Narrative Theory

Talk about 1 Media Production e.g. Music video or Opening sequence

• Narrative
• Representation
• Genre
• Language
• Audience

Narrative Theory

Vladimir Propp's Theory: 7 Broad Character Types

1. The Hero, usually a male, who restores the narrative equilibrium often by embarking upon quest. Propp distinguishes between victim hero, who is the centre of the villain's attentions, and the seeker hero who aids others who are the villains victims. The hero is invariably the text's central character
2. The Villain, opposition to the Hero, who usually creates the narrative disruption
3. The Donor, provides the tool for the Hero, helps in resolution of the narrative
4. The Dispatcher, aids the Hero in the task of restoring the equilibrium
5. The False Hero, who tempts the Hero away from his quest
6. The Helper
7. The Princess/Prize, and Father, who rewards the Hero. The princess is ultimately the victim, threatened by the Villain and has to be saved at the climax

For example:

Todorov Theory

Barthes Theory

"Enigma codes work to maintain the setting up of problems or puzzles for the audience."

This codes pose questions or enigmas which provide narrative suspense. As audiences the unravelling of these codes and thinking about the questions posed by events provide viewing pleasure. 

The film genre which this is most common in are horror and drama genres. Enigma codes often use the common questions of who, what where, when and why to produce the desired effect.

• Enigma Code The audience is intrigued by the need to solve a problem
• Action Code The audience is excited by the need to resolve a problem e.g. Key to see the character catch the villain, or win the love interest back
• Semantic Code The audience is directed towards an additional meaning by way of connotation 
• Symbolic Code The audience assumes that a character dressed in black is the villain or menacing, and forms expectations of his/her behaviour on this basis
• Cultural Code The audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultural knowledge about the way the world works

William Gibson

• "Consumers don't buy products, so much as narratives"
• "Designers are taught to invent characters, with narratives, who they then design products for or around."

Binary Oppositions 

Levi-Strauss = Looked at narrative structure and theme in texts in terms of Binary Oppositions

• BO are the opposite values that reveal the structure of media texts
• It is important to look at the detonations (Literal Meaning), and connotations (Cultural Significance) of the sign

3rd Order of Significance

• Semiologist Roland Barthes (1973), believes it is at this third and final order of signification that ideologies underpinning varying forms of representation can be successfully unmasked
• According to Barthes all forms of representations should be understood as ideological "myths"

Tim O'Sullivan

Media texts offer a war of telling stories about ourselves - Not usually our own personal stories, but the story of us as a culture or get of cultures.

(Can find on Fronter.com - Film and Media Homepage, Resources, G325 A2 Exam, Theoretical Evaluation of Coursework, Question 1b, Narrative, "Narrative March 2014" (ppt) )