Narrative theory - Levi Strauss

Learning objectives: To apply Levi Strauss theory of Binary opposition to texts.

Key words: Opposite, ideology, Structuralist,

Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908 – 2009) was a French narrative theorist and anthropologist. He argued 'that the "savage" mind has the same structures (untamed human thought) as the "civilized" mind and that human characteristics are the same everywhere. 

BINARY OPPOSITION’S THEORY
His theory was that the way we understand certain words doesn’t depend on the meaning it creates but more on our understanding of the difference between the word and its opposite, the binary oppositions.
He realised that words purely act as symbols for the ideas of society and the meaning of words, therefore, he believed that there was a relationship between opposing ideas.
Binary oppositions can be found in a range of media products such as a film trailers.

EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS:
Binary oppositions can be found in a range of media products such as a film trailers.

We easily understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL.

Levi-Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged in the plot or the narrative.
He was interested in how our views of things were shaped by dominant ideology.

Below is an image that represents a happy family as set out in dominant British ideologies.
Handsome, healthy and perfect smiles on the faces of the young family.
This is what we are told to aspire to, this is an ideal, success, in the West.

Dominant ideology is the set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society, framing how the majority think about a range of topics.

The items on the left hand side of the list below are what media texts set out as ideological in the West.

Examples of Binary Opposites

Good vs Evil,

Boy vs Girl,

Peace vs War,

Civilised vs Savage,

Democracy vs Dictatorship,

First world vs Third world,

Domestic vs foreign/alien,

Articulate vs inarticulate ,

Young vs Old,

Man vs Nature,

Protagonist vs antagonist,

Action vs inaction,

Motivator vs observer,

Empowered vs victim ,

Man vs Woman,

Good looking vs Ugly,

Strong vs weak,

Decisive vs indecisive,

East vs West,

Humanity vs technology,

Ignorance vs wisdom

Levi Strauss was a Structuralist.
This can be said to be a set of ideas which emphasise two positions.
Structuralists argue that the human psyche makes us act in ways that we may not be aware of or don't know why.
For example, a culture organises its rules on food using different sets of rules: 

Exclusion, English see eating frogs and snails as a barbaric but it is a French custom.

Opposition, savoury and sweet courses are not usually eaten together.

Association, Steak and chips followed by ice cream are OK but steak and ice cream followed by chips is considered to be odd.

Only within such sets of rules (ideology) would certain combinations be valued or seen as wrong/rebellious/eccentric.

• Good vs evil, this is shown in genres such as action and thrillers in a protagonist and antagonist role.

• Dark vs light, this is again shown in action/thriller/horror films.

• Past vs future, this can be shown in action and history genres,

• Feminine vs masculine this is particularly seen in horror/ thriller films as females are generally seen as being victims and males are seen to be killers. If a text goes against this it can be said to be challenging conventions.

Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. 

An example would be GOOD and EVIL.

He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. 

We definine terms as being opposite to other terms; woman/man, black/white, hot/cold, up/down.
Woman is almost always defined as the opposite to man.
We define feminity in relation to masculinity. 
The moment we are born we reach for pink or blue baby clothes.

Genre is an in-separable part of understanding how meanings are encountered in practice and this blend of repetition and difference is key to us making sense of the information we are given.

Task 1: Titanic.

The narrative of the Titanic (US 1997) works partly through differences.

How many of the structuring oppositions of the film are visible here?

Homework:
Task 2: Below are some links to trailers.
Watch them and identify any binary opposites that have been put in place to reveal the structure of the text.


Work on the handouts provided and submit on Monday 13.12.14

Fright Night

Schindler's List

The Amazing Spiderman


Role Models


P.S. I Love You

Year 11 GCSE Media Studies

Name___________________________

Levi Strauss – Binary Opposites

Task 1: Titanic still

Visible structuring oppositions of the film

Binary opposites		What does this make us think?

Task 2: Fright Night

Binary opposites		What does this make us think?

Schindler’s List

Binary opposites		What does this make us think?

The Amazing Spiderman

Binary opposites		What does this make us think?

Role Models 

Binary opposites		What does this make us think?

Narrative theory - Barthes

Learning Objective: You will apply Barthes' codes theory to a video clip.

Key words: Codes, Enigma, Action, Polysemic.

Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes has argued that every narrative has multiple codes. Typical features are used in narrative but can have several different meanings and interpretations depending on the viewer's life experience.

These meanings are suggested by Barthes five codes. 

Two of which you should be concerned with at this stage. Action code and enigma code.

Barthes argues that every narrative is interwoven with multiple codes. 

Any text is, in fact, marked by the multiple meanings suggested by the five codes.

Barthes theory on Media-Codes is important to us in structural terms as well as helping us to consider the positioning of audiences.

The Hermeneutic Code (or Enigma code): This refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and which creates questions that need to be answered. The purpose is typically to keep the audience guessing until the part of the text when all is revealed, loose ends are tied off and the questions are answered.

