movie posters have been conveyed.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Concept

In doing this research, the writer needs the concepts of semiotics, advertisement, poster, mythology, marvel comics company, and semiotics theory of

Roland Barthes. Because the concepts are the main point of this research. The aim of giving the concept in this chapter is to give information about these concepts deeply to the reader. The explanation of these concepts will increase the knowledge of readers. So, these concepts are very important to be discussed in this chapter.

2.1.1 Semiotics

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. One branch of Linguistics is

Semiotics. Semiotics is a science to study a sign in human life. Semiotics is considered as the theory of the production and interpretation of meaning. Meaning is made by the deployment of acts and objects which function as “signs” in relation to other signs. In general meaning is not believed to reside within any particular object, text or process. Rather, meaning arises during the communication process itself. It examines semiotics practices, specific to a culture and community, for the making of various kinds of texts and meanings in contexts of culturally meaningful activity. As an approach to textual analysis, semiotics treats the language of which texts are composed as a system of signs and symbols, which convey meaning to the reader.

Semiotics began to become a major approach to cultural studies in the late 1960s,

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA partly as a result of the work of Roland Barthes. Barthes declared that “semiology aims to take in any system of signs: images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all of these”. In other hand, every sign could not be stated away from the contextual role of a sign (reference) in the reality. Because the context could give meaning as what is expressed.

Umberto Eco (1984), who states that „semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign‟ Semiotics involves the study not only of what we refer to as „signs‟ in everyday speech, but of anything which „stands for‟ something else. In a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gestures and objects.

While for the linguist Ferdinand De Saussure (1959) he called it semiology

(from Greek „semeion‟ means 'sign'). Semiology would show what constitutes signs, what laws govern them. According the Saussure, the sign is formed from the union of the signifier (the sound-image) and the signified (the concept it represents). The connection between them is arbitrary and conventional, but only through their union are significant sounds and ideas articulated (marked off as meaningful units to be selected and combined).

To the philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1966) the field of study which he called „semeiotic‟ (or „semiotic‟) was the „formal doctrine of signs‟, which was closely related to logic. Charles Sanders Pierce argued that a sign is something that represents something else and it consists of three types, index, icon and symbol.

Roland Barthes (1964) said that semiology is the part of linguistics; to be precise; it is the part covering the great signifying unities of discourse. Barthes uses the denotative and connotative “levels of meanings” to analyze the signs in visual

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA and non visual of object. Barthes distinguished the analzing of the signs into two, the verbal and non verbal signs.

The concept of semiotics that used in this thesis is Roland Barthes‟ concept.

Because the concept of denotative and connotative relates to the problem of this study. It can help the writer to present the meaning of signs as the elements of movie posters.

2.1.2 Advertisement

An early kind of advertisements was started from the old Greek and

Romance, at that time something like an advertisement was used for symbolic language. Human being used it for verbal communication or the word of mouth, especially for helping the activity of trading. And it happened when people did not know about a word (illiteracy).

The similar development of an advertisement was continued after people have already known written as delivering messages. It was shown on printed- information like the lost slavery announcement as media message. And the next was image media or tools to be used like stone, wall, ceramic relieves. In the other hand, especially at old Romance, it was known such as stone‟s stamp which was used as stamp marked in slaves. After that, Gutenberg which is from Mainz, Germany, found printed system at 1450; And this was the advertisement world, primarily the development of advertisements to be commercial focus which related to the printed media such as newspapers.

In this study, the writer uses the term of advertisement. Actually, advertisement is the product of advertising. When you think about “advertising” at

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA this point, you probably think in terms of specific advertisement. Advertisement can be recognized as paid, nonpersonal communication forms used with persuasive intent by identified sources through various media. So, to understand what an advertisement is the definition of advertising must be clear.

William Wells, John Burnett and Sandra Moriarty (2000) state that advertising is paid nonpersonal communication from an identified sponsor using mass media to persuade or influence an audience. According to them, there are five important dimensions of advertising. First, advertising is a paid form of communication. Second, not only is the message paid for, but the sponsor is identified. Third, most advertising tries to persuade or influence the consumer to do something, although in some cases the point of the message is simply to make consumers aware of the product or company. Fourth and fifth, the message is conveyed through many different kinds of mass media reaching a large audience of potential consumers. They also states the types of advertising: brand advertising, retail or local advertising, political advertising, directory advertising, direct response advertising, business-to-business advertising, institutional advertising, public service advertising, and interactive advertising.

Furthermore, Roderick White (2000) states that advertising is a small part of the day-to-day life of business, governments and of the publics with which each seeks to engage. It is, on the other hand, a business that offer the people who work in and with it endless excitement, fascination, frustation and sometimes, satisfaction- together with the opportunity, from time to time, for a great deal of fun and even for making a massive contribution to the success of a brand.

Then, Charles J. Dirksen and Arthur Kroeger (1968) give one definition of advertising. According to them, advertising consists of those activities of a visual or

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA oral nature directed to selected publics for the purpose of informing or influencing them about a product and/or service.

So, it is concluded that advertising is an activity to communicate between a company and cosumer or to persuade or influence an audience.

2.1.3 Poster

In the late 19th century, Europe and America are known as the countries that introduced this kind of modern picture. In the late 19th century to 20 century, France was the country which took an important part in developing the modern art picture in poster. France is the center of the poster development. A famous France writer,

Guillaume Apollinaire said that “Catalogue, poster and the other advertisement pamphlet are the kinds of modern poetry.”

Poster is created as the result of Lithography development which has existed since 18th. This is introduced by Jules Cheret, the artist for graphic design. In the first time of the release, poster was just created in the text model; the paper was just full of the text. Besides, it was just produced in small size. Then Jules developed the graphic design in making poster to be very pictorial which was dominated by the picture. This improvement is based from the economical factor.

Poster is a relatively large printed card or sheet of paper, often illustrated, posted to advertise or publicize something. A poster is a one of media of advertising with a form of piece of paper which contain information, messages and purpose though text and graphic images (symbol or pictures). In its most basic form, though, a poster is a temporary promotion of an idea, product, or event put up in a public space for mass consumption. The message of a poster should be clear, so that

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA communication can be established between the author and reader through the poster.

Poster is a tool for marketing. Movie is one of the products which need a poster to advertise itself. Movie poster is the tool to get the attention of the reader and to invite them watch the movie by its artistic picture. In line with this, poster is also a tool of communication because there is the element of information in it which aims to inform people who see it.

According to Olof Halldin, The poster is a composition of pictures and words

– or words alone – often with a distinct graphic expression. Posters are extraordinarily clear reflections of the values, trends, and important events of their time. The poster acts as an indicator, shaping attitudes and trends and thus is a superb mirror of the times. Posters should be an expected element in recreations of historical settings, and advertising posters play a significant role here with their manipulative presentations of the messages. Text and pictures are carriers of the message. The picture illustrates the text. The interaction in the graphic expression between picture and text is what many believe in the modern sense is the unique characteristic of the poster. The poster provides an opportunity to appeal to the viewer‟s imagination and emotions.

A poster consists of verbal and visual text that is used to inform something or advertise a product. Verbal text is the text in written form, such as such as the title, the tagline, the date of movie releasing, company and others. The visual text is the images of the poster which support the verbal text in order to make the poster is interesting as the package of advertisement.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA In supporting the analysis of poster, some references related to the topic of analysis have been searched. The main references of some theories from prominent linguist as basic referance and some previous research results from some graduates of other university.

2.1.4 Mythology

Mythology is the rich collection of traditional tales called myths from cultures all over the world. Many myths date back to ancient times. They are stories about how the world was created and why certain things happen. Today, the word myth is often used to describe something that is not true. But a myth is not just a made-up story. Myths tell of gods, heroes and events that a group believes, or at one time believed, to be real. A culture‟s myths are often closely tied to its religion.

Mythology can not be seperated from the term myth. According to Roland

Barthes (1977), “ Myth consists in overturning culture into nature or, at least, the social, the cultural, the ideological, the historical into the‟natural‟ “.

Groups of people developed their own stories and beliefs to explain the world around them. These stories were usually not written down. Instead, they were part of an oral tradition, meaning they were passed from one generation to another by telling them out loud as stories. Upon hearing the stories, people accepted them as the truth.

In this way, myths became beliefs. It is for this reason that mythology is closely associated with religion.

