In The Structure of the Artistic Text, one of Juri Lotman's central issues is the crucial function of the artistic frame. Several assumptions, concerning both the nature of artistic communication and the way structuralist inquiry should be performed, cause him to treat the importance of the frame in detail. Further explication of Lotman's work will provide us with a way to discuss how the frame functions in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. The frame represents the closing off of a structure of knowledge in the most literal sense.
Structuralism sets out to determine what forms are used in the work of art.
I can group together ideas of Lotman's regarding representational and narratory texts. In an obvious example of a frame, films get projected on screens which shows the audience where to focus. More interesting, however, is movement of the photographic frame over time peculiar to motion pictures. When an image is arranged in such a way that limits the audience's view of something, the audience will tend to extrapolate the limited information to generate a complete understanding of the image being represented. By moving the frame, the director can confirm or violate the expectations of the audience.