 Most stories hold back details in order to increase the effect of the final revelation.

An example of an enigma, as set out by Barthes.

The Proairetic Code (Action code) This builds tension; any action or event that suggests something else is about to happen. An action that prompts the reader to predict what will happen next and will result in increased interest and excitement.

For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. We wait to see if he kills his opponent or is wounded himself. Suspense is thus created by action rather than by a reader's or a viewer's wish to have mysteries explained.

The Cultural Code This code refers to anything that is founded on some kind of recognised principle that is not challenged by the audience and is always assumed to be the truth. Normally this involves either science or religion.

For example ,  in Quentin Tarantino's production of Pulp Fiction, a religious speech is quoted by Samuel.L.Jackson's hit man character Jules right before he kills another character. The quote is from the bible and is as follows:

‘and I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.’

This quote uses Barthes' cultural code as the words within such as ‘vengeance’ and ‘execute’ only have connotations of violence and death. Jules proceeds to kill the secondary character.
What Barthes is trying to explain by the cultural code is that when using symbols from certain areas such as religion or science, only one connotation can be understood and is used within a production.

Task 1:
Watch the trailer for the Crime Drama Seven and write down as many of Barthes'codes as you can identify.
Use the handout provided.

Task 2:  Homework. To be submitted 12.12.14
Watch the Ed Sheeran video A Team and apply Barthes codes.

Year 11 GCSE Media Studies

Name__________________

Barthes codes theory applied to a video clip of the trailer Seven

Action in trailer	Barthes’ Code

 

Barthes codes applied to the Ed Sheerin video A Team

Action in video	Barthes’ Code

 

http://swchsfm2010f.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/roland-barthes-5-narrative-codes-and.html

Narrative - Character positioning within the frame

Learning Objectives:

·      To recall how visual aspects within a frame create meaning for audiences

·      To discover how the positioning of characters and objects can give us clues to relationships and                         narrative development

·      To predict how lighting and colour can create atmosphere and meaning

In relation to the study of moving images, mise-en-scène translates as 'everything in the frame'.  

It is a French term which refers to:

Lighting and colour
Is used to create mood and atmosphere 
Positioning of lights creates different effects 
High key lighting? Connotations
Low key lighting ? Implies what?
Setting. 

Temporal or geographical connections
Props, costume, hair and make-up

Indicates genre and says something about the different character roles

Character positioning within the frame

Tells the audience who to and who not to focus on
Body language, expression and movement

Indicates superiority and inferiority of characters

The given image is a still from The Core, a disaster film from 2003.  Look at the way the characters are positioned within the frame so all the important characters are visible and how different levels are created to add visual interest to an inactive scene.

Discuss hierarchy:

• Which characters do you think are the most important in this scene?
• What gives you this impression?
• What do the props in the foreground and background tell you about what is happening?
• What is the genre of the movie?
• What typical elements of the movie genre are evident in this frame?

Task 1:

Apply the above points to the images below.

Fig 1:

Fig 2:

Fig 3:

Influence of celebrity culture on audiences

• Learning objectives: To consider a statement about celebrity status and privacy then deliver a Ppt presentation to support points.
• Key Terms: Telephoto, Privacy, social media, close relationship

Celebrity culture:

Is one were people are obsessed with celebrity. These celebrities may not have accomplished much but we often find they get extensive media coverage. they may have skills that lie in their specialist areas but the media coverage deals with other aspects of their life.

In this country over recent years, a celebrity culture has been established. We as the audience have become very interested in the public and private lives of a range of celebrities from different areas of the media. This generation of young people can feel as though they have a close relationship with someone who is a celebrity.

Task 1:

List ways in which we keep in touch with and find out information about a celebrity.

'Ways we find out about celebrity'.

Task 2:

Write one paragraph discussing if it a good or a bad thing for young people to be obsessed with celebrity? 100 words. Orange books.
Consider British ideology, are celebrities shown to conform or challenge ideology.

'Is it a good or bad thing for young people to obsess over celebrities?'.

Task 3:

• Create a Powerpoint presentation, saved in your home areas as 

Y-11-Celebrity(your surname)

Use the Ppt to answer these questions in as much detail as possible;

• What do we understand by the term celebrity?

• Where in the media would you expect to find celebrities?

• Who would you say are the celebrities that are getting most media coverage at the moment?

• Why? What have they done?

• Are all celebrities represented in a positive way in the media?

• Give some examples of celebrities and examples of media texts were you will see positive AND negative representations of them.

Task 4 Homework to be e-mailed to Mr Ealey:

• Consider the following statements about stars and celebrities and write 200 words in your orange books with the title Celebrity.

1. Famous people need the media.
2. The media should not invade the private lives of stars and celebrities.
3. Stars are complex representations of real people.