Many other myths tell of the gods. Stories discuss their births, special powers and victories over monsters or enemies. Many cultures also have myths about heroes with amazing strength or cleverness. Many groups of people

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA developed complex collections of myths, especially in ancient times. Their stories describe a group of gods and the world that the gods live in.

The ancient Greeks also worshipped many gods. They believed that a group of major gods lived on Mount Olympus. The members of this group are often called the 12 Olympian gods. Some of the members changed over time. But Zeus was always the king of the gods.

The ancient Romans borrowed much of the mythology of the Greeks. They gave many of the Greek gods new names. For example, Zeus became known as

Jupiter. The great Roman poet Ovid preserved these myths in his works. The stories became the source of poetry, drama, paintings and other works of art that are familiar to people in Europe and the Americas.

Norse mythology developed long ago in northern Europe. Its main god was

Odin. He and the other gods lived in Asgard. A palace called Valhalla was part of

Asgard. After dying in battle, human warriors were taken to Valhalla by warrior women called Valkyries.

Thor is a character that produced by Marvel Comics company. Thor is the god of thunder and lightning. In Greek mythology, there was a god named Thor.

Thor was the son of Odin and Fryogyn, the earth goddess. He was a god of thunder and considered the strongest of Greek gods. In this case, the creation of Thor character that produced by Marvel based on the Greek mythology and adopt the history of god and goddess.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.1.5 Marvel Comics Company

From the official website marvel.com, Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly- owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years.

Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing.

For the adding information, the writer finds about Marvel Comics from

Encyclopedia Britannica written by Tim DeForest about Marvel Comics. Marvel

Comics, American media and entertainment company that was widely regarded as one of the “big two” publishers in the comic industry. Its parent company, Marvel

Entertainment, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Disney Company. Its headquarters are in New York City. The precursor to Marvel Comics was founded in

1939 by pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman. In order to capitalize on the growing popularity of comic books “especially those starring superheroes” Goodman created Timely Comics.

Timely‟s first comic book was Marvel Comics no. 1 (cover dated October

1939), which featured several superhero characters, most notably the Human

Torch and the Sub-Mariner. Timely Comics introduced many superhero characters during comics‟ “Golden Age” in the 1940s, most importantly Captain America, who first appeared in Captain America Comics no. 1 (March 1941). Timely characters were often portrayed as fighting against the Nazis and the Japanese even before the

United States entered World War II. As the 1940s came to a close, superheroes fell out of vogue with comic book readers, and Timely canceled the last of its books in

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA this genre in 1950. In 1951 Goodman formed his own distribution company, and

Timely Comics became Atlas Magazines. Though there was a brief experiment in bringing back superheroes such as Captain America in 1953, Atlas‟s output was mostly in other genres such as humour, westerns, horror, war, and science fiction.

In 1956 rival company DC Comics ushered in the so-called Silver Age of comics by reintroducing superhero titles with significant commercial success. In the early 1960s Atlas changed its name to Marvel Comics. For several decades Marvel and DC were the top companies in the industry. Throughout the 1980s and ‟90s

Marvel changed hands numerous times, becoming a publicly held company in 1991.

Questionable management decisions and a general slump in sales in the comic book industry drove Marvel Comics into bankruptcy in 1996. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 1998 and began to diversify its output, launching imprints aimed at a variety of demographics and expanding its cinematic offerings under the Marvel

Studios banner. In 2007 Marvel began publishing digital comics. In 2009 the Walt

Disney Company purchased the parent company of Marvel Comics.

In this research, the writer chooses five famous characters of Marvel Comics

Company, they are Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and

Thor. Here are the summaries of each characters:

1. Captain America

Steve Rogers was a scrawny fine arts student growing up during the

Great Depression. His alcoholic father died when Steve was a child, and his mother passed away from pneumonia after he graduated high school. In early 1940, appalled at Nazi Germany‟s horrific atrocities, Steve attempted to enlist in the army. Failing to

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA pass physical requirements, he was invited to volunteer for Operation: Rebirth, a project intended to enhance US soldiers to the height of physical perfection via the inventions and discoveries of Professor Abraham Erskine. Rogers eagerly accepted and became the first test subject. After injections and ingestion of the "Super Soldier

Serum," Rogers was exposed to a controlled burst of "Vita-Rays" that activated and stabilized the chemicals in his system. The process successfully altered his physiology from its frail state to the maximum of human efficiency, including greatly enhanced musculature and reflexes. Soon after, Professor Erskine was assassinated by a Nazi operative, leaving Steve the sole beneficiary of Erskine‟s genius. Renamed

“Project: Rebirth,” variations of the Super-Soldier serum were subsequently tested, under inhuman conditions, on African-American soldiers. The most successful of these was Isaiah Bradley, and Project: Rebirth‟s resources were eventually absorbed into a multinational superhuman research project dubbed Weapon Plus.

Rogers was assigned to serve as an who served both as a counter-intelligence agent and a symbolic US hero to counter Nazi Germany's propaganda successes head by the Red Skull (Johann Shmidt). Wearing a costume based on his own design modeled after the American flag, Steve was given a triangular bulletproof shield, a personal sidearm and the codename Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty. He was also provided a cover identity as a clumsy infantry private at Camp Lehigh in

Virginia. His first opponents included the Red Skull himself and Nazi attempts to duplicate Erskine‟s serum with their own super soldiers. During a mission to the

African nation of Wakanda, “Cap” befriended the nation‟s ruler T‟Chaka and obtained a sample of the rare metal Vibranium. Subsequent experiments with this metal produced a uniquely indestructible Vibranium-steel alloy disc, which proved impossible to duplicate. The disc was given to Cap as his new shield.

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Figure 2.1 Captain America Movie Poster

2. Spider-Man

The film tells the story of Spider-Man's origins, beginning with Peter Parker's life before he became Spider-Man (his life as a geeky science nerd who desperately seeks attention from Mary Jane Watson, who he has had a crush on since he was six years old), all the way up to his web-slinging days as Spider-Man. The main antagonist is Norman Osborn, the co-owner of Oscorp Industries, who goes insane after experimenting with unsafe performance enhancers. He then becomes the

"Green Goblin", terrorizing New York with his frightening array of high-tech weapons and armor.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

Figure 2.2 Spider-Man Movie Poster

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), Harry Osborn (James Franco), and Mary Jane

Watson (Kirsten Dunst) visit a genetics laboratory with their high school class. While taking photos in the laboratory, Peter is bitten on the hand by a genetically engineered "super spider", and arrives home and passes out with the bite wound considerably swollen. Meanwhile, Norman Osborn (Williem Dafoe), Harry's father, attempts to preserve his company's military contract from a rival firm, personally experimenting with his company's new but unstable performance-enhancing chemical vapor to increase his speed, strength, and stamina. Afterward, he goes into an uncontrollable rage and kills his assistant. The next morning, Peter finds that his previously impaired vision has improved to 20/20 and that his body has metamorphosed into a more muscular physique. When Peter goes to school, he finds himself producing webbing and having the quick reflexes to avoid being injured in a fight with Flash Thompson. Peter escapes from the school and realizes that he has acquired spider-like abilities from the spider bite. Peter quickly learns to scale walls, long jump across building rooftops and swing using webs from his wrists.

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3. Iron Man

Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark, simply known as Tony Stark, and also known as the famous super-hero named Iron Man, is a character that appears in the Iron

Man trilogy films and in The Avengers movie. He was portrayed by actor Robert

Downey, Jr., and is based on the character of the same name in the comics. He is a billionaire, genius, playboy, and philanthropist. He is well-known as Iron Man, owns Stark Industries, is its CEO, lives in his house in Malibu, and is one of the founding and lead members of The Avengers. He is conducting weapons tests overseas, but terrorists kidnap him to force him to build a devastating weapon.

Instead, he builds an armored suit and upends his captors. Returning to America,

Stark refines the suit and uses it to combat crime and terrorism.

Tony is a middle-aged man of average height. He is an American, has

Caucasian skin, and brown eyes. He has black hair, which is mostly kept in a rough- edged manner on some occasions, most especially when he works.

He is very well groomed when it comes to special occasions, and he usually wears either very formal or simple clothing in a way that matches his wealth. Tony has a mustache that runs all the way down to his cheeks, then straight to his chin making an enclosed form, with a small goatee as well on his upper chin. In the films,

Tony has been seen wearing many types of clothing. One as such can be his famous Black Sabbathshirt, which is a black shirt with the name of the famous old band called the Black Sabbath, which is a band in the Real World. Other clothing he wore, was a black tuxedo, a white tuxedo, and other clothing.

