media A2

2. NARRATIVE OF RENDEZVOUS

3. KATE DOMAILLE
EVERY STORY EVER TOLD CAN BE FITTED INTO ONE OF EIGHT NARRATIVE TYPES. EACH OF
THESE NARRATIVE TYPES HAS A SOURCE, AN ORIGINAL STORY UPON WHICH THE OTHERS
ARE BASED.
NARRATIVE
TYPES
1. ARCHILLES: THE FATAL FLAW
- That leads to the destruction of the previously
flawless, or almost flawless, person.
THIS IS BRIDGET DESTRUCTING HER
MARRIAGE WITH RAYMOND BY HAVING AN
AFFAIR WITH THE DETECTIVE.
2. CANDIDE: THE INDOMITABLE
HERO
3. CINDERELLA: THE DREAM COMES
TRUE
4. CIRCE: THE CHASE
7. ROMEO AND JULIET:
THE LOVE STORY
5. FAUST: SELLING
YOUR SOUL
6. ORPHEUS: THE
GIFT THAT IS TAKEN
AWAY
8. TRISTAN AND ISEULT: THE LOVE
TRIANGLE
- Man loves woman, unfortunately one or both of
them are already spoken for, or a third party
intervenes.
- RAYMOND IN LOVE WITH HIS WIFE,
HOWEVER BRIGET LOVES THE DETECTIVE.

4. VLADIMIR PROPP
- STUDIED THE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE OF RUSSIAN FOLK TALES, CONCLUDED THAT
REGARDLESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN TERMS OF THE PLOT, CHARACTERS AND
SETTINGS, SUCH NARRATIVES WOULD SHARE COMMON STRUCTURAL FEATURES.
- SEVEN CHARACTER TYPES IN 100 TALES
THE VILLAIN-DETECTIVE
THE DONOR-VIVIENNE
THE PRINCESS-BRIDGET
THE HERO -
RAYMOND
OTHER-THE
(MAGICAL HELPER)
FATHER
THE DISPATCHER
[FALSE HERO]

5. GENRE OF RENDESVOUS
MAIN FILM GENRE SUB-GENRE
DRAMA
CRIME AND
GANGSTER
ROMANTIC DRAMA
FILM NOIR
PERIOD FILM
TRAGEDY
NEO-NOIR
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY

6. GENRERIC CHARACTERISTICS
• TYPICAL MISE-EN-SCENE/VISUAL STYLES
(ICONOGRAPHY, PROPS, SET DESIGN, LIGHTING, TEMPORAL AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION,
COSTUME, SHOT TYPES, CAMERA ANGLES AND SPECIAL EFFECTS)
- CIGARS, CIGARETTES, VENETIAN BLINDS, VINTAGE FRENCH FURNITURE, COCKTAIL BAR,
DETECTIVE HAT AND COAT, SUITS, DRESSES, CHAMPAGNE AND COCKTAIL GLASSES,
MIRRORS, CARDS, SHADOWS, HIGH KEY AND LOW KEY LIGHTING, ALLEYWAYS, DARK
STREETS, THEATRE)
• TYPICALS TYPES OF NARRATIVE
(PLOTS, HISTORICAL, SETTING, SET PIECES))
- COCKTAIL BAR, 1950 THEME, LOVE TRIANGLE, LOVE)
• GENERIC TYPES, I.E TYPICAL CHARACTERS
- FEMME FATALE TRYING TO GET HER OWN WAT THROUGH SUBVERTING THE TYPICAL
1940S/1950S. WOMEN WOULDN’T GET THEIR OWN WAY.

7. RICK ALTMAN
- ARGUES THAT GENRE OFFERS AUDIENCE ‘A SET OF PLEASURES’
EMOTIONAL
PLEASURES
VISCERAL
PLEASURES
INTELLECTUAL PUZZLES: CERTAIN FILM GENRES SUCH AS THE THRILLER OR THE
‘WHODONIT’ OFFER THE PLEASURE IN TRYING TO UNRAVEL A MYSTERY OR A
PUZZLE. PLEASURE IS DERIVED FROM DECIPHERING THE PLOT AND FORECASTING
THE END OR THE BEING SURPRISED BY THE UNEXPECTED.
ENIGMA AND ACTION CODES AS IT PLEASURES AND ENTICES THE AUDIENCE.

