S/MD/24. The Construction and representation of Social Class in Film through sign-systems

This paper analyses the construction of signs in films through the representation of social class in two films, 'L.I.E: Long Island Expressway' and 'La Vie est Un Long Fleuve Tranquille'. The first part focuses on the study of how signs operate in film to create meaning and how they can reveal a context for the story. It makes use of the study of semiotics and authors such as Roland Barthes, Susan Sontag, Berger and Bignell. These principles are then applied in a second part to the study of sign-systems which reveal a character's social background using two examples of films.