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Figure 2.3 Iron Man Movie Poster

4. Hulk

Robert Bruce Banner, M.D., Ph.D is a renowned scientist who was highly respected for all his work in the fields of Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, and Gamma

Radiation. Having been tasked by General Thaddeus Ross to find a way to recreate the Super Soldier Serum which had originated Captain America, Banner conducted an experiment with Gamma Radiation. However when an exposure to high levels of

Gamma Radiation instead of Vita Radiation went awry, the mild-mannered scientist had found that when angered or provoked, he would then transform into the huge rage-fueled and nearly mindless green-skinned monster known as Hulk.

Fearful of the damage that Hulk could inflict upon innocent lives, Banner chose to live a discreet life in remote parts of the world, working to cure the sick and help the poor while trying to elude those who would try and take advantage of his ability, while also communicating with Samuel Sterns to cure himself. However when General Ross had sent a team led by Emil Blonsky to apprehend Banner, he

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA was then forced to return to New York City where he recruited the help of Betty

Ross and Sterns to cure him of his own curse. However, not long after this test was concluded, Blonsky himself had overdosed on Gamma Radiation and transformed into the Abomination, forcing Ross to allow Banner to turn into the Hulk and battle him before then allowing the Hulk to escape.

Figure 2.4 The Incredible Hulk Movie Poster

5. Thor

Thor was the son of Odin and Jord, the earth goddess. Thor was the strongest of the Aesir, the collective name for the principal race of Norse gods; they who lived in Asgard, and with the All-Father Odin, ruled the lives of mortal men. Known as the god of thunder, his hall is Bilskirnir, which is located in the region Thrudheim (place of might). Thor married the golden-haired Sif, a Goddess of fertility. He kept a

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA mistress named Jarnsaxa (the iron cutlass), with whom he had two sons, Magni and

Modi and his daughter Thrud.

Thor was usually portrayed as a large, powerful man with a red beard, flowing hair, hearty enjoyment of food and drink and eyes of lighting. Thor was very well-known for his quick and hot temper. This was often vented on the giants, the main enemies of the gods. Thor would smash their heads with his mighty hammer

Mjollnir. To wield this awesome weapon, he needed iron golves and a belt of stregth.

Mjollnir would return to Thor‟s hand after being thrown and was symbolic of lightning.

Thor was foremost of the gods to the common man, who would call on him to ensure fertility, and widely worshiped. Hammer shaped amulets, a symbol of Thor because it was his weapon, were worn about the neck well into the Christianization of Scandinavia. The anglo-saxons worshiped a thunder god named Thunor.

Figure 2.5 Thor “The Dark World” Movie Poster

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.2 Semiotics Theory of Roland Barthes

Roland Gérard Barthes was born on November 12, 1915, in Cherbourg,

France, French literary philosopher Roland Barthes was educated at the Sorbonne, and went on to help establish structuralism as one of the leading intellectual movements of the 20th century. His work made important advances in the areas of semiotics, anthropology and post-structuralism. Barthes died in Paris in 1980.

Barthes studied at the University of Paris, where he took a degree in classical letters in 1939 and in grammar and philology in 1943. After working (1952–1959) at the

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, he was appointed to the École Pratique des Hautes Études. In 1976 he became the first person to hold the chair of literary semiology at the Collège de France.

Roland Barthes is a legendary figure and semiotician, whose ideas encouraged the advancement of a number of fields including structuralism, anthropology, post-structuralism, semiotics and social theory. He was highly influenced by Ferdinand de Saussure‟s semiology throughout his life and thus, began to develop his own complex theoretical concepts that became central to a number of schools of thought in France and Europe. He was also a leading critic of his time and a prominent theoretical personality across Europe and America. Interestingly, he left an indelible impression wherever he went and making himself known in popular culture as well. Some of his well-known works included, „Writing Degree Zero‟,

„Mythologies‟, „Criticism and Truth‟, „The Pleasure of the Text‟ and „Image Music

Text‟. Most of his works carried with them a multiplicity, applying semiotic theory and literary critique.

In the Roland Barthes‟ semiotics theory, he states that there are three main

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA point, denotative, connotative and myth. The words connotative and denotative has the different meaning. Denotative is generally defined as literal or dictionary meanings of a word in contrast to its connotative or associated meanings. Denotative of the visual image refers to what all people see without association to their culture , ideology or society. Denotation is the real meaning and refers to the real word that we can find the meaning of the word on dictionary (or sometimes called as the dictionary meaning). In this case, denotative is what we see on the movie posters or all elements of movie posters. In the theory of Roland Barthes, denotative is primary sign and connotative is secondary sign. From this theory, Barthes explains that the primary sign (denotative) is the relation between signifier (expression) and signified

(content) in a sign to external reality.

Figure 2.6 Order of Signification

In semiotics, denotation and connotation are terms describing the relationship between the signifier and its signified, and an analytic distinction is made between two types of signified: a denotative signified and a connotative signified. Meaning includes both denotation and connotation.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA For the signifier and signified in the scheme above, it is like the two sides of a coin where the signified on the one side and the signifier on the other side. The relation between the signified and the signifier (signification) is completing and supporting each other. It can be seen from the arrow sign which aimed from the signifier up to the signified and from the signified down to the signifier. Signifier is something like material aspect of a sign (sounds, images) and meaning or conceptual aspect which is pointed by a material aspects is called signified.

Denotation is generally defined as literal or dictionary meanings of a word in contrast to its connotative or associated meanings. Denotative meaning of the visual image refers to what all people see without association to their culture, ideology or society. Denotation is the real meaning and refers to the real word that we can find the meaning of the word on dictionary (or sometimes called as the dictionary meaning). In this research, the denotative meanings comes from what we see on the movie poster, all of elements in movie poster. Denotation is the basic meaning of visual signs. This is the first level of signification. In book entitled Image

Music Text (1977:22), Roland Barthes states:

“denotation what is in actual fact a double structure - denoted-connoted”

Connotation is placed on the second level of semiotics system. The connotative meaning can be influenced by the factors of cultural and myths. In the semiotic analysis, Barthes uses Myth which concerns on the cultural values, beliefs and ideological critics. The myth can be found in some products of mass culture like the advertisement, photograph, television and many more. Because it is uneasy to analyze the myth, so the analysis of myth must be correlated with the connotation as the meaning former on the second level of semiotics system. In book entitled Image

Music Text (1977:19), Roland Barthes states:

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA “Connotation is not necessarily immediately graspable at the level of the message itself (it is, one could say, at once invisible and active, clear and implicit) but it can already be inferred from certain phenomena which occur at the levels of the production and reception of the message: on the one hand, the press photograph is an object that has been worked on, chosen, composed, constructed, treated according to professional, aesthetic or ideological norms which are so many factors of connotation”

According to Oxford Learner‟s Pocket Dictionary, the word myth is explained that myth as (1) story from ancient time (2) something that many people believe but that does not exist or is false. As literal definition, myth is a story which is used by a society to explain or to understand some aspects from a reality or nature. Primitive myth is about a life and death, human and god, goodness and badness. In other hand,

Barthes imitated the concept of primitive myth to be used to the concept of a connotative process to uncover the hidden meaning in advertisements, fashion and so on. Barthes said that myth is from secondary sign system process which connotation is stable or to be dominant on a community (convention).

A connotation and myth are operated in secondary sign system which is the place of the interaction sign users with gender, emotional, psychological, religion and cultural. The first order of signification (denotative) is seen as primarily representational and relatively self-contained. The second order of signification

(connotative) reflects “expressive” values, which are attached to a sign. In the third

(mythological or ideological) order of signification the sign reflects major culturally- variable concepts underpinning a particular worldview - such as masculinity, femininity, freedom, individualism, objectivism, Englishness and so on. The term

"myth" refers to the unconscious, collective meaning that a society makes from a semiotic process. Myth can be history,culture, ideology, belief (god and goddess), education and economy.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.3 Relevant Study

In writing this study and doing this research, the writer uses some references from various sources based some books, e-books and internet to support the data. Based on the title, it is about denotative and connotative meaning in Marvel

Comics movie poster, this study using semiotics approach in analyze the data. In supporting this study, some relevant studies of denotative and connotative meanings analyze different objects of study such as advertisement, movie poster, and song lyrics, as follows:

Zaenal Muttaqien from Syarif Hidayatul State Islamic University (2011) in his thesis entitled The denotative and connotative meanings in the axe-advertisement shows that semiotics approach is needed for knowing the denotative and connotative meanings from five series of Axe advertisements. In his research, he uses Roland

Barthes‟ theory which based on all elements of the picture and subjective meanings in the advertisement. The result of the research indicates the cultural phenomena on advertisements which creating the symbolic and sign values as the main core of marketing. From this research, the writer gets the contribution in gaing to get the ways who to analyze denotative and connotative maning based on picture of advertisement.

