Vladimir Propp Narrative theory

Vladimir Propp Identified eight key character roles in folk tales, which are often also shown in modern media texts.

• Hero
• Villain
• Donor
• Helper
• Father figure
• Dispatcher
• Princess
• False Hero

Characters can fill more than one role, and there can sometimes be more than one

Roland Barthes Narrative theory

Roland Barthes described texts as complex 'bundles' of meaning which can be unravlled to create a whole range of different meanings.

The texts can be:

• Open- with numerous 'threads to pull'
• Closed- with only one obvious thread to grasp
• Polysemic- can be read in a number of ways

These 'threads' are known as narrative codes. The most significant of these codes is the Enigma Code.

The Enigma code is constructed to attract and hold the attention of the audience normally by creating a mystery or puzzle that the audience want to see solved. These codes can often be seen in reality shows such as The X-Factor, where audiences are forced to wait for contestants to be kicked out or win by showing the results 'After the break'.

Tzvetan Todorov Narrative theory

Tzvetan Todorov says that narratives follow the same structure

Equilbrium- This is when everything is balanced, when its normal everyday life for the characters.

Disruption- This is when something ruins the equilbruim, the balance.

Resolution- This is when and how the disruption is solved

New Equilbrium- This is where everything returns to normal, but something has changed, the characters have learnt something new, or their situation has changed in some way.

Some media texts will however not have all of these stages, sometimes a new equilbrium may not be reached, such as in sitcoms, often the 'New Equilbrium' reached is the same as the original Equilbrium, the characters have not leaned anything and are in the same position. Eg, the man and woman are still not together, the character still doesn't have any money.

Narrative theory

As well as audience theory, I will also apply Narrative theory to my music video and thriller video.

The narrative is the way the story is organised in the media text.

Elements of narrative includes:

Time- Time in media texts vary, some will cover hours while other will cover hundreds of years.

Closure- This is how the narrative ends, does it tie up all the loose ends?

Enigma- A mystery that will keep the the audience interested and text going.

The narrative of media texts can also been shown in a Linear order. This is where the text is in chronological order. A linear order can be found n many Holywood films.

Texts can also be non-linear, this is where the narrative does not go in chronological order, it may have flashbacks or flashfowards, or in some cases such as Pulp Fiction and Inception, be totally in the wrong order.

Feminist film theory

Created by Laura Mulvey in 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' 1975.

The theory says that cinema will reflect society at the time it was created. Cinema will therefore reflect a patriarchal, male dominated, society. This can be shown through The Male Gaze.

The gaze of camera, due to the patriarchal society, will show the action from a male point of view. This know as The Male Gaze. The media text is therefore constructed as though the audience is male, forcing woman to watch the text through a man's point of view, made possible through the process of suture.

There are 3 levels of the gaze:

1. Audience
2. Camera
3. Male character

The male character see the woman, the camera therefore shows his point of view, forcing the audience into the view point as well.

There is also the theory of Agency. This is often used in Hollywood cinema. The male protagonist has agency, he is active and powerful. He is whom the dramatic action unfolds, he is the centre. Female characters are therefore passive and powerless.

Woman have two roles in a film:

1. As an object of erotic desire for the male characters
2. As an object of erotic desire for the audience

These theories can clearly be seen in James Bond films.

The fact that both these scenes appeared in James Bond films that were 40 years apart suggests that we still live in a patriarchal society.

Creating my magazine advert

Now I have made my digipak, I will now create my magazine advert. I will use inspiration from the my digipak to create the advert, to make it clear they are both about the same song.

Editing one panel of my digipak

This is how I edited and put one possible panel of my digipak together:

This is the original picture I started off to edit. I started by cropping it to get rid of the black background to make it easier to edit.

I started off with tinting the picture a pale green. This was because the original picture seemed a little dull, and I want the digipak to reflect the happier mood of the second half of the video. I only tinted slightly however, to avoid her dress becoming too green as well.

This the result of the tint I added. However, I still felt the image was dull, so I decided to make it more vibrant.

This is what the picture after the vibrance change was added. It looks a lot brighter and greener, giving off the 'happy' feel I wanted to convey.

I then took the other stills like this one, and edited them in the same way. I then put all the pictures on a black back ground together