BALLOONS AND GOGGLES AS SYMBOLS OF
ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT RFLECTED IN PETE DOCTER’S UP
(A Study of Semiotics)
Submitted
to complete task of Literary Research Methodology
Lecturer:
Atinia Hidayah, SS, M.Hum.
FITRI ANDRIYANI
679202120019
DEPARTMENT
OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SCIENCE AND QUR’ANIC UNIVERSITY (UNSIQ)
2015
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A.
Background
of the Study
Literary workhas several categories which consist of different characteristics,
not only poem, poetry, drama, novel, but also movie, music and others. Movie is
one of literature work that has similar elements with novel, like theme,
character, setting and others. According to James Monaco, “Film is a
medium and an art, but it is also, uniquely, a very complex technological
undertaking” (Monaco, 2000:17).
There are three main categories movie: the first is feature movie, it is a work of fiction, the form is
always narrative structure, the scenario could adaptation from novel or short
story. The second is documentaries movie, it isnonfiction movie, describes the
real life situationseach individual, describe the feelings and experiences in
real situations. And the last is animation movie, it is a technique the use of
movie to create the illusion of movement from the illustration collection of
two or three-dimensional objects. Today, almost all animated movie are made
digitally with computers, and animated movie is most popular than other.
One of country that produce
animated movie is United States. The beginning of animated cartoon in United
States is in 1900s through 1920s, it is the Silent Era. Animated cartoon that
produced in this era is like Mighty
Mouse, Betty Boop, and Woody
Woodpecker. The second era is in 1930s through 1950s, it is the Golden Age
of American animation. Animated cartoon that produced in this era is like Silly Symphonies, Mickey Mouse, and Donald
Duck.
The third era is in 1960s
through Mid-1980s, it is the television era of animation in the United States. And
the last era isinLate-1980s through present, it is the Modern Animation in the
United States. In this era, the rise of computer animation, for both 2D and 3D
is used. There are so many animated cartoons produced in this era. One of them
is Up.
Up is American 3D
computer-animated cartoon produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by
Walt Disney Pictures. Up was released
on May 29, 2009 and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first
animated and 3D film to do so. It is directed by Pete Docter, the movie focused
on an old man named Carl Fredricksen who brought his home fly with thousands of
balloons. In 78-year-old, Carl sets out to fulfill his dream to see the
Paradise Falls of South America and to complete a promise made to his late wife.
This movie received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, making
it the second animated movie in history to receive such a nomination (and
Pixar's first Best Picture nomination), following Beauty and the Beast.
According to Thomas, “Human intellectual and
social life is based on the production,use, and exchange of signs and
representations. When we gesture,talk, write, read, watch a TV program, listen
to music, look at apainting, etc. we are engaged in sign-based representational
behaviour” (Thomas A.
Sebeok, 2001: 8). Movie consists of many symbols, and the symbols consist of
various symbol systems that work together to reach the expected effect. Like in
Pete Docter’sUp, there are many
symbols in this movie. It is related to the characters in this movie.
B. Statement
of the Problem
The problem in this research
is:
How is balloons and goggles as symbols of adventurous spirit reflected
in Pete Docter’sUp?
C. Object of
the Study
To find out how is balloons and goggles as symbols of adventurous spirit
reflected inPete
Docter’sUp.
D. Scope of
the Study
In this minithesis the writer limited the
focus of the study on analyzing the symbolof
balloons and goggles related the social issue. It is because
the film shows many symbols
related to many aspects of live by using symbol, picture, terminology, or
conversation in the scene of the Up.
The research is intended to analyze symbol’s interpretation of the main
character with many aspects of life
which influence his life.
E. Significance
of the Study
This study
is expected to give some benefits. The following are the benefits of the study:
1. To
show howis balloons and goggles as symbols of
adventurous spirit reflected in Pete Docter’sUp.
2. This study is expected to give some contributions to
readers who would like to learn about Pete Docter’sUp, especially the symbols.