Farah Hanum Isfandiyary from Diponegoro University (2017) in a final project entitled The aspects of Semiotics using Barthes’ theory on a series of unfortunate events movie poster analyzes denotative meanings based on verbal and non-verbal signs and connotative meanings based on subjective meanings on verbal and non-verbal signs. He also explain the myth (context of culture) based on signs in that movie posters. The result of the research indicates that many signs of the poster

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA have the denotation and connotation meanings based on non verbal sign or the images of the posters and verbal sign or the words of the posters. From this research, the writer gets the contribution in analyzing the meanings based on verbal and non verbal signs.

Fatkurrohman from State Institue for Islamic Studies Salatiga (2014) in the research entitled An analysis on the denotative and connotative meaning of Creed’s song lyrics describes the denotative and connotative meanings based on the data of

Creed‟s song lyrics. In this thesis, the writer limited the scope only on denotative and connotative meaning. The result of the research indicates the meanings from words, phrases and sentences in the lyrics of Creed Songs. From this research, the writer gets contribution in knowing how to analyze the denotative and connotative meaning on verbal signs.

Tazkiatul Fikriyah A‟la from State Islamic University “Syarif Hidayatul”

(2011) in the thesis entitled A semiotics analysis on the A-Mild advertisements using

Roland Barthes’ theory analyzes verbal and non verbal signs of five A Mild advertisements based on denotative and connotative meanings. The result of the research indicates denotative meaning comes from the signifier and the signified of the message and the connotation meaning comes fom the denotation as the signifier and the signified. From this research, the writer gets contribution in knowing the meanings from signified and signifier of the advertisements.

Article in journal of Brawijaya University (Vol.4 No.2, 2014) written by

Indah Rahmasari which entitled A Semiotic Analysis on The Help Movie Posters analyzes denotative, connotative and myth by using verbal and visual signs. The denotative signs found in this research are from the representation of visual and

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA verbal elements in the posters such as the title, tagline, and the image of women, gestures, and facial expression, the image of bench, pigeon, ravens, cage, cartoon, and also colors. While connotation is used to build the meaning behind each of denotative signs found in the movie posters. From this research, the writer gets contribution to know which the elements of denotative and connotative from movie posters and how analyzed the data.

2.4 Theoretical Framework

Semiotics is considered as the theory of the production and interpretation of meaning. Meaning is made by the deployment of acts and objects which function as

“signs” in relation to other signs. In this research, the writer uses Roland Barthes‟ theory about denotative and connotative also myth that denotative as primary sign and connotative and myth as secondary sign. The figure of the theoretical framework can be seen below:

Semiotics sign

Roland Barthes‟ Theory

Subjective Context Visual text meaning of culture Denotative Connotative Myth Beliefs Verbal Second text meaning Ideology

Primary Sign Secondary Sign

Figure 2.7 Theoretical Framework

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER III

METHOD OF RESEARCH

3.1 Research Design

This research observes the denotative and connotative meanings in movie posters of Marvel Comics Company. In order to answer the research question about denotative meaning (primary sign) and connotative meanings (secondary sign), this research uses qualitative descriptive method because the object of analysis is in qualitative and descriptive form . The data of the research are pictures and short messages on it and also explain in descriptive form because it obtain information by describing the phenomena through descriptive data. Qualitative data is usually formed in words rather than numbers and does not need any calculation and enumerating. Sari Wahyuni (2012) states that:

“Qualitative research were developed in the social sciences to enable researchers to study social and cultural phenomena”.

It it related with data which is usually not in the form of numbers. Qualitative research is an inductive approach and its goal is to again a deeper understanding of a person‟s or group‟s experience. In descriptive form, the writer will analyze and presents the data systematically. So it can be easier to understand and get the conclusion.

The field of the research is semiotics. Semiotics is a study that explain about meaning. According to Indiwan Seto Wahyu Wibowo (2013), “Semiotika adalah salah satu bagian dari bentuk analisis isi kualitatif yang amat berbeda dengan penelitian analisis isi kuantitatif. Penelitian kualitatif justru dipakai untuk

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA mengetahui dan menganalisis apa yang justru tidak terlihat, atau dengan kata lain penelitian kualitatif justru ingin melihat isi komunikasi yang tersirat”. Based on this statement, the writer uses the qualitative method because it is very suitable to be used for the research about semiotics.

To analyze this thesis titled Denotative and Connotative Meanings in Movie

Posters of Marvel Comics Company: A Semiotic Analysis, the writer uses the library research that consists of books relates to the study of semiotics. Library research is the method which is supplied by the collecting data or information as the references in writing this thesis.

3.2 Data and Source of Data

The data are visual and verbal text in movie posters from five famous characters that produced by Marvel Comics Company. The verbal text is the written text of the poster such as the title, the tagline, the date of movie releasing, company and others. The visual text is the images of the poster which support the verbal text in order to make the poster is interesting as the package of advertisement.

There are two kinds of data source, primary source and secondary source of data to support this thesis. The primary source of data is movie posters from five famous characters in Marvel Comics Company, they are Captain America, Spider-

Man, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor. The secondary source of data is found from various sources like books, and e-book which related to the problem and topic of this thesis.

The writer also adds the secondary source of data such as articles about Marvel

Comics and the documents of films from five famous characters Marvel Comics

Company.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA The data of movie posters are downloaded from different websites. Here is the table of websites:

No Title Publication Year Website

1. Captain America “The 2014 http://www.impawards.com/2014/captai Winter Soldier” n_america_the_winter_soldier_ver7.htm l

2. Spider-Man 2002 https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/H9UAA OSwhvFZDRNC/s-l1600.jpg

3. Iron Man 2008 https://www.movieartarena.com/imgs/ir onman1int.jpg

4. The Incredible Hulk 2008 http://www.impawards.com/2008/poster s/incredible_hulk.jpg

5. Thor “The Dark 2013 https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marv World” elcinematicuniverse/images/f/fc/Thor_T he_Dark_World_poster.jpg/revision/late st/scale-to-width- down/1000?cb=20131115001851

Table 3.1 Data of websites

3.3 Data Collection Procedures

Creswell (2009) states that there are four types of data collection in qualitative research such as observations, interviews, documents, and audio-visual materials. The writer chooses two types of data collection procedures for this research that are observation and document or documentation.

1. Observation

Observation is done by copied the source of data from internet. From 16 movie posters, the writer chooses only 5 posters because each movie poster

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA represents one character and there are many elements of signs appear on 5 movie posters. So it can be more easier to analyze based on the topic, denotative and connotative meanings. The title of movie posters are different. The title of movie poster that the writer chooses are Captain America “The Winter Soldier” pusblished on 2014, Spider-Man pusblished on 2002, Iron Man published on 2008, The

Incredible Hulk published on 2008, and Thor “The Dark World” published on 2013.

2. Documentation

Documentation are the collection data such as the documents of the film from each movie poster, written sources such as the articles about marvel comics company and about the characters from the internet and also thesis that support research analysis.

3.4 Data Analysis

The method of analysis used in analyzing the data is qualitative descriptive method. Sari Wahyuni (2012) stated, “Qualitative research method were developed in the social sciences to enable researchers to study social and cultural phenomena”.

According to Wahyuni, qualitative research is descriptive. The data collected are in the form of words or pictures rather than numbers.

In analyzing the data, the writer applies some steps as follows:

1. The writer used herself as the instrument in this research. So the writer can be the

research subject in looking for and collecting the data from movie posters of five

famous characters in Marvel Comics which represent symbolic and sign values

such as strength, war, enemies etc.

2. The writer downloaded five of movie posters from the internet.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 3. The writer identified the denotative meanings that refer to the visual and verbal

text on each movie posters.

4. The writer found out the connotative meanings that refer to the subjective

meaning on each movie posters. The writer finds out the myth that relates to the

subjective meanings of movie posters.

5. The writer analyzed the meaning that conveyed by denotative and connotative

signs by using Roland Barthes‟ theory of denotative, connotative, and myth,

applies dictionary, summary of each posters, information from internet.

