Narrative

1
Narrative

• AS Level Media Studies

2
Key Term

• Narrative
• The way in which the story is told in both
  fictional and non-fictional texts.
• Narrative is a very powerful force that not only
  helps us make sense of the world, but also
  influences our behaviour.
• For media producers narrative is an important
  tool for organising seemingly random and
  incoherent events into a coherent and logical
  form.
• Narrative can be used as a potent means of
  influencing the responses of an audience to a
  particular event.
• This is determined by the way in which the
  information is presented.

3
Example

• When we are being told about a conflict, in a
  western or gangster movie, the narrative often
  unfolds in such a way as to make us take sides,
  in support of one party or the other.
• In Butch Cassidy we are firmly positioned on
  the side of Butch and Sundance.
• Narrative can be used to position the audience.

4
Theories

• Denotation
• What can you see in the picture/on the page?

• Connotation
• What does the image suggest or imply?

Media theorists try to help us understand how we
find meaning in a text.
Roland Barthes
Spinster.....the colour red....a skinny girl
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
Roland Barthes

• Enigma code
• What is going to happen?
• The narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries
  as it goes along.
• Essentially, the narrative functions to establish
  and then solve these mysteries.
• Within a film there is usually a central enigma
  that is resolved at the end.
• Audiences take pleasure in anticipating what
  might happen.
• Eg. Memento

10
Roland Barthes

• Action Codes
• Events within a story that we know will be
  significant in the narrative.
• The metallic sound of a gun being cocked
  signifies that a shooting will take place.
• A shorthand way to signify a scene of violence.
• An action signifies another action and so the
  narrative progresses.

11
Tvzetan Todorov

• A Bulgarian theorist
• He reduced the concept of narrative to a simple
  recurring formula.
• Equilibrium disequilibrium new equilibrium

12
Todorov

• A narrative starts with a state of equilibrium or
  harmony.
• Eg. A peaceful community getting on with and
  enjoying life.
• Into this stability comes a force of
  disequilibrium or disruption.
• Eg. An evil outsider intent on destroying the
  sense of well being.
• By some mechanism such as the intervention of
  another outside agency, the force of evil is
  overcome and order/harmony are restored in the
  form of a new equilibrium.

13
Todorov

• Choose a fictional or non-fictional text of your
  choice.
• Write about how it follows Todorovs model of
  narrative.

14
Levi Strauss

• Binary opposition
• Narrative tension is based on opposition or
  conflict.
• Man vs Woman
• White vs Black
• Young vs Old
• Hero vs Villain
• West vs East
• Good vs Bad

15
Function of character

• Character is an important aspect of narrative,
  particularly in fictional texts.
• In soap operas certain character types
  consistently reoccur to the point where they
  become stereotypes.
• Grumpy old peopleanger ridden teenagers.
• Grouping people into different categories like
  this is called character typology.

16
Vladimir Propp

• Russian structuralist who studied fairy tales.
• He established a number of character types and
  functions associated with them.
• He suggested the functions were limited to 31.
• It is possible to use Propps theory to fit the
  character types in a range of texts, especially
  feature films.

17
Characters and Functions

• The hero
• The villain
• The donor (offers gift with magical properties)
• The dispatcher (sends hero on a mission)
• The helper (aids hero)
• The princess (heros reward)

18
Activities

• Identify these characters in a fairy tale of your
  choice.
• Identify these characters in a Bond film (or any
  action film).
• Apply the functions to a soap opera of your
  choice.
• Do the functions work in more modern films, such
  as Lord of the Rings?

19
Propp

• Eastenders
• Kat and Alfies wedding
• Villain Andy Hunter
• Hero Alfie, stops Kat from marrying a cruel
  man.
• Kat tells Alfie she wants it to snow on her
  wedding day (dispatcher)
• Ian aids Alfie in the preparations (helper)
• Alfie uses a snow machine to make it snow (doner)
• Hero gets princess Alfie gets Kat (princess).

• The A Team
• Hero A Team (Hannibal)
• Villain the government/companies/groups
• Donor Hannibal plan comes together
• Helpers Face, BA, Murdoch
• Dispatchers those who employ them to fight
  their battles
• Princess Face gets the girl they are helping at
  the end.

20
Homework

• Propps analysis may be applied to film with an
  amazing degree of accuracy, providing it is
  applied to straightforward narratives.
• It is impossible to analyse films with more
  complicated narratives.
• Discuss the above, with reference to at least
  three films of your choice.

21
Key questions to ask...

• How is the narrative organised and structured?
• How is the audience positioned in relation to the
  narrative?
• How are characters delineated? What is their
  narrative function how are heroes and villains
  created?
• What techniques of identification and alienation
  are employed?
• What is the role of features like sound, music,
  iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc
  within the narrative?
• What are the major themes of the narrative? What
  values/ideologies does it embody?