Audiovisual Metaphors in Moving Images Seminars, 31. March-1. April 2022 Brno, Masaryk University Prof. Dr. Kathrin Fahlenbrach Institute for Media & Communication University of Hamburg 1. Part: IMAGE SCHEMATA AND PRIMARY METAPHORS IN MOVING IMAGES •10-11:30 am Metaphors in Movies – A first Example •Inside Out (D: Pete Docter, Ronaldo del Carmen, USA 2015) • • • • • • • • • •https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S0RKRRyqhQ •I.1. Short General Introduction into Metaphors & Image Schemata • Classic Understanding of Metaphors •A metaphor is "...a figure by which the actual meaning of a word is transferred to another meaning which belongs to it only by the force of a comparison." •(Du Marsais, quoted in Winfried Nöth. Handbuch der Semiotik, 2000, p. 342). • •A metaphor is based on a relationship of similarity: •two signs (e.g. words or pictorial motifs) are linked by a common signifying feature (e.g. 'The world is a stage', 'Boiling with rage’) •Basic metaphorical principle: analogy/comparison between different concepts • Classic Understanding of Metaphors •Metaphors are considered as tropes of figural speech: they act as stylistic devices of emphasis and figurative illustration of abstract thoughts, ideas, arguments • •"Something said refers to something that is not said, is absent in the concrete utterance, but is actually meant, whereby what is actually meant must become clear from the structure of what is said." • •(Dennis Gräf et al. (2011). Filmsemiotik. Eine Einführung in die Analyse audiovisueller Formate. Marburg, P. 53) • • Founders of Cognitive Metaphor Theory • 220px-Lakoff,_George.jpg George Lakoff (1941) Linguist, USA (Berkely) Early Works, e.g. : • (1980): “Metaphors we Live by“ (with Mark Johnson • (1987): „Woman, Fire, and Dangerous Things. What Categories Reveal about the Mind“ • • Founders of Cognitive Metaphor Theory Mark Johnson (1949) Philosopher, USA (Oregon) Early Works, e.g.: • • (1981) Philosophical Perspectives on Metaphor. • (1987) The Body in the Mind. The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination and Reason. picture-591.jpg Cognitive Understanding of Metaphors •Metaphors do not only establish a comparison between conventional meanings of e.g. words, pictures and sounds (=symbolic metaphors). •Metaphors are a basic principle of human thinking ØWe conceptualize abstract and complex terms/concepts etc. with the help of simple gestalt patterns •Metaphors are based on cognitive transfer between a (mostly abstract) target domain and a (sensual-concrete, body-based) source area (= conceptual metaphors) •also Symbolic metaphors are based on conceptual metaphors of thinking! Øe.g. “time flies” (symbolic metaphor) -> ‘time is a natural force’ (conceptual metaphor) • Conceptual / Cognitive Metaphors •Metaphors as cognitive concepts transfer the gestalt of body-based schemas (such as 'way', 'force', 'balance', 'container') to an abstract target domain (e.g. life, time, society): -'life is a path’, -'time is a natural force/ a flying force' (e.g. time flies), -'society is a building' (e.g. 'upper level of society’) •Conceptual metaphors are realized in different sign systems, e.g.: -in language -in body language -in visual and in audiovisual media Cognitive Schemata & Concepts •Schemas & concepts are general knowledge structures that reflect the most important features of the subject area to which they refer and, at the same time, indicate what relationships exist between these features •e.g. ‘building’: a fix space with single entries & windows, often several levels •Why do we need Schemas? Central functions, e.g.: •Reduction of complexity of sensorial data •Organization & representation of knowledge (top-down-bottom-up-process of cognitive information processing) • • (Anderson, John R. 2005: Cognitive Psychology.) • Body-Based Image Schemata •Gestalt: The stimuli received by the senses (e.g. light, shadow) are recognized by the cognitive system in their elementary gestalt forms and grouped according to patterns that belong together: -lines, dots