SEMIOTICS IN a FILIPINO FILM
Movies embody multiple and diverse images that are associated with meanings. By watching movies, people may experience life in a deeper perspective by understanding the object inside the frame. There are many symbols, actions, images that constitute meanings and people must know how to read the context that is embedded in objects and events, which can be used in forming concepts and contributing to the formation of identity. Also, one may admire a film because of the relevant message that it teaches for the benefit of society or of an individual. But we should learn to make our own decoding more precise by seeing how each meaning is represented by the use of different elements within the film. This is important in appreciating one’s work and understanding the essence of it. The use of film in creating meanings can influence the betterment of society but people should not simply have to accept the images and the messages conveyed by them, they need to become active interpreters of the images that are presented in front of them. And in order to do that, we need to understand the development of the form, how images are constructed.
As time passed time, the use of film elements like production design, props, costumes, and other tangible objects within the frame of the film helped to develop the plot and to progress the story in a deeper notion. At the same time, these elements are used to shape the reality portrayed in the film. It allows the viewer to think critically about how these elements contribute to understanding real events. To critically understand the film, here are the elements that the audience may look to understand the movies they are watching.
The audience may be fascinated with the physical and realistic appearance in a film and this is possible through the mise-en-scene. The elements of the mise-en-scene include the settings and sets and how they contribute to scenic and atmospheric realism, as well as the other important elements including props, lighting, actors, costumes (CORRIGAN & WHITE, 2009). In addition, mise-en-scene in a film creates connotations about feelings or meanings associated with particular settings. For example, the setting or the location of a living room set might indicate coziness or be at home; a personal room might suggest privacy or covertness of the character. Normally, the location establishes the mood of the story but it is still the totality of the film that indicates the overall theme and mood of the film.
One part of the mise-en-scene is the property or the props, which is used as an object or tool by the actors to add more authenticity to the character. Props may give a special distinction between different characters and through props, it may tell how the characters perceive and feel without telling it through words. Also, props may give a hint about the character’s personality and his journey within the story. It may foreshadow conflict and may go back to the history of the character. Props may acquire meaning in two ways: Cultural Props and Contextualized Props (CORRIGAN & WHITE, 2009). The first one carries meaning through the society where the story takes place in order to emphasize the culture they want to portray. The latter acquires meaning through their changing of location for the sake of its narrative (CORRIGAN & WHITE, 2009). Still, both are used to direct the audience on the essence of the object in storytelling and give meaning to the story.
Another element of mise-en-scene is the lighting, which refers to a light source that is present on the screen. It may be natural light and electrical lamps which can be seen on the scene (CORRIGAN & WHITE, 2009). Lighting can be used to illustrate the mood of the image. And some filmmakers use lighting to develop characters’ inner thoughts and values like in the movie Schindler’s List, by Steven Spielberg, the director of the said movie, who used hard to soft lighting in character development. If one may look deeper into the movement of lighting in that movie, one may understand that the hard and soft lighting has their own meaning in pushing the story to its plot. The use of lighting indicates the change of emotion and behavior of the characters.
Actors are what the audience may consider as the prominent element in a film because of the characters they are portraying and the journey that they are working off. The actors are the representation of the real people that the audience can relate to. With acting, an actor creates a unique style, like appearance, mannerisms, and gestures, and even when talking, which employs empathy that can be used to stick with the story. If one has been immersed in the character’s journey, all the elements in the film will be essential to him in understanding the story of the character and the whole movie. Also, it develops a set of codes that are used to connect all the events within the story, which later become an essential factor in the narrative structure that is constituted in analyzing the film and also become a reflection of the audience within themselves. With all of these thoughts about the actors, one may conclude that actors in the film are the semiotics of identity.
Semiotics can be influenced by culture, experience, and events in different spatial and temporal elements. It is known as a sign that elucidates something on producing meaning. It may be in a physical form, it may refer to different meaning other than itself, it may be an element in a shared culture (Hartley, Montgomery, Rennie, & Brennan, 2002).
Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist, and Charles Sanders Pierce, an American philosopher, were said as founding semioticians in history. Even they have different concepts about the science of signs, Saussure’s semiology differs from Pierce’s semiotics, and still, both are concerned with signs (Berger 1933). From Saussure’s idea, signs are a combination of the signifier (sound-image) and signified (concept). On the other hand, Peirce suggested the three aspects of signs: icon, index, and symbol (BERGER, 1933). These suggested concepts, it implies that everything can be analyzed through understanding symbols but in this study, before you analyze some sorts of signs or symbols, one must be familiarized with the language. As Saussure (1915/1966) said about language: it is a system of signs that express ideas. Language is made up of signs (like words) that communicate meanings for someone (BIGNELL, 2002).
In this sense, we will relate how movies clearly recreate reality in the guise of an existing culture. From Roland Barthes's concept about semiotics, reading signs (semiotics) is analyzing the nature of images and how they are formed to imply messages and values. In movies, there are bunches of signs that give meaning and ideas to the audience. The film has something to do with the “coded message” inside each frame. It should be read as a “text” by understanding symbolic codes and signs projected inside the frame. Understanding the grammar of the film can make the story more coherent and can create new knowledge for the audience especially the youth.
If we look at the number of movies that were produced today, there are many movies that are capable of teaching about culture and can be a representation of the society that people can relate to. Through the use of textual analysis, youth can be guided on how to be literate in reading or learning from films. There are many Filipino movies that can be used in educating Filipino youth especially in preserving the culture and identity that the next generation should possess. One of the films that can be used in film literacy is the 1976 Metro Manila Film Festival best film, Eddie Romero’s “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon”[1] because of its rich textual contents with entertaining elements and historical background that will give the young generation a huge understanding about the national identity that every Filipinos should know.
Before one can understand the film or be literate in film, one should understand first that film has its language that allows the film to communicate so effectively to a global audience[2]. Richard L. Gregory, a neuropsychologist, pointed that film language is a system of visual and aural signals conveying meaning and structure to the mind, not the eye. He said that the mechanism of the eye supplies information that passes along the optic nerve to the cortex where the signal is decoded and interpreted. He also understood the use of our eyes may do some decoding when watching films, but it is the brain that really functions for visual perception.[3] So, when watching the film, it’s not only passing through the eyes of the audience but rather these moving pictures really processing in the mind of the viewer because every detail that the audience sees in the frame has meaning and message that can be paralleled in the real world and also, can be portrayed as an imagined world that most probably the dream of many people. And now if the audience knows how to understand what film really wants to tell, first he should know what’s the film language is so that they will be literate in watching, not only for entertainment purpose but rather to learn from that film.
According to Joshua A.Seigel’s article, he said that cinema uses shots, shot sequences, scenes, and dramatic sequences to communicate an idea in the same way that written language uses letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs.[4] In other words, the film is not a simple medium or instrument of arts and entertainment rather it is a medium of communication that has its own language and grammar that should be known in order to have a better understanding of the film. From Arijon’s Grammar of the Film Language book, films or movies consisting of different shots and scenes combined through editing created new meaning and provided a new way of communicating a feeling, an idea, a fact.[5] The progress of the cinema as a medium of visual communication is directly related to the ability of film language to grasp reality (Arijon 1976, 3). It suggests that the film gives information about what’s happening in the real world that should be known and should be critically converted into knowledge by the audience. This concept should be used in teaching the younger generation how to use it for their benefit for them to understand in a critical way and to develop consciousness for their identity as individuals.
