As Linda Seger writes in "Creating the Myth," "All of us have similar experiences...The trappings might be different, the twists and turns that create suspense might change from culture to culture...but underneath it all, it's the same story, drawn from the same experiences." Semiotics are the visual and literary codes that writers and producers use to clue in their audience to the common experiences that surround them. Seger notes that "Many of the most successful films are based on these universal stories." Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is no exception. Though WWCF became popular years after its release, its pattern of semiotics is hard to miss. Director Mel Stuart's use of color, language, symbol, and zoom allow the viewer to relate to the story based on a shared langauge of culture and metaphor. Click on the linked images to the left for close readings of some of the semiotics in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.