Cinema and its sequential structure constitute a communicational system of comparisons (70/38)1. Communication emerges through the interrelation between immediate and dispersed elements—those that have already been shown within the sequence and those that will be presented later. Meaning is therefore constructed across temporal progression.
This system of comparison is also present at the level of the minimal linguistic unit: the sign. The word CHAIR possesses meaning because it is differentiated from all other words in the English language. Its significance derives not from an intrinsic essence, but from its position within a structured system of differences.
Similarly, an image acquires specific meaning within a sequence by establishing a direct relationship with what it represents, while simultaneously defining itself in opposition to the other images that have appeared—or will appear—within the sequence. Meaning thus arises relationally, through contrast, association, anticipation, and recall.
Therefore, the system of communication and understanding in a sequence of images operates as a comparative structure: a dynamic interplay between smaller units, larger structural segments, and the totality of the work.
- 38
Just as, in general, our sense of cinema’s connotations depends on understood comparisons of the image with images that were not chosen (paradigmatic) and images that came before and after (syntagmatic), so our sense of the cultural connotations depends upon understood comparisons of the part with the whole
> Structure > Secuence > Language
(synecdoche) and associated details with ideas (metonymy)
How to Read a Film: The World of Movies, Media, and Multimedia : Language, History, Theory
by James Monaco ↩︎
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