4. Examiners board - recommendations
Introduction
1. Define the concept e.g. what is
genre/audience/narrative/media
language/representation.
2. Outline the production you are going top evaluate –
actually mention the name
3. Tell the examiner you are going to apply 5
theories/concepts to your work
5. Examiners recommendations
Main Body – 5 paragraphs
1. Define your theory/concept
2. Apply to your work – NOT SIMPLY GOOD ENOUGH
TO SAY – I HAVE A FINAL GIRL
3. Examiner more interested when you have developed or
challenged the theory
4. Describe where you can see this in your trailer with a
detailed example
7. Definition
Tim O’ Sullivan et al. (1998) argues that all media texts
tell us some kind of story.
Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of
telling stories about ourselves – ideologies.
8. Todorov (1977) was interested in the way language is
ordered to infer particular meanings and has been very
influential in the field of narrative theory.
Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium, where everything
is satisfied, calm and normal.
Stage 2: This stability is disrupted by some kind of force,
which creates a state of disequilibrium.
Stage 3: Recognition that a disruption has taken place.
Stage 4: Action directed against the disruption.
Stage 5: Restoration of a new state of equilibrium.
9. Character Roles
The Russian theorist Vladimir Propp (1928) studied the narrative
structure of Russian Folk Tales. He argued that all narratives
feature stock characters and that audiences understood stories
because of such features.
Villain or antagonist
Hero or protagonist
Helper or supporter
Princess or one that is rescued/saved/help
10. Structure Of The Narrative System
According to Pam Cook (1985), the standard Hollywood
narrative structure should have:
“Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of
enigma resolution”.
A high degree of narrative closure.
A fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially
governed by spatial and temporal coherence.
11. Use of opposition to construct narrative
Claude Lèvi-Strauss’s (1958) ideas about narrative amount
to the fact that he believed all stories operated to certain
clear Binary Opposites e.g. good vs. evil, black vs.
white, rich vs. poor etc.
Think about your text:
Who were mediated as protagonists/ antagonists?
What was mediated as morally good/positive / morally
deviant or bad?
12. In short, as O’Sullivan (1998) suggests, narratives have a
common structure, starting with the establishment of plot
or theme.
This is then followed by the development of the problem,
enigma (Roland Barthes, 1977), an increase in tension.
Finally comes the resolution of the plot.
Such narratives can be unambiguous and linear.
13. The importance of these ideas is that essentially a
complicated world is reduced to a simple either/or
structure. Things are either right or wrong, good or bad.
There is no in between.
This structure has ideological implications in relation to the
construction of hegemony.
14. Narrative Codes
Barthes (1977) suggested that narrative works
with five different codes and the enigma code
works to keep up setting problems or puzzles for
the audience. His action code (a look, significant
word, movement) is based on our cultural and
stereotypical understanding of actions that act as
a shorthand to advancing the narrative.
Adrian Tilley (1991) used the buckling of the gun
belt in the Western genre as a means of signifying
the preferred reading of an imminent shoot out,
and this works in the same way as the starting of a
car engine etc.
15. Task 4. –Narrative Codes.
You have 3 minutes to write down how you used
Barthes’s narrative codes to communicate a meaning
or story e.g how did you communicate star persona?
Ideal self/partner? Community?
Do this by putting down at least 5 specific
elements/examples from your production.
Must be specific – headlines, photographs, fonts,
editing techniques, mise-en-scene.
16. Form, discourse and narrative.
Jonathan Culler (2001) suggests that narrative theory
requires a distinction between "story," and "discourse," the
presentation or narration of events.
Through a discourse (form) of news you are talking about
aspects of society. So using key tropes/conventions of
news reporting you are mediating ideas about society.
17. Task 6. – Discourse
You have 5 minutes to write down how your
understanding of the discourse (presentation of your
work) (form) of your medium helped you to
construct a narrative.
Do this by putting down at least 5 specific
elements/examples from your production to
challenge or support this idea.
Must be specific – headlines, photographs, fonts,
editing techniques, mise-en-scene.
18. Narrative guess
Each group need to put up their blog and display
their trailer.
You will now work around the room looking at others
trailers and applying theories/describing the narrative
