2. Barthes - Narratives (1970s)
Roland Barthes stated that narratives can be “open” or “closed”. “Open”
narratives are often found in tv shows where the story continues due to the
show consisting of many episodes that the narrative can stretch across.
Whereas a “closed” narrative is found generally in movies which are often stand
alone titles. The movie would feature a narrative that is contained, the
beginning, middle and end would be featured in its entirety.
Jay
3. Barthes - Narrative Codes
Barthes also had narrative codes. He felt that every text or narrative is interwoven with these codes to
intrigue the audience and help them maintain interest.
Action (Proairetic) - Action is served as the resolution rather than the audiences’ mysteries being
solved.
Enigma (Hermeneutic) - Complex plots that require puzzles and the audience to think. The mystery
and feeling of not knowing drives the audience to follow through to the end where the
puzzle/narrative is solved.
Symbolic - Symbolism within the narrative. Using connotations to emphasise opposites and
enhance binary opposition (Refer to slide 5)
Semic - A way of “showing” the text instead of “telling” the text. It allows to meaning to expressJay
4. Barthes - Code Application
Proairetic - In Hunger Games, the text at the beginning give us some backstory to the film but also give us
an idea it will be quite violent and would only require violence to resolve the issue due to it requiring a
revolution to overcome the dystopian government.
Hermeneutic - In 28 Days Later, the movie opens with Cillian Murphy in a vacant London, questions are
raised. Why are the streets empty? Where is everyone? Are they dead? Why is he in hospital robes? The
massive influx of questions forces the audience to show interest in whole so that they are answered.
Symbolic - In the Lego Movie, it opens with a massive fight between a tall man clad in black and a wizard in
white. Who is good? White robe wizard man. Who is evil? Black clothed tall guy. Connotations with
colours and height such help us infer and establish binary opposition.
Semic - In 28 Days Later, the wording “The end is extremely fucking nigh” gives us an idea that there was
some sort of apocalypse.
Jay
5. Levi-Strauss (1969) Binary Opposites
Levi Strauss’ theory suggests that stereotypes involve binary opposites. A
binary opposite is when there are two exact and obvious opposites, such as
good with bad. A conventional storyline that uses clear binary opposites is one
where there is a fight scene.
Kanaiya
The protagonist (hero) and antagonist (villain) are usually
shown against each other and the actor who we spot more
easily is usually the protagonist. Sometimes, the story
unfolds with there not being clear binary opposites at the
beginning, in order to create confusion. A movie in which
we saw clear binary opposites in the opening is of The
Taking of Pelham 123.
6. Todorov (1960s) Narrative Structure
Todorov’s theory suggests that all narratives follow a basic structure. At first, there is
equilibrium where everything is normal, then disequilibrium, where a problem that needs
solving is caused, and finally, after recognition and repairing, there is new-equilibrium
where the problem is solved.
Kanaiya
One example is the narrative structure in the Lego Movie. opens with a
fight between Here, we see that the movie the villain Batman and the
wizard, and then there’s a resolution which is implied as Emmet wakes
up. We see that everything is “normal” at that point in time. Usually, we
would see a flashback in the past where everything is normal and then a
comparison of the conditions in the present. It looked better at the
bottom.
7. Propp (1920s)
Vladimir Propp developed a character theory for studying media texts and
productions. This theory indicates that there are seven broad character types
which can all be found in many different forms of media. He did this after
studying and analysing over 100 Russian fairytales. This theory fits in with
most films and it is useful in determining the similarities and differences in
storylines.
Sneha
8. Propp (1920s)
The seven character types of Propp are:
The hero - Saves the princess and reacts to the donor. (princess and hero often fall in love)
The villain - Tries to harm the princess and has conflict with the hero.
The princess - Dependent on the hero and is the ‘damsel in distress’ as well as usually the victim in
the narrative.
The donor - Gives the hero an object of a piece of information to help them prepare for the
upcoming events.
The helper - Assists the hero: ‘sidekick’Sneha
9. Propp (1920s)
An example is The Hunger Games. The hero is Katniss Everdeen. She starts as
a victim of the villain (President Snow) then slowly ends up defeating them
making her the hero. In this film, the donor is Haymitch who is able to give
Katniss things that she needs to help her. Peter is the helper in The Hunger
Games as he and Katniss work together to gain victory. The role of the princess
is taken by Katniss’s younger sister, Primrose. Katniss saves her sister making
her the hero. The dispatcher could be debated in this film as it could be seen as
President Snow or even Katniss herself as she volunteers to take part in the
games.
