Apparatus Theory

The Apparatus theory became famous in the 1970s after the Psychoanalytic theory in the 1960s.

Theorists:

Jacques Lacan

Karl Marx

Sigmund Freud

 

 

Apparatus theory believe that what we see in cinemas or in televisions are the things we see in reality. People watch dramas, films, etc because it is believable and can easily hook the attention of the viewers/audiences. Apparatus theory argues that cinema is ideology or based on ideas which is true as all those things came from different concepts like own experiences, dreams, from a novel, etc are all ideas that transform into a film. Ideology is not part of the cinema but because it’s part of how we live in and how we want to be, it is applied as to people can easily relate and understand the story easily. Before the D-day, the editors/directors makes the arrangement of the stories and with the help of camerawork and editing as there are many unnecessary part that needs to be cut out.

Apparatus theory is derive of Marxist theory, semiotics and psychoanalysis.

Semiotics by Roland Barthes’ represents what the viewer understands from what is shown; it derives from linguistic studies, and utilises the semantic (the relationship between the signs and what they refer to, i.e. meaning) and syntactic (relationships among signs in formal orders) elements.

To sum it all, Apparatus theory, with the help of semiotic and psychoanalysis, is about building a bridge that will connect the people and the story shown in cinemas. It may differ in different genres but in the end, it is about getting the attention of the viewers and to easily understand the situation like what we see in reality. It is like watching a korean drama but you’re not korean so you need a subtitle to be able to understand the whole story and this creates a barrier if subtitle is not use. But because of the what we see in cinemas are as close to our lives or somebody elses, it get curious and end up watching it.