AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates.
First, some definitions:
Narrative: A theoretical term used to describe a specific meaning of the word ‘story’, referring primarily to the ‘structure’.
Plot: the events that are actually represented on screen and the order in which they are presented
Story: the above, plus…
…all the events that are referred to or implied but not actually shown. This includes all the assumptions we make about what has happened to characters before the plot begins or whilst they are off screen; the things we as readers have to work out for ourselves.
The filmmaker takes the story and works it into a plot; the audience takes the plot and uses it to recreate the story.
Narrative: the way the story is told and structured on screen.
When we analyse a narrative we analyse the construction of the story i.e. the way it has been put together, not the story itself. We also need to consider what the story is about in its most basic terms, i.e. the theme (e.g. love, war, winning) or ideology.
All media texts have a narrative, whether they are a six hour TV series or a one paragraph newspaper story or a glossy magazine photograph.
So how do we analyse a narrative?
Other narrative pages:
Todorov and Narrative Structure
Ideology
Propp and Character Functions
Levi-Strauss and Binary Opposites
First, some definitions:
Narrative: A theoretical term used to describe a specific meaning of the word ‘story’, referring primarily to the ‘structure’.
Plot: the events that are actually represented on screen and the order in which they are presented
Story: the above, plus…
…all the events that are referred to or implied but not actually shown. This includes all the assumptions we make about what has happened to characters before the plot begins or whilst they are off screen; the things we as readers have to work out for ourselves.
The filmmaker takes the story and works it into a plot; the audience takes the plot and uses it to recreate the story.
Narrative: the way the story is told and structured on screen.
When we analyse a narrative we analyse the construction of the story i.e. the way it has been put together, not the story itself. We also need to consider what the story is about in its most basic terms, i.e. the theme (e.g. love, war, winning) or ideology.
All media texts have a narrative, whether they are a six hour TV series or a one paragraph newspaper story or a glossy magazine photograph.
So how do we analyse a narrative?
- Technical codes – camera angles, lighting, mise-en-scene, use of sound etc. We can look at what each of these choices tells us about what is going on, e.g. is a character shot from a high or low angle and what does this tell us about them?
- Symbolic codes – signs in the narrative that we ‘decode’ as being significant and having meaning, e.g. a ragged coat worn by a character tells us...?
- Structure - the idea that all narratives follow a basic three part structure which we can identify. We will look at the theories of Tzvetan Todorov to explore this further.
- Character – the idea that all narratives use the same types of characters which we can identify through symbolic and technical codes. We will look at the theories of Vladimir Propp to explore this further.
- Narrative conflict or binary opposition – the idea that all narrative rely on conflict to drive them forward and that this is caused by a series of opposing forces. We will look at the theories of Claude Levi-Strauss to explore this further.
Other narrative pages:
Todorov and Narrative Structure
Ideology
Propp and Character Functions
Levi-Strauss and Binary Opposites