Perhaps I am still very much entrenched in the structuring of counter-cinema of Godard. In Coppola's film The Conversation, I found certain imageries/ colors of scenes as semantic function. For example, the office of Martin (or of director?) featured primary-colored furniture such as red couches and yellow columns in contrast to the dark business suits that prevail most of the scenes (and in the scenes taking place in the building of the director). Later at the electronic gadget convention as Caul discovers Martin on the velvet red couch in a mainly neutral-toned colored decor. In the convention room, a female receptionist/ worker is dressed up in a yellow dress. Towards the end as Caul goes to director to return the data, his envelope is spotted noticeable blue (that he throws away in the greens and picks up again) and this same blue appears later again in the hotel room scene - with a vivid blue toolbox, Caul makes a hole on a wall of the bathroom in order to create an access to the other room - to create a way to surveillance. The use of colors in certain props of the film constructs a system of reference to surveillance.
Apart from the use of colors as semantic function, the recurring notion of "circling" seems to take on a certain semantic meaning as well. There are imageries of circular action throughout the film such as that of circular- shaped video tapes, the couple walking in a circle in the park, and one of my favorite scenes of the film - in the parking lot of Caul's workshop/ studio/ office where Caul and a female character are surrounded by a motorcycle that circle around them in expanding circular motion. (around the couple, around the columns in the empty arena of the parking lot)
These recurring imageries/ ideas as semantic function seem to consolidate the notion of surveillance that is so vividly captured in Coppola's film. The circular motion seems to suggest a return of what has been done, come and go, the repetitive act that leads to meaninglessness (and more if thought more). This idea is apparent in the final scene in which Caul is trapped in his space of invaded privacy. The consequences that ensue from this job (surveillance) are brought upon Caul himself as his space is violated -- he dismantles and deconstructs his own living space -- human environment -- down to pieces and blocks of walls and plasters and industrial building materials - back to the origin. His loss of his own protection and privacy goes back to the very beginning of the development of individualism and construction of privacy at which one, without any barrier or walls of security, starts to build a system in order to protect himself. This initial act of building a wall of protection has come back years later to its origin - lack of protective barriers and only the prevalence of surveillance.
The relationship is very intriguing - between the semantic functions embedded in the film and the structural engagement of 'surveillance' as discussed by Levin. The semantic meanings mentioned above (colors, a circular shape) effectively contribute to the construction and manifestation of the idea of surveillance in the film's structure and in "the condition of the narration itself." (Levin, 583)
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On an indirectly - relevant note... I just can't get over how highly mediated one's life is in the 'now...' The prevalent use of digital media (primarily photography, video, internet, tv, etc..), its role as a recoding mean and representation of existence. (Refer back to the notion of Barthes "that has been...") The generation of the now is so accustomed to this omni-presence of media that not only are we being targeted as an object of vulnerability within the mediated system, we, as a subject, are also offering ourselves as an object to be viewed and remembered through this recording media. The quintessential example that I believe best depicts the generation of now is, quite undoubtedly, 'Facebook.'
One moment one would be at a social gathering and in a matter of an hour or two there will be photographs of this event uploaded on the web... It is almost terrifying and shocking to see the actions of media-accustomed generation that have almost become in a way mechanical. A camera (or better - a smart phone with the camera function) is always attached to him/her as a necessary item (or maybe a partner), the flashes that go off constantly in the dark are now beyond distracting and have become a norm of social gatherings/ parties - what is supposed to be an act of enjoyment and relaxed social act, and the moment one gets home he immediately goes over to his computer and upload the photos that have just been taken in real life onto a digital space..
Perhaps one is so aware of the mediated system in which he is situated that he feels obligated to show his participation, the desire to be part of the 'imagined community' in an apparent, visible manner... It is almost as if a happening/ momental actions can be validated only through such an act of recording and its results -- that individual's actions or events require validation -- it is a mandatory act for the citizen of the now in order to be acknowledged of the existence of being. Quite a prime example of surveillance (and even subordination) I think... how increasingly vulnerable we, as a member of the mediated era, are becoming, make ourselves to be in addition to the surroundings that already pose much threat of invasion.
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