Film Semiotics (Terries).

Analyse a short scene from a film as an example of the following:
The film I used to annotate was the opening scene of the first Iron Man.

Mise en scene:
The setting of the film is in the hot, dry desert and there are a lot of army trucks and army soldiers around. This shows that this could possibly a dangerous scene because where there are soldiers there are normally explosions and wars going on.

Continuity editing:
There are a lot of faced-paced cuts and close ups used in this scene, this could suggest danger is about to happen and keeps people on their toes watching as they look from one character to the next quickly. There is also a hand-held camera used once the explosion has happened, this again keeps the audience on the edge of their seats and brings more panic and excitement to your living room.

How does this relate to semiotics?
This relates to semiotics because the setting of a film will always have a hidden meaning behind it. So, like above where the film is being filmed in a desert shows that they are in the middle of nowhere which then links to the fact that they cannot be saved from the explosion that happens a few minutes later because no one else is around.
Also, having a hand-held camera is showing danger which then is a connotation of there being a hand-held camera being used.

What is "Visual Language" in terms of film and film posters?
Visual language is really important to get right in films and film posters. For example, if someone is having a fight in a film and person 1 holds their hands up this is their way of giving themselves up to person 2 without actually saying I give up.
Another example would be, if you have a picture of a man on a film poster pointing a gun towards the audience would imply that there will be a shooting and lots of action without actually having to write full of action and shooting etc.