Communication Theory

Communication Theory has multiple theories and perspectives which shape the field of communication studies. It studies how we as humans process information and also the technical process of information. It can be broken down into seven different traditions:

Transmissional:

• Cybernetic or Information Theory - useful for researching how as a designer your work makes effective communication, however there are 3 different levels of problems that can occur. 
• Technical - Accuracy, may need specialist equipment or knowledge to work a certain item
• Semantic - Precision of language, what language to use and how much of the message can be lost without the entire meaning being lost.
• Effectiveness - Does the message itself affect behaviour in the way we want it to?

Constitutive:

• Semiotics 
  
• Semantics - Dictionaries are semantic reference books as it explains what words mean, what they stand for. Semantics addresses what a sign stands for.
• Syntactics - shows the relationship between different signs. Signs rarely stand along, they are mostly always a part of a larger sign system, this is reffered to as codes. Codes are specific rules that detail what different signs stand for.
• Pragmatics - studies practical use and effectiveness of signs.
• Using semiotics can be a way of breaking down an image and finding out the true meaning behind the way it has been set out. It can be broken down into:
• Linguistic - what language has been used?
• Linguistic sign/message - what message is being said using this language? (may only work in specific countries or the language that is used)
• Image - break down the meaning of each object and find a deeper meaning
• Composition - why have things been set out in they way that they are? 
• Colour - what do the colours used suggest? What feeling or emotion do they convey?
• Shape and orientation of image - if portrait for example, it can suggest person to person communication. 

• The Phenomenological Tradition - is the way in which humans come to understand the world. Face recognition for example is a way we as humans communication with one another using different expressions. Different expressions can convey an emotion you're feeling and want to express but it is something that we learn over time, it is a developed language. Also interpretation is central, how one person sees an expression may be different to another person and to the actual person communicating that expression. 
• 3 Schools of phenomenological tradition:
• Classical
• Perception - only know things through own own personal relationship to things
• Hermeneutic - interpretation of things e.g annotating a piece of text, what you think is the meaning behind a certain thing

• Rhetorical - the art of persuasion
• Synecdoche - using a part of something to signify the whole. Small things can represent the larger picture
• Hyperbole - heightens the situtation
• Irony - was developed as a rhetoric trope
• Rhetoric can change the way we read things, it can persuade us to see/read things differently. It's a way of using voice and making the audience listen. The repetition of something will make it more permanent in your mind. Another form of rhetoric is the understanding of metaphors. Metaphors are an easy way to grasp new concepts and ideas. It helps us to remember certain things by creating associations.

• Socio-psychological:
• Behavioural - how we understand/unpick things in terms of body language e.g. posture, head motion, facial expression, eye contact, gestures. These can all signify different things/emotions and convey different ideas across to another person.
• Cognitive - how the brain unpicks things - how it can process things at different times, visual aspects can travel across languages however, the specific language writing might not if you do not know it. 

• Socio-cultural - the understanding of where culture if coming from.

• Critical Theory - the media is always surrounding us, it can convince us to do things which relates back the rhetoric - the art of persuasion. Critical Theory makes you understand and unpick these things. 

Communication theory can be seen as a necessary thing in film, games and animation you should really be thinking of how people perceive things and the way objects are laid out can affect the message it gives across. As there are so many different types of communication theory it would be best to concentrate on a few e.g. semiotics would be easier to identify in a game as you could spend longer analysing certain parts. As a designer for a game or animation it probably isn't something that you think about in detail, it might not be top of your list as it would be more of the story and actual design of it. However you may make choices that you think is random but they could be subconscious. The one that stands out to me the most is Socio-psychological - this is how we understand and pick up body language, facial expressions and gestures. In film, game and animation this is critical as this is how you can connect with a character. Without this connection you are not able to understand what they are feeling or what they might want to convey. Certain gestures or facial expressions mean different things so you need to be spot on with these, especially within game and animation as you yourself have to create these and if they are not quite right, people will be able to pick up on this and it may confuse them.