3. This study is expected to be the next reference for
subsequent researchers who are interested in this topic.
F. Organization
of the Study
The writer divided this thesis into five chapters. The
followings are the organization of the study:
Chapter I Introduction consists of Background of the
Study, Statement of the Problems, Object of the Study, Scope of the Study, and Significance
of the Study.
Chapter II Review related to Literature consists of Semiotics, Ferdinand
de Saussure’s Semiotics and Sign Signifier Signified.
Chapter III Research Method consists of Research Design, Object of the
Study, Types of Data, and Procedures of Collecting Data.
Chapter IV Analysis consists of data analysis which answers the questions stated in the
problem statement.
Chapter V Consists of Conclusion.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW RELATED TO LITERATURE
The writer
will present some references which are in line with the topic. It includes Semiotics, Ferdinand de Saussure’s Semiotics, and
Sign Signifier Signified.
A. Semiotics
Semiotics and Semiology has
same meaning,although the use one of the two terms are usually indicates the
users thought, those who followed Peirce uses Semiotics, and those who followed
Saussure uses Semiology. Both of them are the study of signs, symbols, and
signification. It is the study of how meaning is created. As quoted by Alex, Christomy stated that “There is a tendency; Semiotics is more
popular than Semiology, so that Saussure’s followers also use it”(Alex,
2003:12). It means that the follower of Pierce’s terms is more than Saussure.
According to Saussure’s definition about Semiotics:
“Semiology is a science that examines the life of signs in society, and
thus, become a part of the discipline of social psychology. The purpose is to
show how the formation of signs and the rules that govern it. The Semiotician
France retained the term of semiology because they want to emphasize the
difference between the works of Semiology with the works of Semiotics that now
famous in Eastern Europe, Italy and the United States”.
(Budiman, 1999: 107)
While the Semiotics terms that appear in the late 19th
century by the Americanphilosopher, Charles Sanders Peirce refers to the formal
doctrine of signs, became the basis of Semiotic is the concept of the sign,not
only language and communication system arranged by signs, but also the world
itself, related the human mind.
In addition to the definition of Semiotics above: “Semioticsor Semiology is the study of signs,
symbols, and signification. It is the study of how meaning is created, not what
it is. Below are some brief definitions of semiotic terms, beginning with the smallest
unit of meaning and proceeding towards the larger and more complex”.
From the quotation above, Semiotics
or Semiology is the study of how to create the meaning of signs, symbols and
significations, from the smallest unit to the larger until more complex meaning.
B. Ferdinand
de Saussure’s Semiotics
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857
–1913) was a Swiss linguist and semiotician whose ideas laid a foundation for
many significant developments both in linguistics and semiology in the 20th
century. He is one of two major fathers of semiotics which he called semiology.
Saussure's theory has been particularly influential in the study of linguistic
signs.
Saussure took the sign as
the organizing concept for linguistic structure, using it to express the
conventional nature of language.Instead of focusing his theory on the origins
of language and its historical aspects, Saussure concentrated on the patterns
and functions of language instead. Although the name has been changed to
semiotics, Saussure's theory is still commonly used in today's society. He also
believed that the relationship that exists between the signifier and the
signified is purely arbitrary and analytical.
As quoted by Budiman,
Saussure stated that “Semiology is a
knowledge which study of sign in the society, and it is the part of social
psychology discipline, the function is to show how the sign is created”
(Budiman, 1999: 107). There are five views of Saussure
which became the basis of Levi-Strauss
structuralism, they are signifier and signified, form and content,
language and parole, synchronic and diachronic, syntagmatic and associative.
