Roland Barthes Five Codes Clip Analysis - DYM H/W 2

ENIGMA CODE

• How is the man turning all the lights off? Magic?
• Why is the man talking to a cat?
• "Professor" - at which establishment?
• Why will he be famous?
• Why does the baby have a lightning shaped scar?

 ACTION CODE

• The man puts the lights out by magic - expect him to be a wizard
• Audience see the cat's silhouette changing - expect the woman to be a witch
• Hagrid is bringing 'the boy' - expect to see him soon
• Flying motorbike - expect a wizard to be flying it and maybe bringing the boy
• Magicians referred to as 'Professor' - expect to see the school where they teach

  SEMIOTIC CODE

• The young baby represents good and stands for a 'New Age'
• The three adults represent the boy's future education
• The animals (owls and cats) represent the wildness and animosity of the magical community

CULTURAL CODE

• Old white man, long white beard, tall and wearing strange clothes - usually associated with wizards
• Young boy being passed on to relatives - audience expect that he has become an orphan

SYMBOLIC CODE

• Harry's scar represents the torture (physical and emotional) that he will have to undergo for the rest of his life
  
• The taking-away of the lights suggests that magic must be hidden(?)
• The cat's shadow (before it turns into a woman) represents how the wizarding world has to live in the shadow of the Muggle world - it's hidden
• Leaving the boy on the doorstep symbolises his transition from magical to not magical