Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Introduction to Media: Narrative

Narrative is a vital key concept for A Level Media.

There are three key narrative theories we need to learn as part of our introduction to AS Media. The notes as a reminder:

Narrative patterns
Linear Pattern: progresses forward towards a resolution - Beginning, Middle and End.
Multi-strand Narrative: popular in broadcast TV (e.g. soaps) and film. Involves more than one narrative running parallel involving different characters and locations.
Documentary narrative: this may revolve round a central theme (e.g. troublesome neighbours) or group of people.

Long-running TV series such as Breaking Bad or The Wire have one major narrative and lots of mini-narratives. The major narrative runs over the series, the mini narrative may be resolved within an episode.

Narrative theories
When studying narrative in Media, we need to be able to identify what the story is and how it is being told. There are three key theories we need to learn and apply:

Enigma and Action Codes - Roland Barthes
Barthes suggested that stories have certain codes that audiences understand and respond to.

ENIGMA codes: control how much we know and help hold our interest. It creates mystery during the narrative.

ACTION codes: events or actions in the story that are important in developing the narrative, e.g. a gun being cocked signifies that a violent scene will follow.


Todorov: equilibrium
Tzvetan Todorov proposed a theory of equilibrium:

Equilibrium: An existing state of harmony
Disequilibrium: Equilibrium is disrupted by an unfortunate event or evil character which leads to a chain of events involving conflict
New Equilibrium: The evil forces are defeated, the conflict is resolved and harmony exists once more


Character theory: Propp
Vladimir Propp came up with a list of stock characters in narratives by examining Russian fairytales. He called them the seven spheres of action:

The Villain: Creates a complication in the narrative
The Donor: Gives the hero something that will help in the resolution
The Helper: Helps the hero in restoring the resolution
The Princess: Has to be saved by the hero
The Dispatcher: Sends the hero on a task
The Hero: Central protagonist, saves the day and restores equilibrium
The False Hero: Rare character that appears to be good but is revealed to have been bad all along


Narrative blog task

1) Choose three clips from YouTube and embed them in your blog - one from film, one from TV and one of your choice.

2) For EACH clip, apply the three narrative theories: Barthes' action and enigma codes; Todorov's equilibrium; Propp's stock characters. Make specific reference to aspects of the clip (as you would in a film language analysis). Remember to highlight media language.

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