Blog Post #19 - Iconography

 Iconography is a visual art that relies on the use of visual symbols/icons that are strongly associated with something. An example of iconography is the symbol of a skull, which most people strongly associate with death or danger. Iconography is used in film to convey themes, help to identify the genre of a film, or to identify the role of a character.


Icon of a skull, from Wikipedia


Researching further on bbc.co.uk provides me with greater information on this iconography. Some examples of this are the icons of ghosts, zombies, axes, and graveyards. The genre that most people associate with these symbols is the horror genre, which is known for having these elements inside of them.

Photo of a graveyard at night, from reddit.com


For my purposes, I need to research the icongraphy of crime films, and more specifically detectives, in order to drive home that my characters represent detectives.


Off the top of my head, I can immediately identify the symbols of trenchcoats, fedoras, and magnifying glasses for detectives. Further research on flaticon.com, a website dedicated to icons and symbols, reveals new detective iconography. Some of these include fingerprints, police badges, handcuffs, silhouettes, and file folders. 


Detective Silhouette, from shutterstock.com

Using these symbols in my project will help me to show to the audience the roles of the detective characters, and to show their thoughts during the scenes. I plan to suit my characters in trench coats and fedoras, and to use (prop) police badges to show their authority. In my next post, I will continue to plan my project's production.

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