Sneha
11. Gender
There are many representations of gender in our action/crime genre. Our genre is
typically male dominated. This patriarchal hierarchy can be clearly visible in the
expendables 3. There is one single female amongst many men. Men are seen as very
masculine and are usually exaggerated versions of masculinity. These are usually shown
through low angles and make the male character appear to be more powerful and
dominant.
Women are stereotypically the attractive damsel in distress. She would usually be the
hero’s weak spot and cause the hero to get into more conflict. However, there is an
increase in strong female characters in recent years and some are even the lead roles.
For example, in Tomb Raider, Angelina Jolie is the lead role who is portrayed as strong
and powerful. This is done by her costume and the props used such as guns. In the
Sneha
12. Place
Representations of place are important at trying to communicate something
specific about a place to the audience. The location for a film is significant at
portraying the potential storyline and genre of the film. For example, in the
movie The Dark Knight Rises, the opening establishing shot was of a plane in
the sky in a deserted place. This made it obvious that the action was going on
in the plane and that it was dangerous as if the plane was to crash and fall it
would be in a unknown location. This also adds to the mystery and suspicion to
why a plane was in non-trackable air space.
Sneha
13. Event
This form of representation deals with how events or festivals are portrayed in
the media. At a funeral, it’s completely silent, everyone wears black and people
are often crying. However at a christmas, everything is white with snow, brightly
illuminated with christmas lights and fireworks. In the opening to Spectre, Bond
is seen in the middle of a Day of the Dead parade. The event is portrayed as
being lively and almost chaotic with loud music, copious amounts of people
and every clad in black. The music synchronous diegetic music consists of
drums which almost encapsulates the vibe and is similar to a fast beating
heart.
Sneha
14. Age
There are many conventional stereotypes within the representation of age. Stereotypically, the youth
are more active, strong and sociable, whereas the elderly are incompetent, vulnerable, and dependent.
However we also see the youth as more rebellious, rude and inexperienced, whereas the elderly are
experienced, authoritative and wise. Film institutions have attempted to subvert this stereotype, but
we would usually see the representation of age encoded in film openings such as The Liability, where
the youth are represented as ruthless, lazy and immature. We see that the young adult wears a
tracksuit and with the fast paced music and the foley of the car crash, we see them as quite careless.
The two shot of the parents shows them as much more authoritative and assertive, despite their son
who is rebellious. As The Liability is a “15” movie,, we see this to be quite relatable to them as the
reckless son is also quite young.
Kanaiya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6v2YoII0kQ
15. Class
We see “class” as a very prominent representation method, particularly the social classes. This links
to binary opposites because we are easily able to compare two types of social classes, based on the
costume they wear as well as the camera angle. An example of where class is shown quite obviously
is in the title sequence of “A Series of Unfortunate Events”. We see this because despite the title
sequence being animated, we see that the kids that are seen are wearing rags and using a bike as a
method of transport. The use of such props and costumes help to establish a causal relationship,
which gives a potential idea of the plot. The use of a high angle also makes them appear as more
weak and vulnerable when compared to the larger image of the antagonist (villain). The synchronous,
diegetic music that plays in the background also shows them as less wealthy because of the tempo
and beat.
Kanaiya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoBnHYKcCRU
16. Ethnicity
Representations of ethnicity are everywhere in the media and are used in
everyday life by ordinary people when judging people in their first encounters
and such. It includes the idea that Indian people own corner shops, are often IT
technicians or call centre workers. However these negative representations are
often to do with minorities such as Hispanics, Asians and such. In East is East,
the movie begins with a Christian parade and the kids hiding from their Father,
but not their mother. Patriarchal families are stereotypical in asian families and
involves a strong dominant male figure at the head of the family that governs
what everyone does. Furthermore, another ethnic stereotype is the strong
accent.
Jay
17. Culture
Cultural representations, often confused with Ethnicity, are representations of
beliefs, values, norms, and practices that a group, such as specific ethnic
group. An example of this are views that Arabs are billionaires (Due to oil),
terrorists, belly dancers and wear Hijabs or Burkas. The British have nothing but
tea and crumpets, Indians eat curry, Russians love Vodka and have Matryoshka
dolls everywhere. In Expendables 2, all the Caucasian characters have
necklaces with the cross on it, which suggests that all white people are
christians and that they revolve around religion and see it as the most
important thing.
Jay