6. Then the writer described the meaning of signs descriptively.

Those steps can be seen in the scheme of data analysis as follows:

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Movie posters of Marvel Comics

Company

Captain Spider-Man Iron Man The Incredible Thor “The America “The Winter Soldier” Hulk Dark World”

Semiotics signs

Roland Barthes‟ Theory

Denotative Connotative Myth

meanings meanings

Primary Signs Secondary Signs

Findings

Figure 3.1 Scheme of Data Analysis

From the scheme of the data analysis above, it is clear that how the writer analyze the denotative and connotative meanings in movie poster. Here is an example of the analysis:

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Denotative Connotative

A giant is a symbol of strength, it can be seen from the size of body and its power. For giant human‟s belief, a giant most huge creature often depicted fierce-looking, enormous creatures and can not be defeated.

man A man is a symbolic figure of human being leadership, power and ambition. But here, the man only look down and no expression. For human‟s belief, it means that there is something happen to him and does not want anyone knows it.

Figure 3.2 The Incredible Hulk movie poster

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS AND FINDING

4.1 Data Analysis

4.1.1 CAPTAIN AMERICA “ THE WINTER SOLDIER “ 2014

In analyzing the data of movie poster of Captain America “The Winter

Soldier” 2014 (figure 4.1 and figure 4.2), there are verbal and visual texts found in the data. The writer applied the theory of Roland Barthes which focuses on denotative and connotative meanings.

4.1.1.1 Denotative Meanings

In analyzing the denotative meanings, the writer begins with verbal texts then continued with the visual texts.

Verbal texts

The verbal texts in movie poster of Captain America can be seen as follows:

Table 4.1 Verbal texts in Movie Poster of Captain America

No Data (Verbal Texts) Denotative Meanings 1 Marvel Name of Company 2 Captain America Name of character 3 The Winter soldier The subtitle of movie poster 4 2014 Marvel The year of production by Marvel company 5 www.Marvel.com The website official of the company 6 In 3D, Real 3D The version of movie playback in cinema 7 4.4.14 The date of movie released 8 IMAX 3D The special-venue film presentations 9 #CaptainAmerica Metadata tag of movie poster 10 Facebook.com/CaptainAmerica Official website on social network named Facebook 11 Dolby Digital Brand of audio compression technology 12 Chris Evans The American actor as the charater Captain America 13 Scarlett Johansson The American actress as the character Black Widow 14 Robert Redford The American actor as the character Alexander Pierce 15 Samuel L. Jackson The American actor as the character Nick Fury

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 12 15

13 14

7 9

1 2

8 3

1 10

4 6 5

Figure 4.1 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Captain America

Visual Texts

The visual texts of Captain America movie poster can be seen as follows:

Table 4.2 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Captain America

No Data (Visual Texts) Denotative Meanings 16 Cap with letter “A” The equipment of character Captain America 17 Shield The equipment of character Captain America 18 Fire Red and orange color, smolder 19 Woman Human being indicates the character of Black widow 20 Men Human being indicates the characters of Captain America, Nick fury, Alexander Pierce and Bucky 21 Weapons A pair of Glock 26 pistols, the Browing M1919A4 machine

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA gun 22 Figure of Captain America Wearing the special equipments, the main character 23 Background of sky Shows clouds 24 Planes Vehicle with wings that fly through the air 25 Red, white, blue and star The color of shield, the color of Captain America‟s costume

23 16

24 20

24 25

24 22

24 17

25 24

20 19

21 18

20 20

Figure 4.2 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Captain America

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4.1.1.2 Connotative Meanings

After analyzed the denotative meanings, the writer found connotative meanings from verbal and visual texts in movie poster of Captain America as follows:

1. Marvel

The verbal text “Marvel” as shown in Figure 4.1 has the same meaning with the

power, miracle and wonder. In this case, marvel is a company that produced

characters with super power such as Captain America, Spider Man, Iron Man,

Hulk, Thor and others based on god and goddess. In Greek mythology, there was

a fictional species named The Olympians. The Olympians were a race of extra-

dimensional beings that possess a variety of mystical superhuman abilities that

were once worshipped by civilizations centered on or around the Mediterranean,

agean, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas such as Greece, the Roman Empire

and parts of Egypt and Turkey as gods. The gods of Olympians were Zeus,

Athena, Hephaestus, Perseus, Hermes and others.

2. Captain America

The verbal text “Captain America” as shown in figure 4.1 indicates to American

dream. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of

ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom

includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social

mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with

few barriers. By presenting this character that use name of Captain America,

movie maker wants to show the example of the way to

protect each person‟s oppurtunity especially for American.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 3. The Winter Soldier

The verbal text “The Winter Soldier” as shown in figure 4.1 is the subtitle of

movie poster. The position of this phrase is after the words “Captain America”. It

means that this phrase relates to the words Captain America. Captain America

refers to the main character of this movie and The Winter Soldier is the part of

movie‟s title. The movie maker uses this phrase to inform the reader about the

title of Captain America‟s movie. The word “winter” refers to the one of four

seasons. The story of how the four seasons came to be originates with Demeter,

the Greek mythological goddess of the harvest. She was the goddess who blessed

the earth and made sure that everyone had a great harvest. The word “soldier”

refers to the one occupation of Captain America. So this verbal text refers to the

season that Captain America faces.

4. #CaptainAmerica

The verbal text #CaptainAmerica as shown in figure 4.1 is a hastag indicates to a

type of metadata tag used on social networks such as Twitter and

other microblogging services, allowing users to apply dynamic , user-

generated tagging that makes it possible for others to easily find messages with a

specific theme or content. This hashtag can be used in all social media and allows

user of social media to find all the posts that have been tagged using that hashtag.

Captain America indicates to American dream.

5. Cap with letter “A”

The visual text “Cap with letter “A” as shown in figure 4.2 indicates to the

equipment of Captain America. Captain America is a character which uses a cap,

a special costume and also a special weapon. In this movie poster, we can see the

visual element of a cap with letter “A”. In this case, “A” means “America”. So the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA movie maker uses this letter to show the characteristic of the character based on

the name and the history. The prehistory of the Americas (North, South,

and Central America, and the Caribbean) begun with people migrating to these

areas from Asia during the height of an Ice Age. These groups were generally

believed to have been isolated from peoples of the "Old World" until the coming

of Europeans in the 10th century from Norway and with the voyages of

Christopher Columbus in 1492.

6. Shield

The visual text “shield” as shown in figure 4.2 indicates a form of defense. The

very nature of a shield is to protect. It protects someone from danger, risk or other

unpleasant experience. It prevents something from seeing or attacking someone. It

can enclose or reduce impact of exposure. It provides a safeguard, shelter, and

security. A shield comes in many forms. It can be a sturdy piece of metal with

straps or handles on one side (Roman soldiers or SWAT teams). It can be a badge

and the person behind it who wears it, such as a police officer. It can be a screen,

a shade, a shell, a cap, or even a cover for your smartphone. It can be another

human, an animal such as a guard dog, or anything that blocks a blow.

7. Fire

The visual text “fire” as shown in figure 4.2 is the most famously known in the

symbolic world for its passionate, affectionate, powerful and charismatic.

However, fire is best described as a symbol of power, as its color can also

represent war, chaos, and destruction. In Greek mythology, fire was first

described as part of the four beginning elements including earth, water, and air.

However, fire is one of the four symbols that symbolize a very affectionate,

passionate, powerful and charismatic feel, which often times is sought to represent

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA its natural level of heat. The symbol of fire is present within a multitude of things

within present society, as it holds to many religious, symbolic, and traditional

purposes. Based on the mythology, movie maker uses fire as a sign to describe

that there is a chaos happens in Captain America movie.

8. Woman

The visual text “woman” as shown in figure 4.2 is used as a symbol of temptation.

According to Greek mythology, Pandora, the first woman to be created,

introduced trouble in the lives of men. As she opened the box containing all the

evils of the world, she allowed them all to escape and earned women the

designation of troublesome. While men were known for their strength, women

were associated with trickery. Even though these women used their feminine

powers to seduce men, they were ultimately dependent on the actions of men and

the gods. Movie maker uses the visual text of a figure of woman contains meaning

that woman as a symbol of temptation because most of figures in this movie

poster are men. So, woman is associated with trickery.