C. Sign,
Signifier, Signified
Saussure offered a 'dyadic'
or two-part model of the sign. He defined a sign as being composed of signifier
and signified. Saussure said that the signifier and the signified cannot be
separated, they are like a single sheet of paper, and it is represented in the
Saussurean diagram by the arrows.
|
|
|
Signified
Signifier
|
|
sign
|
Saussure
makes the distinction in these terms:
“A linguistic
sign is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept
[signified] and a sound pattern [signifier]. The sound pattern is not actually
a sound; for a sound is something physical. A sound pattern is the hearer’s
psychological impression of a sound, as given to him by the evidence of his
senses. This sound pattern may be called a ‘material’ element only in that it
is the representation of our sensory impressions. The sound pattern may thus be
distinguished from the other element associated with it in a linguistic sign.
This other element is generally of a more abstract kind: the concept”. (Saussure, 1983: 66)
In semiotics, sign is something that can be
interpreted and have a meaning, which is something other than itself, and which
is able to give information to the one interpreting. The sign according to
Ferdinand de Saussure is related with dyadic, consisting only of a form of the
sign (the signifier) and its meaning (the signified). . As quoted by Alex,
Derrida stated that “A symbol is a sign which refers to the object that is
denotes by virtue of a law, usually an association of general ideas, which
operates to cause the symbol to be interpreted as referring to that object”
(Alex, 2003: 156).
Saussure states that the relationship between a sign
and the real-world thing it denotes is an arbitrary one.The signs weuse gain
their meaning, not from what they are, but what they are not. Their meaning is
established by the signs we chose not to use. What defines a chair as a chair
is the fact that it is not a table, it is different from a table.
According to Saussure, the
signifier is a social fact, physically and materially there, prior to the
intention of the individual communicator. The signifier is commonly interpreted
as the material form of the sign, it is something which can be seen, heard,
touched, smelt or tasted. It is in the interpretation of the signifier that
meaning is created.For example the signifier is the phonetic sound “tree” (when
spoken) or the imprint “tree” (when written), the signified is the concept
tree. Together they make the sign “tree”.
The signified is the
concept, the meaning, the thing indicated by the signifier. It need not be a
'real object' but is some referent to which the signifier refers. The thing
signified is created in the perceiver and is internal to them.
As quoted by Alex, Bertens stated that “Signified is the reflection of mental,
idea, or concept. Signified is the mental aspect of language” (Alex, 2003:
46).
A signifier without
signified has no meaning, and the signified changes with person and context. The
relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary. Saussure
inverts the usual reflections view that the signifier reflects the signified: the
signifier creates the signified in terms of the meaning it triggers for us. The
meaning of a sign needs both the signifier and the signified as created by an
interpreter. A signified without a signifier is impossible. According to
Saussure, sound in a word is signifier, while the concept is signified.
CHAPTER III
METHOD OF RESEARCH
This chapter consists of research design, objective of
the study, types of data, and procedures of collecting data.
A. Research
Design
This research is a library research in the form of
descriptive qualitative one. Descriptive qualitative is the research to
describe and to analyze phenomenon on event. Social activity, attitude,
perception and action of personal and several groups people guiding.
B. Object of
the Study
The object of the study is a play entitled Up directed by Pete Docter and released
in May 29, 2009. The play is in duration 1:36:07 (it is the one of play
collection of American Animated Cartoon). In this study, the writer focuses on
the symbol of Semiotics theory.
C. Types of
Data
Since the object of this thesis is a play, there are
many pictures which has symbol. Therefore, the types of main data are taken for
data analysis in the form of picture that shows between the characters in the
play.
D.
Procedures
of Collecting Data
The procedures ofcollecting
data are as follow:
1.
Watching
Watching is the main step to understand the content of the story of the
play entitled Up. It is also assists
the writer to find which part of the play will be analyzed related to the
topic.
2. Identifying
Identifying means the activity of
separating between data and non-data by showing the images in the movie which
will be analyzed related to the topic.
3.
Classifying
To make it easy to answer the problem,
the identified data has to be classified based on the problem statement. There is one problem to be solved in this study,
thus the writer classified the identified data based on the problem statement.
4.
Selecting
In selecting the data, the
technique used is relevancy technique. It means that onlyrelevant data which
will be selected to answer the problem.