8. GENRE THEORY
EVERYBODY USES AND UNDERSTANDS GENRE THEORY  media experts use it to study media texts, the
media industry uses it to develop and market texts and audiences use it to decide what texts to consume.
 IN RENDEZOUS WE WILL USE CERTAIN ICONOGRAPHY TO APPEAL TO THE AUDIENCE AND TO
ALSO DIRECTLY PRESENT THAT WE ARE A CERTAIN GENRE.
GENRE DEVELOPMENT AND
TRANSFORMATION
OVER THE YEARS GENRES DEVELOP AND CHANGE AS THE WIDER SOCIETY THAT PRODUCE THEM ALSO
CHANGES, A PROCESS THAT IS KNOWN AS GENRIC INFORMATION.
 METZ: ARGUED THAT GENRES GO THROGUH A CYCLE OF CHYNAGES DURING THEIR LIFETIME
1. EXPERIMENTAL STAGE 2. CLASSIC STAGE (FILM NOIR)
3. PARODY STAGE (NEO-NOIR) 3. DECONSTRUCTION STAGE

9. CHANDLER
“HOW WE DEFINE A GENRE DEPENDS ON OUR PURPOSES”
-WE ARE APPEALING TO OUR TARGET AUDIENCE.

10. MEDIA LANGUAGE
ROLAND BARTHES
DENOTATION
CONNOTATION
MYTH
ARGUED THAT IN FILM
CONNOTATIONS CAN BE
(ANALYTICALLY) DISTINGUISHED
FROM DENOTATION.
the literal or primary meaning of a word
an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person
a widely held but false belief or idea.

11. EVAULUATION OF MEDIA LAUNGUAGE
IT’S THE EVALUATION OF MICRO ELEMENTS AND HOW THEY HAVE CREATED
MEANING TO INFORM US ABOUT GENRE, NARRATIVE,
REPRESENTATIONS/IDEOLOGY, TARGETING OF AUDIENCES.
 THIS REQUIRES US TO USE SEMIOTIC TERMINOLOGY TO EXPLAIN OUR
ENCODING OF ELEMENTS AND CODES AND CONVENTIONS WITHIN OUR
TEXTS.
HALL – “DISCUSS THE PREFERRED MEANING” THAT WE WANT OUR AUDIENCE
TO DECODE.
- WE’RE GOING TO ENCODE THE TEXT BY DRESSING THE FEMME FATALE
HEROIN (VIVIENNE) IN A RED DRESS TO ENCODE HER SEXUAL DESIRABILITY
AND YOUTH.

12. MICRO ELEMENTS: MISE-EN-SCENE
MISE-EN-SCENE CONSTITUTES THE KEY ASPECT OF THE PRE-PRODUCTION PHASE OF THE FILM
AND CAN BE TAKEN TO INCLUDE ALL ASPECTS OF PRODUCTION DESIGN AND CINEMATOGRAPHY.
MISE-EN-SCENE
CREATES
THE
DIEGETIC
WORLD
THE FICTIONAL SPACE AND TIME
IMPLIED BY THE NARRATIVE.

13. ASPECTS OF MISE-EN-SCENE
LOCATION: SETTINGS, SET-DESIGN AND ICONOGRAPHY
CHARACTER: COSTUME, PROPERTIES AND MAKE UP, ACTORS AND GESTURE
CINEMATOGRAPHY: LIGHTING AND COLOUR
LAYOUT AND PAGE DESIGN: COLOUR, JUXTAPOSITION OF ELEMENTS

14. MICRO-ELEMENTS: CAMERAWORK
1.SHOT TYPES
2.CAMERA COMPOSTITON
3.CAMERA MOVEMENT
4.CAMERA ANGLES

15. MICRO ELEMENTS: EDITING
. POST-PRODUCTION TECHNIQUE
TWO TYPES…
CONTINUITY:
ESTABLISHING/RE-ESTABLISHING SHOT CUTAWAY
TRANSITIONS CROSSCUTTING
THE 180 DEGREE LINE RULE INSERT SHOTS
ACTION MATCH EYELINE MATCH
SHOT-REVERSE SHOT STRUCTURES
NON-CONTINUITY:
MONTAGE SEQUENCE FLASH BACK/FORWARD
ELLIPSIS GRAPHIC MATCH

