Syntagm and Paradigm

Restaurant menu is a great example.

Appetizer —-> Pasta —-> Meat + Vegetable —-> Dessert —> Coffee

Bruscetta — Spaghetti

Soup — Lasagna

The horizontal order of food from appetizer to coffee is a syntagm. Individual choices within each category (spaghetti vs. lasagna) are paradigms.

Semiotics and Structuralism are great for analyzing and discussing the formal aspects of media.

Lacey Film Language Cheat Sheet

Jeff to upload? 🙂