In the Philippines, from its advent in the 19th century to its prodigious form in the twentieth century, the film has a huge role in the Filipino audience because of the invigorating effect that was given to them through entertainment. Spanish colonization was undeniably the major contributor to the film industry in the Philippines because most historians and critics said that it was Pertierra, a Spaniard, who publicly introduced movies in the Philippines.[6]Foreign movies were shown in early 1896 in a Phonograph Parlor in Escolta, Manila and on January 1, 1897 the first four movies were shown, these movies were Un Homme Au Chapeau (Man with a Hat), Une scène de dansejaponnaise (Scene from a Japanese Dance), Les Boxers (The Boxers), and La Place de L’ Opéra (The Place L’ Opéra) (Bautista 2015). In the time of colonization; this kind of technology really got the attention of the Filipinos because this was a new medium of entertainment but not only that, it was also used as some kind of informative way of showing other cultures (Western Culture) and also cultivated the native culture by giving them new ideas and awareness of the existing culture outside the country and developed mores inside the native land. Sir Nick De Ocampo acknowledged that there were also some foreign filmmakers that had made documentary films that showcased the native beauty of the Philippines and one of these was Burton Holmes, also known as “The Man who Photographed the World.”[7] He documented some historical events and wonderful sceneries of the country that were used in his lectures about places, personalities, and events he saw (DeOcampo 2011). In this sense, moving pictures or films as early as 1897 really taught something beneficial to the audience- one is to entertain, and the second is to inform. But what really a munificent benefit through the film is to develop consciousness from it and also to recognize the existing culture.
From Nadi Tofighain’s essay, through the influence of colonizers, Filipinos learned how to use film in questing for independence and raising national consciousness, and one of these Filipinos who have used this medium was José Nepomuceno, the pioneer Filipino filmmaker. Tofighain has gained any information about how Nepomuceno started making films from a Filipino perspective that gradually decreased the colonizers’ influence. Many Filipino contexts were used in the films of Nepomuceno through the physical dimension like the locations used focused on Philippine nature and daily life that everyone can relate to.[8] Also Nadi Tofighain’s essay, Nepomuceno primarily had to persuade theatre owners to show Tagalog films so that many Filipinos can gain awareness of the emergence of national consciousness. So, what one can understand about the films that Nepomuceno produced, despite the impact of the colonizers, filmmakers like Nepomuceno can teach other Filipinos the deeply-rooted Filipino traditions and customs (Tofighian, 2008). By watching films that were primarily produced by Filipinos and were produced in the Philippines, young generations can learn the cultural and historical background of the country that should be recognized and should be preserved. But how can one really understands how films really work to educate their viewers about identity and culture?
By using textual analysis, youth can be guided on how to be literate in reading or learning from films. There are many Filipino movies that can be used in educating Filipino youth especially in preserving the culture and identity that the next generation should possess. One of the films that can be used in film literacy is the 1976 Metro Manila Film Festival best film, Eddie Romero’s “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon”[9] because of its rich textual contents with entertaining elements and historical background that will give the young generation a huge understanding about the national identity that every Filipinos should know.
In the film “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon”, we will look at some of the textual meaning of the different elements that will help the students appreciate and learn the significance of film literacy that can be used in uplifting the Filipino society and in having a firm conviction in the identity of being a Filipino. First, we look at the literal meaning in the frame. As we have mentioned in the first part of this essay, what we literally see in the film is called the mise-en-scene or the design aspect which refers to all of the elements placed in front of the camera: settings, props, lighting, costumes, and makeup.[10] To examine the functions of mise-en-scene, most people said that it has something to do with realism but for Georges Méliès, mise-en-scene suggested him to create a totally ‘imaginary world on film’.[11] In Romero’s film, the setting was set up in Spanish colonization in the Philippines which was obvious because of the locations, props, and costumes worn by the characters, an old attire of a priest and baro’t saya; which were used to set the eyes of the viewers that these kind of attire were very dominant at that time. There were scenes in the film that characters that were considered as higher and middle classes in their time were wearing luxurious clothing that originated in Europe since the film portrayed the Spanish era in the Philippines. Designs in Romero’s film like Roman Catholic statues, images, and churches were prominent in many scenes of the film that connoted one of the factors why the Spanish invaded the Philippines and this was to spread their religion or beliefs. Because of these designs audience has a total view of what the story was about and they have a reason to be immersed in the imagined world in this film and through that, they will be able to feel how to be at that specific time and place which may help them to have a better understanding of what happened in the specific historical event of the Philippines.