16. MICRO ELEMENTS: SOUND
LAYERED ON TRACKS IN ORDER TO CREATE MEANING.
. CAN HAVE SOUND BIRDGES OR SOUND MOTIFS TO ENCHANCE MEANING
- 2 TYPES OF SOUND
DIEGETIC
NON-DIEGETIC
REFERS TO SOUND WHOSE ORIGIN IS TO
BE LOCATED IN THE STORY WORLD SUCH
AS THE VOICES OF THE ACTORS, SOUND
EFFECTS ETC.
REFERS TO SOUNDS NOT
EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF ANY
PERCIEVED SOURCE WITHIN
THE STORY WORLD, SUCH AS
MOOD MUSIC, OR ‘VOICE-OF-GOD’
TYPE COMMENTARIES.
1. INCENDENTAL MUSIC
2. VOICE OVER/NARRATION
3. NON-DIEGETIC SOUND
EFFECTS
1. DIALOGUE
2. SOUND EFFECTS
3. MUSIC

17. AUDIENCE
AUDIENCE IN THE 1950s ~
SOCIOLOGIST BLUMER: AUDIENCES COME FROM ALL WALKS OF
LIFE, AND ALL SOCIAL STRATA, INCLUDES PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT
CLASS POSITION, VOCATION, CULTURAL ATTAINMENT AND
WEALTH. THE MASS IS AN ANONYMOUS GROUP OR COMPOSED OF
ANONYMOUS INDIVIDUALS. THERE EXISTS LITTLE INTERACTION
OR CHANGE OF EXPERIENCE BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE MASS
WHO ARE USUALLY PHYSICALLY SEPERATED. THE MASS IS
LOOSELY AND IS NOT ABLE TO ACT WITH THE CONCERNEDESS OR
UNITY OF A CROWD.

18. AUDIENCE
JULIAN MCDOUGALL (2009)
SUGGESTS THAT IN THE ONLINE
AGE IT IS GETTING HARDER TO
CONCIEVE A MEDIA AUDIENCE
AS A STABLE, IDENTIFIABLE
GROUP.
MCQUAIL (1972) HOWEVER…
AN AUDIENCE CAN BE
DESCRIBED AS A “TEMPORARY
COLLECTIVE”
PEOPLE HAVE
DIFFERENT TASTES IN
FILMS BUT IT BRINGS IT
ALL TOGETHER EVEN IF
THEY DON’T HAVE
SAME LIFESTYLES.

19. AUDIENCE
HIGH CULTURE
BBC, BBC RADIO 4,
OPERA, CLASSICAL
MUSIC, RADIO
LOW CULTURE
ITV, HIP HOP, RnB,
KEMET FM
HIGH CULTURE HAS BEEN TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED
WITH DOMINANT OR POWERFUL GROUPS, WHICH
INVOLVES PEOPLE THAT NOW WATCH OR LISTEN TO
MEDIA THAT INVOLVES RADIO IN CLASSICAL FORMS
SUCH AS CLASSICAL RADIO AND BBC STATIONS, SUCH
AS RADIO 4. THEY ALSO WATCH TELEVISION THAT ARE
ON STATIONS SUCH A BBC OR CLASSICAL MUSIC.
LOW CULTURE IS SOMETHING NOT FOR THE ELITE, BUT
FOR THE ‘COMMON’ PEOPLE; IT IS VULGAR, COMMON
OR ‘EASY’. THESE AUDIENCES ARE MOST LIKELY
WATCHING SOAP OPERAS ON ITV SUCH AS
‘CORONATION STREET’ OR RADIO STATIONS SUCH AS
KEMET FM.
OUR FILM NOIR HAS AN
AUDIENCE THAT IS HIGH
CULTURE BECAUSE OUR
FILM IS ‘ARTY’ AS IT
INCLUDES STYLISTIC
TECHNIQUES.

20. PSYCHOGRAPHICS AND DEMOGRAPHICS FOR OUR
FILM
HIGH CULTURE MALE OR
FEMALE THAT ARE
INTERESTED IN ‘ARTY’
FILMS WHO ARE OVER 18
YEARS OLD.

21. AUDIENCE RECEPTION THEORIES
PASSIVE AND ACTIVE AUDIENCES:
.TWO DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT CONCERNING
HOW AUDIENCES CONSUME MEDIA TEXTS.
PASSIVE AUDIENCE THEORY:
. IDEA THAT MEDIA ‘INJECTS’ IDEAS AND VIEWS DIRECTLY
INTO THE BRAINS OF THE AUDIENCE LIKE A
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE, THEREFORE, CONTROLLING THE
WAY THAT PEOPLE THINK AND BEHAVE.
FRANKFURT SCHOOL’S
HYPODERMIC THEORY:
.THIS MARXIST THEORY,
WHICH WAS CHAMPIONED BY
THEORISTS SUCH AS
THEODORE ADORNO, ASSUMES
A DIRECT STIMULUS-RESPONSE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
AUDIENCE REACTIONS AND
THE CONSUMPTION OF MEDIA
TEXTS.

