Lab Task 1

Signs and Semiotics

In this task we had to find a sign of some kind around Wits and change its intended meaning
so that it has a new meaning altogether.
(PICTURE 1)*
Original Sign:
Intended meaning: The top sign is informing us that the Emergency gas valve shut-off for
the buildings gas supply is behind this sign. The sign at the bottom is telling us that we are
not allowed to run in the area or possibly that we should not go there other than in
emergencies.
(PICTURE )*
!irst dra"t o" c#anges to t#e sign:
The first sign was a failure. We intended to get a laugh out of the funny sign. owever we
failed to do this. !lthough we used relay to connect the writing on the sign to the images" we
had completely changed the sign altogether. The note we were given was that the sign was
changed so dramatically that it didnt have comical elements at all. I took this into account
and decided to change the sign from the original to something relatively similar.
(PICTURE $)*
Second dra"t o" c#anges to t#e sign:
The second time around I only made a few" more subtle changes to the original sign. In this
draft I kept the same theme of gas #as in the initial sign$ and then %ust drew some gas coming
out of the mans backside. The sign reads& '(eep gas in original container during transport.)
*eople immediately e+pected that the sign means people must not take actual gas out of its
container when being transported. ,ut with the use of relay" I made a connection between the
words of the sign above and the picture in the sign below. This connection implied that
people must not pass wind when walking. This creates a great deal of humour as it is a play
on words that is une+pected. The sign is an e+ample of relay and how it showed the te+t and
image in a complimentary relationship. In this case" the relationship creates humour" which
was our original goal.
Lab Task
T#e %ero&s 'o(rne)
(PICTURE *)*
In this task we had to get into groups and choose a film that follows the structure of the eros
-ourney. I was with labi and we chose The .atri+ with /eo #played by (eanu 0eeves$ being
the hero. e is a typical unwilling hero. es full of doubt" hesitant" passive" he needs to be
motivated but in the end he finally gets motivated and committed. is mentor is .orpheus.
.orpheus is a typical mentor figure" hes a positive influence who gives /eo advice and hes
wise. e teaches" inspires and motivates /eo and guides him to greatness.
In lab tasks before this one we had acted out our stories" but we found that the audience then
rather focused on how we acted and not on the story itself. 1o in this task we wanted to make
sure that the focus was not fully on the presentation but rather on the story itself and its
structure. I read out the headings of the eros -ourney and how it fitted in with The .atri+
while labi added in %ust a few actions. !nd I think it worked 2uite well because although
people may not have been e+tremely entertained" we still gave a good representation of the
eros -ourney and its structure.
3ur first draft of the task was slightly lacking in terms of following the actual structure of the
eros -ourney. 1o one of the changes I made was in the final draft I spoke about the
distinction between the ordinary world and the special world. In the eros -ourney a hero
crosses over from the ordinary world into the special world and similarly /eo" the hero of
the film" crosses over from the matri+ to the real world. In this case /eo originally lives in his
ordinary world which is the matri+ itself. e then crosses over into the special world which
is in fact the real world in the film.
Lab Task $
Edited !air)tales
In this lab task we had to take an original fairy tale and change it in some way. This is my version
of 4oldilocks and The Three ,ears. I changed the storyline to involve three hippos instead of
three bears and a little girl names 5andile instead of a girl named 4oldilocks. 1o it was called
5andile and the Three ippos.
In the original fairy tale the bears have all got the similar kind of beds" chairs and bowls etc. The
father bear has the biggest bed" the mother bear has a middle si6ed bed and the baby bear has a
small bed. In my first draft I took that e+act storyline and %ust changed the beds into hippo ponds
and the chairs into reed beds and the bowls into eating areas. ,ut I soon realised that this
structure that I was following that is present in the original story is actually e+tremely boring
because its so repetitive. 1o my first draft with hippos was really %ust as boring as the original. It
was 2uite poor.
I then changed it a bit more to make it interesting. 1o for e+ample the father hippo didnt have a
big chair to sit in he had a reed bed with the latest 1ony sound system in which he listened to
heavy metal. That was %ust one of the ways I tried to make the story a little more interesting. !nd
I think I succeeded in that.
I used a setting that most of us can relate to. .y version is not set in a forest like 4oldilocks and
the Three ,ears but its set on a farm in 1outh !frica with hippos and elephants on it. Then I also
set it in this day and age. 1o at one stage the hippos go and watch !vatar in 78 at the elephants
house. 1o I think my version of the story was a lot easier for modern day 1outh !fricans to relate
to.
I used 2uite stereotypical characters. 1o for e+ample the father hippo had a fridge full of beer and
a braai in his eating area. 1o the characters were very stereotypical which allowed me to create
humour. owever" we were told to rather use archetypes instead of stereotypes. 1o I tried to
make the mother hippo like a hero" but not a typical hero because she doesnt go on the eros
-ourney. 1he rather %ust saves the day by sending 5andile flying into the air on a wave of pond
water to get her off her deck chairs. 1o thats one way I couldve improved my fairytale" more
archetypes and less stereotypes.