The Apartment
Film has a specific structure that creates meaning out of a series of photographs. This structure uses a specific language to create a narrative that the spectator should be able to understand. Christian Metz believes that through denotation a stronger meaning can be derived from the connotation. The study of connotation is that it is always symbolic in its nature, while denotation is the literal sense of the film. Connotative meaning should extend over the denotative meaning without contradicting it or ignoring it. Men dominant the film industry and they create a language that reflects a patriarchal society. Director and writer Billy Wilder created a romantic comedy drama that comments on sexism and corruption of corporate …show more content…
Filmmakers have to create a language that the spectator can understand. The language begins with the denotation and can be interrupted symbolically through the connotation. An example from the film The Apartment is in the beginning of the film. The main character C.C. Baxter does a voiceover speaking about the vast population of New York City and how he works at a life insurance company. The denotation of the voiceover is C.C. Baxter giving facts about his life and about New York City. The subtext of the voiceover though is how an insurance company works. They put numbers to people dehumanizing them. They are all just numbers and statistics. The camera follows the row and rows of people enslaved to corporate careers that are stuck in their cell like cubicles. They clock in early and clock out late and it repeats day after day. This scene reveals corporate America and how insignificant each employ is. Soon after we learn about how Baxter’s is willing to do about anything to get promoted. He allows his executives to use his bachelor pad for secret get-aways with their many mistresses in hopes of rising up the corporate ladder. There’s a quote from the film that states, “Some people take, some people get took”. Baxter is getting taken throughout the whole film. He is a pushover and tries to make everyone else’s lives easier by scheduling these extramarital affairs when his own affairs are out of
Film has a specific structure that creates meaning out of a series of photographs. This structure uses a specific language to create a narrative that the spectator should be able to understand. Christian Metz believes that through denotation a stronger meaning can be derived from the connotation. The study of connotation is that it is always symbolic in its nature, while denotation is the literal sense of the film. Connotative meaning should extend over the denotative meaning without contradicting it or ignoring it. Men dominant the film industry and they create a language that reflects a patriarchal society. Director and writer Billy Wilder created a romantic comedy drama that comments on sexism and corruption of corporate …show more content…
Filmmakers have to create a language that the spectator can understand. The language begins with the denotation and can be interrupted symbolically through the connotation. An example from the film The Apartment is in the beginning of the film. The main character C.C. Baxter does a voiceover speaking about the vast population of New York City and how he works at a life insurance company. The denotation of the voiceover is C.C. Baxter giving facts about his life and about New York City. The subtext of the voiceover though is how an insurance company works. They put numbers to people dehumanizing them. They are all just numbers and statistics. The camera follows the row and rows of people enslaved to corporate careers that are stuck in their cell like cubicles. They clock in early and clock out late and it repeats day after day. This scene reveals corporate America and how insignificant each employ is. Soon after we learn about how Baxter’s is willing to do about anything to get promoted. He allows his executives to use his bachelor pad for secret get-aways with their many mistresses in hopes of rising up the corporate ladder. There’s a quote from the film that states, “Some people take, some people get took”. Baxter is getting taken throughout the whole film. He is a pushover and tries to make everyone else’s lives easier by scheduling these extramarital affairs when his own affairs are out of