When audiences recognize the use of design inside the film, they also should know how shots affect their understanding of what’s happening inside the frame. As Bordwell and Thompson explained, “A comprehensive account in cinema as a medium cannot stop with simply what is put in front of the camera.” One should know that shots or what filmmakers called cinematography (literally, writing in movement)[12] has their own meaning that could help the viewers to cognize what the scene wanted to tell or teach the viewers.
From one of the scenes in “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon,” the main character, Kulas, was instructed by some educated people so that he may learn many things about the world he was entering. Kulas was in the middle of the two personas but he was actually the lowest between these two and even to two characters behind them, this may signify him as inferior in the story which could be paralleled to the Filipinos in that era. When Spanish invaders came, native Filipinos were dependent on what the colonizers and some upper-class Filipinos taught them like what Kulas was doing. Also, books in front of Kulas implied his need for knowledge for him to be able to adapt to the intelligence that colonizers had just what the Philippines had to do for them to innovate and to develop into an independent country.
In the movie, long shots and wide shots were used to establish the place and the time of the story. Medium shots were used to provide information about the characters’ personalities by seeing their clothing, make-ups, and accessories. Most of the shots used were not moving so that viewers would focus on what characters wanted to tell through dialogues and actions. These were some of the shots that were prominent throughout the film. Also, the use of high angle shots was used in some scenes which the main character seems so small and inferior, like in this frame:
In other scenes, Kulas was positioned at the side of the frame which implied that he was not the authority and just under the superpower of the priest which was the Spanish invaders, just like in this frame:
To sum up, most of the shots used for the main character could be denoted as the status of the Filipinos during the colonization era which is true in the history of the Philippines.
Other elements in the film that can be used in adding knowledge to the viewers are sound and music. In many studies, there are two classifications of sound in a film. If sound in the film comes either from the characters or from the setting, it is called diegetic sound.[13] The other classification is called non-diegetic sound which refers to a point of view of the action or it creates mood and tone in a specific scene of the film (Lewis 2014). In Romero’s film, the diegetic sound of the war with real actions of the two opposing sides creates tension that gives an understanding to the viewer that in that specific period, Filipinos really experienced tribulations and sufferings because of the war between Spanish invaders and Filipinos who were fighting for the independence of the country. Also, dialogues from the characters and natural sounds were used to engage the viewers on what was happening in the frame. While the non-diegetic sound or the music that has been played in many scenes was used for character progression like his journey to the city, changing physical appearance, training to be educated, and this kind of sound added color to the overall narration of the story. A soundtrack at the start of the film, a mixture of Spanish and Tagalog songs, introduced the period of time that will be portrayed which was used to further engage the viewers to the world of the story. Also, the tune or the melody of the music served as a reflection of what was the dominant culture in the film, a mixture of Spanish and later on Filipino songs were played that were to describe the main character’s excursion.
Another essential element of the film, which became the source of learning, is the story. Through the use of shots, designs, sounds, and editing, the story is understood by the viewers but what should the audience understand more is the importance of what they are watching. In “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon,” the story primarily focuses on the journey of Nicholas Ocampo, also known as Kulas, that first, he just wanted to travel to new places but eventually, he was commanded by a Spanish priest to search for his son named Bindoy. The main character is a representation of the identity of a Filipino in the early period of colonization; a very innocent and simple native man. Kulas’ journey has similarities with the journey of every Filipino in the colonization era as well as in our time today, a journey of searching for identity. Eddie Romero, the director of the film, gave emphasis on how Filipino faced adversities in life because of the different periods passed through. When Kulas first met Lim, a Chinese trader, they had a conversation about who were the Filipinos. They had a little argument that Filipinos are the ones who are born and raised in the Philippines but Lim said that whoever Filipinos are, either they are Tagalogs or Chinese, they are all the same, they have no money. In one of the scenes when Don Tibor had a conversation with Kulas, he actually talked about how complicated the Tagalogs were compared to Bisayas because of oppressing the invaders. From here, the audience might be wondering why did Don Tibor think of the differences between Visayans and Tagalogs and did not consider them as Filipinos. It was because of the geographical aspect of the Philippines as a collection of islands that divided the Filipinos into different ethnicities or social groups thus, Filipinos were not yet united as one race. Despite this fact, Kulas didn’t stop to search for the answer about the identity of the Filipinos. From bit-by-bit learning, Kulas eventually acquired the strength to stand firm and to manifest the initiative to say that he is a Filipino. Finally, he even told the children that they are also Filipinos, referring to the next generation of Filipinos.