9. Men

The visual text “men” as shown in figure 4.2 indicates to the symbol of leader,

strength, and charismatic. A man is a strong human. The term man is usually

reserved for an adult male, with the term boy being the usual term for a male child

or adolescent. In this movie, the story tells about the struggle of an army named

Captain America who has the super power. In this case, the figure of Captain

America is a man. So, movie maker uses the figure of man as the visual text in

this movie poster to show the leadership, strength and charismatic.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 10. Weapons

The visual text “Weapons” as shown in the figure 4.2 indicates to the symbol of

protection. There are two types of weapon that show in movie poster, A pair

of Glock 26 pistols, the BrowingM1919A4 machine gun. The weapon indicates

that there is crime involved and possibly the aspect of murder. The weapon as an

equipment that is used to fight the enemies. Based on Greek mythology, the gods

had their own weapon used to fight the enemies. For example: Zeus (god of sky)

had his own weapon of Lightning bolt, Poseiden (god of the sea) had his own

weapon of Trident, Athena (goddess of wisdom) had the own weapon of sword

and spear, and also another gods. From this mythology, movie maker adopts a

trust that weapon is important in fighting the enemies and as personal protective

equipment.

11. Figure of Captain America

The visual text “Figure of Captain America” as shown in figure 4.2 indicates to

the character of Captain America. Captain America is the character that produced

by Marvel company. Captain America has special costume, cap with letter “A”

and shield with the color red and white also star. The attitude of Captain America

shows the character of a soldier that is brave and strong with the focus of view by

his eyes. Captain America was a Hero that was created during the period of World

War II. Steve Rogers (Captain America) was just a regular guy but was chosen by

a scientist to test a new drug that made him into Captain America, a superhero

dedicated to defending the USA ideals. In the movie Captain America's whole

mission/ambition was to destroy "Red Skull" who was a depiction of Hitler.

Captain America is basically like the Greek Hero Perseus. Perseus set out as a

young man to go and chopped off the head of Medusa for a wedding gift of the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA King. Perseus was the son of Zeus which gave him some super powers to make it

possible for him to get Medusa's head. This is similar to Captain America.

Because of the chemicals “Super Soldier Serum”, he has super human powers

which made it also possible for him to take down the "Red Skull" or Nazi

Germany's propaganda. So, movie maker uses the character of Captain and uses

the word “America” for the spesific place. It is based on Greek mythology,

Perseus who got some super powers to get Medusa‟s head and Steve Rogers got

super soldier serum that made him be stronger.

12. Background of Sky

The visual text “Background of sky” as shown in the figure 4.2 used as a symbol

of freedom. Many mythologies have primarily god-related deities. In Egyptian

religion, the sky is interpreted as the goddess of Nut and as the god of Horus.

Dyeus was reconstructed as a celestial deity, or sky personified, in the Proto-Indo-

European religion, where Zeus, the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology

and the Roman god of sky and thunder of Jupiter. Based on the mythology, it is

clear that sky is the important part in describing the characters of gods because

most of gods has relation with the sky. So, movie maker uses this visual text in

movie poster to inform that it is the right situation and the place of gods in Greek

mythology.

13. Planes

“Planes” is the visual text as shown in the figure 4.2. A plane is a vehicle with

wings and one or more engines, which can fly through the air such as quinjet,

turbojet, helicopter, S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier Iliad, and machine gun quinjet. A

fixed-wing aircraft, commonly called an airplane or aeroplane, (from the Greek:

aéros- "air" and -planos "wandering") and often shortened to plane, is a heavier-

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA than-air craft in which movement of the wings is not used to generate lift. Based

on the story of this movie that Captain America is a Hero that was created during

the period of World War II. In the encyclopedia, World War II saw the airplane

rise to even greater importance than in the first World War. Air superiority

became a crucial component of battlefield operations and air forces were

massively expanded during the conflict. The Allied and Axis sides of the war

developed enormous war machines, capable of developing and rolling out

unprecedented numbers of advanced new military equipment in rapid response to

changing conditions on the battlefield, as well keeping up with the technological

advances of adversaries. So, movie maker uses the visual of plane indicates a

crucial component of battlefield operations.

14. Red, white, blue and Star

The visual text “Red, white, blue and star” as shown in the figure 4.2 that

indicates to the color of American flag. Historians believe that the use of red,

white and blue in the Stars and Stripes has to do with the simple fact that they

were the colors of the first flag of the American colonies, the Continental Colors.

And there is little doubt where the red, white and blue of the Continental Colors

came from: the Union Jack of England. The colors of American flag have

meanings. Red stands for courage, hardiness, and bloodshed. Courage because our

country is based on the courage of separating from what we once knew, courage

of starting over, courage of fighting for our freedom. White stands for purity and

vigilance. Blue stands for justice and perseverance. Movie maker designs the

costume of Captain America by using the same pattern of American flag to

strenghten the characteristic of Captain America. Besides the name of America,

this character gets the additional features relates to the America such as cap with

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA letter “A” that means “America” and a shield with the color red, white and blue in

the star that means the American flag to strenghten the name of character, Captain

America.

4.1.2 SPIDER-MAN 2002

In analyzing the data of movie poster of Spider-Man 2002 (figure 4.3 and figure 4.4), there are verbal and visual texts that found in the data. The writer applied the theory of Roland Barthes which focuses on denotative and connotative meanings.

4.1.2.1 Denotative Meanings

In analyzing the denotative meanings, the writer begins with verbal texts then continued with the visual texts.

Verbal Texts

The verbal texts in movie poster of Spider-Man can be seen as follows:

Table 4.3 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Spider-Man

No Data (Verbal Texts) Denotative Meanings 1 Spider-Man Name of the character 2 Marvel Name of the company 3 Sony.com/Spider-Man The official website of this movie 4 Colombia Pictures The name of American film studio 5 3 May The date of movie released 6 Property of sony pictures entertainment, inc. The rule of copyright policy for promotional use only. Sale, duplication, or transfer og this material is strictly prohibited 7 Presents strongly cautioned, Sequences of The warning about movie genre action and violence

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

3 5

7 6

Figure 4.3 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Spider-Man

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Visual Texts

The visual texts of Captain America movie poster can be seen as follows:

Table 4.4 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Spider-Man

No Data (Visual Texts) Denotative Meanings 8 Figure of Spider-Man The character uses specaul costume with red and blue color also web pattern 9 Climbing the building The movement of the character as the ability 10 Up to down angle Relates to how a picture was taken 11 Town The place of human life 12 The Spider-Man‟s shadow Figure of the character in another side 13 Buildings A physical division of the human habitat 14 The color of red and blue The color of Spider-Man

13 13

8 14

8 12

Figure 4.4 Visual Texts in Movie poster of Spider-Man

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4.1.2.2 Connotative meanings

After analyzed the denotative meanings, the writer found connotative meanings from verbal and visual texts in movie poster of Spider-Man as follows:

1. Spider-Man

The verbal text “Spider-Man” as shown in the figure 4.3 refers to the name of

character in this movie. Movie maker uses this word to inform the spesific

character of Marvel Comics company to the reader that relates to the movie. The

word “spider” means one kind of animal that produces web and uses the word

“man” refers to human who become a figure of spider and has the same character

with the real spider. Spiders (order Araneae) is air-breathing arthropods that have

eight legs and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order

of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other orders of

organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica,

and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exceptions of air and

sea colonization.

2. Marvel

The verbal text “Marvel” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and

also appeared in Spider-Man movie poster as shown in the figure 4.3. It has the

same meaning with the power, miracle and wonder. In this case, marvel is a

company that produced characters with super power such as Captain America,

Spider Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and others based on god and goddess. In Greek

mythology, there was a fictional species named The Olympians. The Olympians

were a race of extra-dimensional beings that possess a variety of mystical

superhuman abilities that were once worshipped by civilizations centered on or

around the Mediterranean, agean, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas such as

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Greece, the Roman Empire and parts of Egypt and Turkey as gods. The gods of

Olympians were Zeus, Athena, Hephaestus, Thor, Hermes and others.

3. Figure of Spider-Man

The visual text “Figure of Spider-Man” as shown in the figure 4.4 indicates to the

character. This character in this movie poster uses a spesific costume with the

spider web pattern with the black color for web pattern also red and blue of the

whole color of the costume. On this costume, there is also a picture of spider. In

this movie, the web is produced by himself (the character of Spider-Man). The

figure of Spider Man adopted from Greek mythology. In Greek mythology,

Arachne, meaning of her name is spider in Greek, was a beautiful woman that had

a great talent in weaving. Everyone was amazed at her work and one day, Arachne

boosted that she had a greater talent than goddess Athena herself. This was an

offense towards the gods, which was a very serious and even deadly sin for the

ancient Greeks. That is why goddess Athena transformed her into a spider to wave

for all her life long. From this Greek mythology, movie maker uses the context of

great talent of Arachne which turn into a spider. In this movie, Peter Parker turns

into a Spider Man because of bitten by a spider. SpiderMan also has a great talent

that used to help another people and fights the crime.

