Task 3: Exploring Structural Theory
Who was Roland Barthes and what do his narrative codes propose about the structure of media texts and our reading of them?
- Roland Barthes was born on November 12th 1915 in Cherbourg, Normandy, France. His ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism He was a literary theorist, philosopher, critic and semiotician who proposed the idea that there are five different codes used in narratives which activate so the reader can make sense of it. These five codes are Hermeneutic, Proairetic , Semantic, Symbolic and Cultural. The Hermeneutic Code is when throughout you are given hints and clues but never the full story. This is relevant in trailers as you are often given a narrative but not the whole story and you have to piece things together yourself as the audience. The Proairetic Code is similar to the Hermeneutic but uses action as one action will indicate something else will happen. Tension is built up through these actions and the audience is left guessing whats going to happen next. This is relevant to trailers because there is a build-up, where tension is building, and then a problem generally occurs and the audience is left guessing as to what will happen next. The Proairetic and Hermeneutic Code work together to develop tension and keep the viewer interested. The Semantic Code is when you are given a narrative but then have to guess the story through connotations given from the text. This links in with John Fiske's idea of a story and it is relevant in trailers because trailers give a brief narrative and the audience then has to connote meanings from the media text they are viewing. The Symbolic Code is quite similar to the Semantic but it works at a broader level and is generally used through antithesis which means opposing and conflicting ideas. It can be seen in trailers through the opposition and contrasting characteristics between then hero and the villain. The Cultural Code is when reality is used and scientific, cultural and historical facts are used to portray a meaning. The audience must have a shared knowledge of these facts to be able to engage with the media text. This can be used in trailers because if someone is hurt then the character who hurt the other person is the villain as the audience can tell that this is morally wrong and from this shared understanding of right and wrong the trailer can get accross a meaning. These five different codes is like watching the same media text but through a different coloured lens because what you see is the same but the way you see it is different so you get a different meaning from it.
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| Roland Barthes |
Who was Vladimir Propp, what structural theory did he propose and how are his ideas evident in trailers? Which of his characters appear most frequently and does this cross genres or are there differences?
-Vladimir Propp was a Russian Soviet formalist scholar and critic who used Russian folk tales and identified their narratives simplest elements. Propp's idea of 'Absentation' where the hero leaves the home to go on a quest mentions that the hero is introduced and traditionally during the 'Opening' of a trailer the main protagonist (the hero) is introduced. During the 'Violation of Interdiction' part of Propp's structural theory the villain is also introduced which is also traditionally the case in the 'Opening' of trailers. The 'Reconnaissance' and the 'Delivery' part of Propp's theory where the villain is preparing to harm the villain could be linked to the 'Build-up' in modern film trailers. The 'Trickery', 'Complicity' and 'Villainy or Lack' section of the theory are all where the villain either deceives the hero or causes him or his family har and this can be linked to the 'Problem' section of trailers as well as being linked to Todorov's theory of there being a disruption to the equilibrium. The 'Villain', 'Hero' and 'Princess' tend to be the main characters that appear most in films and film trailers because the story often has to revolve around these three characters and the struggle between them. However sometimes in comedies there may be no villain or maybe the villains presence is not felt as much so as not to darken the mood too much.
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| Vladimir Propp |
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| Typical film 'hero/heroes' |
Who is Tzvetan Todorov, what does his narrative theory propose about the structure of media texts and how is this relevant to film trailers?
- Tzvetan Todorov's theory suggests that there is first an equilibrium, then a disruption to the equilibrium and then a resolution or return to the old equilibrium. Todorov, like Propp, studied folk tales and came to the conclusion that upon viewing a media text an audience uses its knowledge of character types to decode the meaning of a text. This can be linked to trailers as the audience is also trying to gain and understanding of the film from the trailer so it is like they are trying to decode a message given to them from the trailer. As well as this the equilibrium and disruption to the equilibrium is similar to the 'Opening' and the 'Problem' in the trailers.
Who was Claude Levi-Strauss and what relevance does his theory have to the creation of meaning within trailers?
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| Tzvetan Todorov |
-Claude Levi-Strauss was not primarily concerned with the structure of a film but was more interested in binary oppositions within texts. These binary oppositions would be things like Good vs Evil. He tried to structure things like that so that everything around us is a binary opposite. His theory is that in films the conflict is between all these binary opposites going against each other. His theory is relevant to trailers as there are opposites generally in trailers such as Hero vs Villain ( Good vs Evil). As Levi-Strauss' theory states there is a conflict between Good and Evil created in trailers which causes the 'Problem' in the trailer. The meaning created within a trailer that there is a battle going on between Good and Evil which are binary opposites as Levi-Strauss' theory states.
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| Claude Levi-Strauss |
What, according to John Fiske, is the difference between story & narrative and how is this especially evident in trailers?
-According to John Fiske the difference between a story and a narrative is that a narrative is what is shown to the audience whereas a story is the same thing but also the things that the audience interprets that aren't shown such as underlying meanings and connotations. This is especially evident in trailers because trailers rely on people being able to interpret the story whilst only being given a brief narrative.
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| John Fiske |