When the movie of Romero was released in 1976, it was during the Martial Law era and this was the rising of the second Golden Age of the Philippine Cinema. From the director’s contextual meaning that has been explained from the article of Agustin Sotto, Eddie Romero was once felt apart from the Philippines on the West Coast because he had been based in the United States, and he eventually realized he could never be an American citizen, so he had taken the opportunity to be a part of the resurgence of Filipino filmmaking.[14] The film really said it all about what the director was thinking at that time. In his comeback film, Agustin explained that Romero has set the mood of the film during the Katipunan uprising and the eventual American takeover, and as what the film was telling, Eddie Romero really explored the story of being a true Filipino that is very important in teaching the historical and cultural aspects of the native land (Sotto 2011). In one of the interviews of Romero, he said, “Ang hinahanap ko ‘yung ugaling Pilipino against present conditions now. Conditions now, conditions nung bagong dating ng Amerikano, condition ng Kastila pero ang hinahabol ko Pilipino.”[15] From this statement, Romero wanted to portray the Filipinos as being adaptive, reactive, and still being happy despite the challenges they have encountered.
To the present and to the future generation of Filipinos, the film can really use in producing knowledge and shaping their culture and identity. For this new modern time, the use of film is not merely for escapism from reality rather it is a new wave of teaching the youth to embrace and to uplift their lives in the real world by accepting and adapting their identity as Filipinos as what they understand in watching films. Being literate in the film has a huge factor in producing knowledge and imparting Filipino values that every youth in the Philippines should have. All will start in precise decoding of image meaning.
[1] Metro Manila Film Festival, http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000431/1976/1.
[2]Robert Edgar-Hunt, John Marland, and Steven Rawle, Basics Film-Making 04: The Language of Film (Lausanne: AVA Academia, 2010).
[3]R. L. Gregory, Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015).
[4] Joshua Seigel, Visual Language: Using Language as Cinematic Structure, videomaker.com, https://www.videomaker.com/article/c18/18140-visual-language-using-language-as-cinematic-structure
[5]Daniel Arijon, Grammar of the film language (Los Angeles (Calif.): Silman-James, 1976), 2.
[6]Arsenio Bautista, History of Philippine Cinema ,http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-the-arts-sca/cinema/history-of-philippine-cinema/(Accessed November 20, 2017).
[7]Nick Deocampo, Film: American Influences on Philippine Cinema (Manila, Philippines: Published and exclusively distributed by Anvil Pub., 2011).
[8]NadiTofighian, José Nepomuceno and the Creation of a Filipino National Consciousness, Film History: An International Journal 20, (United States of America: John Libbey Publishing 2008).
[9] Metro Manila Film Festival, http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000431/1976/1.
[10] Ed Sikov, Film studies: An Introduction (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
[11]David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008), 113.
[12]David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008), 162.
[13]Jon Lewis, Essential Cinema: An Introduction to Film Analysis (Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014), 152.
[14] Agustin Sotto, “Eddie Romero: A Filmmaker Substance,“ (2011), http://www.manunuri.com/eddie_romero_a_filmmaker_of_substance (Accessed December 1, 2017).
[15]”Ganito tayo noong Martial Law,” in I-Witness, GMA, December 24, 2012.
