Research: Narrative Theory

In addition to the notes I made on Vladamir Propp and his discussion of narrative, he added to his own theory by identifying what he called 'narratemes'. Simply put, the narrateme is an event that essentially drives the narrative forward, sometimes diverting it off into a different direction; however this isn't an evident feature to have been used in every story.

Claude Levi-Strauss

Levi-Strauss was a French academic who believed that our understanding of words originated from their opposites rather than the meaning of the words themselves. For example, our idea of a hero derives from our association of the binary opposite e.g. antagonist. He importantly went on to say that oppositions helped people to understand the ideas and associations between binary oppositions such as masculinity/ femininity, good/evil etc. It was also evident that within particular societies, one opposition is commonly favoured more than the other. For example, a lot of people prefer good to evil because of the connotations of being good.

Structuralism

Within film, structuralism simply looks at how films convey meaning through the use of codes and conventions (e.g. camera shots), in the same way language varies/ changes meaning through communication. Many features can be used to convey this, which is why structuralism can be quite a complex theory. For example, dark lighting using a blue filter might be used to convey an early night/ early morning scene providing us with the understanding that the scene is set during a particular time of day. However when you add low, ominous music, the mood immediately changes, especially when quick cuts/ shaky shots are used to give the reading that the the film is a horror. It is conventional for horror films to use such features, showing that the meaning can be changed through the slightest edit technique; ultimately this effects the meaning of the film.

Roland Barthes' Narrative Codes

Barthes believed that narrative works with different codes involved, causing the audience to want to make sense of them. There were several he identified. These included:

• Enigma Code: this refers to a mystery within the film. Although clues are dropped in, the 'puzzles' are meant to confuse the audience to make them want to solve them, essentially reeling them in and making them want to watch more of the movie.
• Action Code: a sequential series of events that occur using proairetic elements to build suspense. An example of this might include someone falling in love, followed by an accident about to happen.
• Symbolic Code: this focuses on symbolism within the text, looking at opposites and how they contrast within a film to create different effects, affecting how we read the narrative. This can include using an object to refer to something outside of itself. For example, the rose in Beauty and the Beast represents the love of the beast and Belle but also the danger of the curse that brought it into existence,as a constant reminder of the beast's petulance.

Roland Barthes' Hermeneitic Code

This is very similar to the enigma code, referring to elements in the plot that have the audience raising questions that we want answered e.g a broken, bloody blade leaves us wondering who used the blade, why it's bloody, how it broke, who was the victim, was there a fight etc. The Proairetic code, similar to the action code, refers to an action in the plot that will lead onto another. For example, Katniss Everdeen draws an arrow and we're left to ponder at whether she'll shoot the target or miss it entirely.

Stanley Kubrick

 

Along with many others, Kubrick coined the term 'non-submersible units', referring to the parts in films that couldn't be left out because of how essential they are to a story. These are the elements to keep the viewer engaged with the film.