Semiotics - Roland Barthes

 Analyzing a clip from Punch-Drunk Love, 2002

Still image from Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, of the harmonium being abandoned on the side of the road.

Still image from Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, showing the reaction of the main character had due to the events that happened.

The sign from this clip is the car accident. 

The signifier is the visual image of the harmonioum.

What is signified by the harmonium are the feelings of loneliness, and abandonment, while the car crash shows chaos and conflict.

The denotative meaning happens when the harmonium has been left in the road right after a car crash had just happened.

The clip's connotative meaning goes from a solitary office setting to him seeing a car crash and a harmonium being dropped outside.

The clip's hermeneutic/enigma code asks the audience to think about the reasons behind the harmonium's abandonment and the relationship it may have with the main character.

Semiotic Theory Applied

Presenting the tone and genre of the movie is the clip's main goal. Visual signals such as the harmonium are used to tell the viewer that something chaotic is probably going to happen. Especially, the opening shot of the sequence, which shows a man in a largely deserted office, conveys a sense of isolation and loneliness. A scene of a car crash and a harmonium left in the street come next. These seemingly random, unconnected events point to an unusual, possibly crazy, plot for the film.