22. THEORDORE ADORNO: HYPODERMIC THEORY
EUROPE 1930S – HITLER TOOK OVER MEDIA THROUGH
NEWSPAPERS, POSTERS AND CINEMA, RADIO ~~ PROPAGANDA
. THIS WAS BRAINWASHING, THERE IS A THEORY THAT THIS WAS A
FACTOR OF THE HOLOCAUST.

23. CRITICISMS OF THE HYPODERMIC THEORY
.DOESN’T ALLOW FOR RESISTANCE
OR REJECTION OF MEDIA MESSAGES
.ELITIST
.SIMPLISTIC
.AUDIENCE ARE A MASS, EASILY
BRAINWASHED. BUT THE
ALTERNATIVE AUDIENCES DO NOT
AGREE AND CHANGE THEIR
OPINION AND PERSPECTIVE

24. PLURALIST MODEL AND ACTIVE AUDIENCE
.IDEA THAT AUDIENCE HAVE AN ACTIVE ROLE TO PLAY IN UNDERSTANDING OF, AND CREATION, OF
MEANING WITHIN A MEDIA TEXT
.PLURALIST IDEA IS EXACT OPPOSITE OF A HEGEMONIC ONE (DOMINANT IDEOLOGY). A PLURALIST
MODEL ARGUES THAT THERE IS A DIVERSITY IN SOCIETY AND THEREFORE THERE IS A;SO CHOICE (WE
CAN CHOOSE WHAT TO BELIEVE AND WHAT NOT TO BELIEVE)
.BECAUSE THE AUDENCE (SOCIETY) IS DIVERSE, WITH DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW, THE MEDIA IN
INFLUENCED BY SOCIETY.
BECAUSE THE MEDIA NEED TO PLEASE THE AUDIENCE THEY WILL TRY TO REFLECT THE VALUES AND
BELIEFS THAT ARE PREDOMINANT IN SOCIETY.
GAUNTLETT WEB 2.0
.AUDIENCE USED TO SHAPRE THEIR LIVES
AROUND THE MEDIA- MEDIA RULED OVER
~WEB 1.0
NOW…
.INSTITUTIONS HAVE TO SHAPE THEIR MEDIA
TEXTS AROUND THE AUDIENCE SUCH AS
FILMS.

25. GAUNTLETT’S WEB 2.0
PROSUMER
ACTIVE
CONSUMER
PASSIVE
AUDIENCE BECOME
MORE…
POWER OF THE AUDIENCE

26. BLUMLER AND KATZ USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS THEORY
Information
-finding out about relevant events and conditions in
immediate surroundings, society and the world
-seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and
decision choices satisfying curiosity and general interest
-learning; self-education gaining a sense of security
through knowledge
-gaining a sense of security through knowledge
Personal Identity
-finding reinforcement for personal values
-finding models of behaviour
-identifying with valued other (in the media)
-gaining insight into one's self
Integration and Social Interaction
-gaining insight into circumstances of others; social
empathy
-identifying with others and gaining a sense of
belonging
-finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
-having a substitute for real-life companionship
-helping to carry out social roles
-enabling one to connect with family, friends and society
Entertainment
-escaping, or being diverted, from problems
-relaxing
-getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
-filling time
-emotional release
-sexual arousal

27. STUART HALL - READINGS
.ANALYSED READINGS WITHIN AUDIENCES AS EITHER:
1. DOMINANT OR PREFERRED READING: THE MEANING THEY WANT YOU
TO HAVE IS USUALLY ACCEPTED
2. NEGOTIATED READING: THE DOMINANT READING IS ONLY PARTIALLY
RECOGNISED OR ACCEPTED AND AUDIENCES MIGHT DISAGREE WITH
SOME OF IT AND FIND THEIR OWN MEANINGS.
3. OPPOSITIONAL READING: THE DOMINANT READING IS REFUSED,
REJECTED BECAUSE THE READER DISAGREES WITH IT OR IS OFFENDED
BY IT, ESPECIALLY FOR POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, FEMINIST REASONS ETC.