4. Up to Down Angle

The visual text “Up to down angle” as shown in the figurre 4.4 that relates to

how a picture was taken. It is included to the techniques‟ cinematographer‟s art.

Based on the techniques of cinematograher‟s art, it is called Low Angle Shot. This

shot is looking up at a character or subject often making them look bigger in the

frame. It can make everyone look heroic and/or dominant. Also good for making

cities look empty.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 5. Town

The visual text “Town” as shown in the figure 4.4 is reflected to human life.

Town is a settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and

its own local government; especially obe larger than a village and smaller than a

city. Spider Man is a human being that has super power after the accident of bitten

by a spider. In this case, movie maker wants to show spider-man‟s life as a human

being and lives with others by illustrates the town as a residence of Peter Parker

(figure of spider-man). In English and Dutch, the meaning of the word took on the

sense of the space which these fences enclosed. In England, a town was a small

community that could not afford or was not allowed to build walls or other larger

fortifications, and built a palisade or stockade instead. In the Netherlands, this

space was a garden, more specifically those of the wealthy, which had a high

fence or a wall around them. In Old Norse tun means a (grassy) place between

farmhouses, and is still used in a similar meaning in modern Norwegian.

6. The Spider-Man‟s Shadow

“The Spider-Man‟s shadow” is the visual text as shown in the figure 4.4.

A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by

an opaque object. Sometimes shadow represents the duplicate figure with the

same shape. But sometimes, shadow presents the fake figure or the different

figure of the real one. Shadow is a symbol of the unknown and create a sense of

mystery. In Western Culture, and in Judeo-Christian culture as well, these had a

vast and troubled history with the theme of shadow. In modern culture today it

seems that anything to do with shadows, darkness, blackness, and shade often

involves evil. Bad things. But in this movie poster, movie maker illustrates the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA shadow of Spider Man, the real figure of Spider Man. It means that movie maker

want to inform the mystery of Spider Man figure by using the shadow.

7. Building

The visual text “Building” as shown in the figure 4.4 represents a physical

division of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) and the outside (a

place that at times may be harsh and harmful). A building is a structure that has a

roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place. A building has

the own function and history. A building is built with the spesific purpose. In this

movie poster, movie maker uses this visual text based on the history of Spider

Man as a human being. Building relates human habitat and to show the ability of

Spider Man that can climb by using the web that produced by him.

8. The color of red and blue

The visual text “The color of red and blue” as shown in the figure 4.4 represents

the color of Spider-Man. The red means bold, passionate and energetic, while blue

means stability, wisdom and confidence. Spider-Man is one of character that

produced by American media. So, the color of red and blue also represent the

color of American flag that consists of red, white and blue.

4.1.3 IRON MAN 2008

In analyzing the data of movie poster of Iron Man 2008 (figure 4.5 and figure

4.6), there are verbal and visual texts that found in the data. The writer applied the theory of Roland Barthes which focuses on denotative and connotative meanings.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4.1.3.1 Denotative Meanings

In analyzing the denotative meanings, the writer begins with verbal texts then continued with the visual texts.

Verbal Texts

The verbal texts in movie poster of Iron Man can be seen as follows:

9 12

10 11

2 1

3 7

Figure 4.5 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Table 4.5 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man

No Data (Verbal Texts) Denotative Meanings 1 Iron Man The name of character 2 Stark Industries The company‟s name belongs to the character 3 Marvel The name of company 4 Coming soon The movie releases as soon as possible 5 IronManMovie.com The official website of the movie 6 Paramount Pictures The nam of American film studio 7 SDDS Sony Dynamic Digital The name of company that handles sound effects Sound in Selected Theatres 8 DTS Dedicated To Sound It is a series of multichannel audio technologies 9 Robert Downey JR. The American actor as the character Iron Man 10 Terrence Howard The American actor as the character Jim Rhodes 11 Jeff Bridges The American actor as the character Iron Monger 12 Dwyneth Paltrow The American actress as the character Pepper Potts

Visual Texts

The visual texts in movie poster of Iron Man can be seen as follows:

Table 4.6 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man

No Data (Visual Texts) Denotative Meanings 13 Robot The figure of Iron Man 14 Men Human being indicates the characters of Tony Stark, Jim Rhodes, William Ginter Riva 15 Woman Human being indicates the character of Pepper Potts 16 Fire Red and orange color, smolder 17 Light Shining and dominated by white color 18 Planes Vehicle with wings that fly through the air 19 Red color The color of robot

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

13 17

17 16

14 18

18 15

14 14

Figure 4.6 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Iron Man

4.1.3.2 Connotative meanings

After analyzed the denotative meanings, the writer found connotative meanings from verbal and visual texts in movie poster of Iron Man as follows:

1. Iron Man

The verbal text “Iron” from “Iron Man” as shown in the figure 4.5 symbolizes the

male energy and is connected to physical power, aggression, growth, dependence

and protection. It promotes emotions such as lust, confidence, courage, strength,

stamina and resilience. It is considered to be the most „human‟ metal and so, is

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA distrusted by the ethereal entities and spirits. Iron is the second most abundant

mineral on earth and is an essential nutrient for nearly all organisms. Iron is

necessary for many varied functions in mammals, including the synthesis of

DNA, the generation of energy from macronutrients by aerobic respiration, and

the transport and metabolism of oxygen. Iron is highly reactive and is potentially

toxic at high levels of intake; therefore, its utilization and storage present a major

challenge for biological systems. Iron Man indicates to the character of this movie

and based on the God in Greek mythology named Hephaestus.

2. Marvel

The verbal text “Marvel” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and

also appeared in Iron Man movie poster as shown in the figure 4.5 has the same

meaning with the power, miracle and wonder. In this case, marvel is a company

that produced characters with super power such as Captain America, Spider Man,

Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and others based on god and goddess. In Greek mythology,

there was a fictional species named The Olympians. The Olympians were a race

of extra-dimensional beings that possess a variety of mystical superhuman

abilities that were once worshipped by civilizations centered on or around the

Mediterranean, agean, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas such as Greece, the

Roman Empire and parts of Egypt and Turkey as gods. The gods of Olympians

were Zeus, Athena, Hephaestus, Thor, Hermes and others.

3. Robot

The visual text “Robot” as shown in the figure 4.6 used a symbol of power and

wonderful. A robot is a machine especially one programmable by a computer

capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Robots can be

guided by an external control device or the control may be embedded within.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Robots may be constructed to take on human form but most robots are machines

designed to perform a task with no regard to how they look. In this case, robot

indicates to the figure of Iron Man. In Greek mythology, there was a god named

Hephaestus. Hephaestus was the Greek god of craftsmen. Ironman is like the

Greek god Hephaestus. Hephaestus was also well known for having his own

workshop in Olympus "fashioning self pumping bellows or perhaps automatons

which worked the bellows in obedience to his orders”. Both Ironman and

Hephaestus are the god of craftmen and smart engineer that make their own

equipments. Like how Ironman's suit and everything else talks to him and does

what he asks. Robot is the figure of Iron Man. It is produced by himself, Tony

Stark, that allowed him to fly. Tony Stark also has the vompany named Stark

Industries. So, movie maker adopts Greek mythology about the God of Craftsmen

in producing the character of Iron Man (Tony Stark) that is as a smart engineer.

4. Men

The visual text “Men” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and also

appeared in Iron Man movie poster as shown in the figure 4.6 used as a symbolic

figure of leadership, strength and charismatic. The term man is usually reserved

for an adult male, with the term boy being the usual term for a male child or

adolescent. Man is the most mysterious of God‟s creation. Man came into

existence because God created him for a purpose. This fact man must know from

God because, by himself alone, he will never be able to find out who he is, how he

came to be, what he is for, and what is in store for him in the future.

5. Woman

The visual text “Woman” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and

also appeared in Iron Man movie poster as shown in the figure 4.6 used as a

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA symbol of temptation. A woman is a female human being. The term woman is

usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a

female child or adolescent. The term woman is also sometimes used to identify a

female human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "women's rights". Women

with typical genetic development are usually capable of

giving birth from puberty until menopause. According to Greek mythology,

Pandora, the first woman to be created, introduced trouble in the lives of men. As

she opened the box containing all the evils of the world, she allowed them all to

escape and earned women the designation of troublesome. While men were

known for their strength, women were associated with trickery. Even though these

women used their feminine powers to seduce men, they are ultimately dependent

on the actions of men and the gods.