etc. -circular, angular, soft, sharp etc. shape patterns -more complex shape patterns •Image schemata: gestalt-based cognitive concepts: -E.g., path-, container-, force-, balance-schema. -they have gestalt elements, connected with a knowledge schema (e.g. ‚building‘) -Gestalt perception is crucial for 'body-based meaning attribution' (embodiment) Image Schemata • “An image schema is a recurring dynamic pattern of our perceptual interactions and motor programs that gives coherence and structure to our experience. […] • Experience is to be understood in a very rich, broad sense as including basic perceptual, motorprogram, emotional, historical, social and linguistic dimensions.” • • Mark Johnson 1987, The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (xic, xvi) Container-Schema: Gestalt-Elements: In-Out Source-Path-Goal-Schema (SPG): Gestalt-Elements: Here – There - Path Here There > Path Balance-Schema Gestalt-Elements: even vs. uneven (in relation to a horizontal axis) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Example: Image Schemata in Comics Asterix: La Zizanie (Goscinny and Uderzo, 1970) The Source-Path-Goal-Schema (SPG) in Movies – An Example: • ‚Life is a Journey‘-Metapher in animation movies (Charles Forceville) • • • • • • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvocTKD5o5A •I.2. Group Work: Analysis of Image Schemata in a Movie Scene Metaphoric use of image schemata by film style Example: Inside Out (2015) – The Family-Dispute-Scene Metaphoric use of image schemata by film style An Example Inside Out (2015) – The Family-Dispute-Scene •Group-Task: •Link to the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAL0nwCo0h8 • •what image schemata can you identify in the use of camera; in the way, images are composed; the way, the movement of characters and objects are displayed, but also by the use of sounds? •More specifically, please look especially for the following image schemata: -Container (in/out) -Paths (here-there) -Force (strong/intense – weak/low) • Part II: PART II AUDIOVISUAL METAPHORS IN MOVIES: SPACE METAPHORS •2:00-3:30 pm •II.1: Introduction into Audiovisual Metaphors •Source Domains Image Schemata Cognitive Concepts Force Path Container … e.g. Fire e.g. Journey e.g. House … Target Domains Emotions Processes States … e.g. Love e.g. Life e.g. Society … e.g. LOVE IS FIRE e.g. linguistic: ‚Burning with Love‘ e.g. LIFE IS A JOURNEY e.g. linguistic: ‚Goal in Life‘ e.g. A SOCIETY IS A BODY e.g. linguistic: ‚Health of a society‘ Conceptual Metaphors Symbolic Metaphors Conceptual Metaphors – Symbolic Metaphors •Source Domains Image Schema Gestalt of Fire Force e.g. Heat Haze e.g. Cracking Noise e.g. Music e.g. Red Colours … Conceptual Metaphor: ‚Love is Fire‘ Target Domains Emotional Experience Dynamic,Intensity Love Synaesthetic Gestalt Audiovisual Metaphors in Moving Images Audiovisual Metaphors • •“(…) movies, television shows, video games, or other moving images recurrently generate audiovisual metaphors in their motifs and in their audiovisual compositions (a)by manifesting conceptual metaphors already established in our minds and in (media-)culture; and (b)by creating original mappings in the metaphoric use of embodied source domains, which are elements of the very audiovisual composition and abstract or complex target domains in the genre-typical semantic framework of a piece. •(Fahlenbrach 2016, p. 34) Example for Metaphors in Visual & Audiovisual Media: „Predatory Capitalism“ •Conceptual Metaphors: •‚Capitalism is a natural force‘ ->‘capitalism is a living being‘ ->‘capitalism is a predator‘ •Source Domain Image Schema Gestalt of Predator Force physical superiority physical threat agressiveness Target Domain Collective Anxiety of uncontrolled Capitalism •deregulated power •threat for individuals •destruction of commonwealth ‚Predatory Capitalism‘ as an Audiovisual Metaphor Metropolis (Fritz Lang, D 1927) Two Types of Conceptual Metaphors System Metaphors Event Structure Metaphors • ‘The mind is a machine’ • ‘Social organizations are plants’ • ‘Careers are buildings’ • ‘Society is a machine’ etc. (Kövecses 2002, 127) • ‘Progress is motion forward’ • ‘Action is self-propelled motion’ • ‘Means are paths’ • ‘Changes are movements’ (Kövecses 2002, 134) Referring to states, systems etc.: Referring to relations, events etc.: Two Types of Conceptual Metaphors in Audiovisual Metaphors System Metaphors for Designing audiovisual Motifs Audiovisual characters and objects as complex systems • ‚Complex systems are buildings‘ • Referring to the container-schema Event Structure Metaphors for Designing Audiovisual Style Audiovisual Processes and relations via motion • ‘action is self-propelled movement’ • ‘lack of control over change is lack of control over movement’ Metaphoric Design of spatial Motifs etc. Metaphoric use of camera movement, movement of characters / objects… •II.2. Audiovisual Spaces as Audiovisual Metaphors •Main function of audiovisual metaphors in movies and cinematic TV series: giving narrative meanings a bodily and affectively appealing aesthetic gestalt •Key bodies and key action spaces of a cinematic narrative stand at the centre of its metaphoric embodiment Økey bodies and action spaces can act as audiovisual key metaphors Ømetaphoric networks of submetaphors are often created around bodies and spaces as audiovisual key metaphors Cinematic role of Audiovisual Metaphors Primary Audiovisual Metaphors in Cinematic Spaces •Audiovisual Spaces always imply embodied image schemata: -e.g. the container-schemata (in–out) between the frame and the pictorial field, as well as within the depicted spaces (e.g. in the display of limited spaces with doors, walls etc.); -e.g. path-schema: movements of the camera and of moving objects along paths (here-there), and across the limits of the depicted spaces (e.g. interior rooms) •further embodied elements in audiovisual spaces: -gestalt patterns: e.g. up-down, size (big - small), or dark–bright; -cross-modal qualities: duration (long-short), intensity (strong-weak), and position (above-below, central-peripheral, close-distant) The Hotel as an audiovisual Key Metaphor Example: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, USA/G/UK 2014) vlcsnap-2016-06-21-13h48m34s28.png The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, USA/G/UK 2014) - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fg5iWmQjwk Gustave‘s Movements in the Hotel Gustave‘s Movements in the Hotel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN5sqSEXxm4 Gustave‘s Movements in the Hotel Motiv of Hotel as Key Audiovisual Metaphor: ‚social life is a hotel‘ vlcsnap-2016-06-21-11h39m24s125.png Key Audiovisual Metaphor: •‘society is a building’ – ‘social life is an hotel’ •‘social hierarchies are levels of a building’ ØContainer-schema as source domain Øhierarchic structure of levels as source domain Audiovisual Submetaphors: ‚wealth is a big, bright room‘ - ‘poverty is a small, dark room‘ vlcsnap-2016-06-21-11h41m55s98.png vlcsnap-2016-06-23-13h31m29s184.png vlcsnap-2016-06-23-13h31m42s57.png vlcsnap-2016-06-21-11h42m08s223.png ‚social life is a hotel‘: The Grand Budapest Hotel in the early 1930s Audiovisual Submetaphor: ‚Political Repression is mass occupation of a building‘ ‚social life is a hotel‘: The Grand Budapest Hotel during fashist Dictatorship in 1930s vlcsnap-2016-06-21-11h53m59s163.png vlcsnap-2016-06-21-11h55m42s207.png ‚social life is a hotel‘: The Grand Budapest Hotel in 1968 vlcsnap-2016-06-23-13h14m15s79.png vlcsnap-2016-06-23-13h13m47s57.png vlcsnap-2016-06-23-13h13m57s154.png vlcsnap-2016-06-23-13h14m05s242.png Audiovisual Submetaphor: ‚an individualistic society is a small human group in a huge empty building‘ Bodily Performances of Gustave as Key audiovisual Metaphor ‚Trespassing of social limits is passing levels of a building‘ • • • • • • • vlcsnap-2016-06-21-11h34m47s168.png vlcsnap-2016-06-21-11h37m02s230.png Example: One of Gustaves Gazes, performed by camera & editing as transgressing the levels of the hotel ‚mastery of social order is fluid/self-controlled motion thoughout in a building‘