6. Fire

The visual text “Fire” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and also

appeared in Iron Man movie poster as shown in the figure 4.6 is most famously

known as a symbol of affectionate, passionate, powerful and charicmatic.

However, fire is best described as a symbol of power, as its color can also

represent war, chaos, and destruction. In Greek mythology, fire was first

described as part of the four beginning elements including earth, water, and air.

However, fire is one of the four symbols that symbolize a very affectionate,

passionate, powerful and charismatic feel, which often times is sought to represent

its natural level of heat. The symbol of fire is present within a multitude of things

within present society, as it holds to many religious, symbolic, and traditional

purposes. Based on the mythology, movie maker uses fire as a sign to describe the

powerful of the community and a chaos that happens in this movie.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 7. Light

The visual text “Light” as shown in the figure 4.6 that illustrates, emphasizes, and

expands the abstract idea of truth. Light is used to convey something positive:

goodness, life or hope. Light is a type of energy. It is a form of electromagnetic

radiation of a wavelength which can be detected by the human eye. It is a small

part of the electromagnetic spectrum and radiation given off by stars like the sun.

Light played an important role beyond the division of time in ancient Greek myth

and religion. The contributors to Light in Ancient Greek Myth and Religion

considered its function on both the individual and social level as manifested in

modes of thought and behavior and expressed in language, beliefs, ritual, and

iconography.

8. Planes

The visual text “Planes” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and

also appeared in Iron Man movie poster as shown in the figure 4.6 used a symbol

of freedom. A plane is a vehicle with wings and one or more engines, which can

fly through the air such as jetpacks and helicopters . A fixed-wing aircraft,

commonly called an airplane or aeroplane, (from the Greek: aéros- "air" and -

planos "wandering") and often shortened to plane, is a heavier-than-air craft in

which movement of the wings is not used to generate lift. Based on history, Plane

became a crucial component of battlefield operations and air forces were

massively expanded during the conflict. So, movie maker uses this visual text to

show the things that became a crucial component battlefield operations during the

conflict.

9. Red Color

“Red color” is the visual text as shown in the figure 4.6. Red is the color of robot

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA that as the figure of Iron Man. Red is a color that symbolizes courage and

sacrifice. Surveys show that red is the color most associated with courage. In

western countries, red is a symbol of martyrs and sacrifice, particularly because of

its association with blood. Red symbolized super-human heroism to the Greek.

Movie maker uses the color of red for robot because it based on Greek which

symbolized super-human heroism.

4.1.4 THE INCREDIBLE HULK 2008

In analyzing the data of movie poster of The Incredible Hulk 2008 (figure 4.7 and figure 4.8), there are verbal and visual texts that found in the data. The writer applied the theory of Roland Barthes which focuses on denotative and connotative meanings.

4.1.4.1 Denotative Meanings

In analyzing the denotative meanings, the writer begins with verbal texts then continued with the visual texts.

Verbal Texts

The verbal texts in movie poster of The Incredible Hulk can be seen as follows:

Table 4.7 Verbal Texts in Movie Poster of Hulk

No Data (Verbal Texts) Denotative Meanings 1 The Incredible Hulk The title of Hulk‟s movie poster 2 www.IncredibleHulk.com The official website of the movie 3 Marvel The name of company 4 This film is not yet rated The rating of film from MPPA (Motion Picture Association of America) 5 June 13, 2008 The date of movie released 6 Dolby Digital The name of audio compression technologies 7 A universal Release This movie is released by an American film studio company 8 SDDS Sony Dynamic Digital It is a series of multichannel audio technologies Sound in Selected Theatres 9 Edward Norton The American actor as the character Dr. Bruce Banner 10 LivTyler The American actress as the character Betty Ros

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 11 Tim Roth The English actor as the character Emil Blonsky 12 William Hurt The American actor as the character Jendral Thunderbolt Ross

9 11

10 12

3 5

4 7

Figure 4.7 Verbal Texts in Movie poster of Hulk

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Visual Texts The visual texts in movie poster of Iron Man can be seen as follows: Table 4.8 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Hulk

No Data (Visual Texts) Denotative Meanings 13 Giant The figure of character Hulk 14 Man Human being indicates to the character Robert Bruce Banner 15 Buildings A physical division of the human habitat 16 Light Shining and dominated by white color 17 Fire Red and orange color, smolder 18 The dark background The color of poster‟s background 19 Planes Vehicle with wings that fly through the air

13 18

14 19

15 15

16 16

19 17

18 19 18

Figure 4.8 Visual Texts in Movie Poster of Hulk

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4.1.4.2 Connotative meanings

After analyzed the denotative meanings, the writer found connotative meanings from verbal and visual texts in movie poster of Hulk as follows:

1. Marvel

The verbal text “Marvel” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and

also appeared in Hulk movie poster as shown in figure 4.7 has the same meaning

with the power, miracle and wonder. In this case, marvel is a company that

produced characters with super power such as Captain America, Spider Man, Iron

Man, Hulk, Thor and others based on god and goddess. In Greek mythology, there

was a fictional species named The Olympians. The Olympians were a race of

extra-dimensional beings that possess a variety of mystical superhuman abilities

that were once worshipped by civilizations centered on or around the

Mediterranean, agean, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas such as Greece, the

Roman Empire and parts of Egypt and Turkey as gods. The gods of Olympians

were Zeus, Athena, Hephaestus, Thor, Hermes and others.

2. Giant

“Giant” is the visual text as shown in the figure 4.8. A giant is a symbol of

strength, it can be seen from the size of body and its power. It is large and masive

being. According to Greek mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes were a

race of great strength and aggression, though not necessarily of great size, known

for the Gigantomachy (Gigantomachia), their battle with the Olympian gods. For

human‟s belief, a giant most often depicted fierce-looking, enormous creatures

and can not be defeated based on the race of great strengh and aggression. This

giant is the figure of Hulk and the color is green. Green is a symbol of goodness,

stability and undeniable power. In Greek mythology, there was a friend of god

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Gilgamesh named Enkidu. Enkidu was a wild man, strong and violent. These two

characters (Enkidu and Hulk) are both of great strength and are considered “wild

men”.

3. Man

The visual text “Man” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and

also appeared in Hulk movie poster as shown in figure 4.8. A man is a symbolic

figure of leadership, strength and charismatic. But in this movie poster, the man

only look down and no expression. For human‟s belief, it means that there is

something happen to him and does not want anyone knows it. The term man is

usually reserved for an adult male, with the term boy being the usual term for a

male child or adolescent. Man is the most mysterious of God‟s creation. Man

came into existence because God created him for a purpose. This fact man must

know from God because, by himself alone, he will never be able to find out who

he is, how he came to be, what he is for, and what is in store for him in the future.

4. Buildings

The visual text “Buildings” has appeared in movie poster of Spider-Man and also

appeared in Hulk movie poster as shown in the figure 4.8. In human‟s perception,

building is a safe place for human habitat and the symbol of strong also

skyscraper. A building as a shelter represents a physical division of the human

habitat (a place of comfort and safety) and the outside (a place that at times may

be harsh and harmful). A building is a structure that has a roof and walls and

stands more or less permanently in one place. A building has the own function

and history. A building is built with the spesific purpose. In this movie poster,

movie maker uses this visual text based on the history of Bruce Banner (figure of

Hulk) as a human being. Building relates human habitat.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 5. Light

The visual text “Light” has appeared in movie poster of Iron Man and also

appeared in Hulk movie poster as shown in figure 4.8 that illustrates, emphasizes,

and expands the abstract idea of truth. Light is used to convey something positive:

goodness, life or hope. Light played an important role beyond the division of time

in ancient Greek myth and religion. The contributors to Light in Ancient Greek

Myth and Religion considered its function on both the individual and social level

as manifested in modes of thought and behavior and expressed in language,

beliefs, ritual, and iconography. So, movie maker uses the visual text of light to

present something positive: goodness, life and hope.

6. Fire

The visual text “fire” has appeared in movie poster of Captain America and also

appeared in Hulk movie poster as shown in the figure 4.8. Fire is most famously

known as a symbol of passionate, affectionate, powerful and charismatic.