1. Narrative

2. Narrative
• What is narrative theory?
• Music video theories
• applying these theories to videos
• other narrative theories
• applying them to existing products
• applying them to your own
products

3. what is
narrative?
• Narrative is the media
term for story telling.
!
• It is the way that different
elements come together to
make a meaningful story.

4. what is
narrative structure?
• Narrative structure is the way the
story is told or happens.
!
• An open structure is one that
means that it has no final ending;
the story is left open.
• What examples of these can you
think of?

5. what is
narrative structure?
• Narrative structure is the way
the story is told or happens.
!
• A closed structure is one that
means that the story is
concluded, usually satisfactorily.

6. what is
narrative structure?
• Narrative structure is the way the
story is told or happens.
!
• An interactive structure is one that
means that the story is not fixed and will
change depending on different factors.
!
What examples can you think of?

7. YOUR NARRATIVE
STRUCTURES
• You can discuss the narrative structures and theories
of your own products in various ways, but make sure
it’s relevant.
• For example, if your music video does not feature a
narrative, you cannot apply an open, closed or
interactive structure to it.
• Make sure you know what narrative structure or
theory is applicable to your products before you go
into the exam.
!
DO THIS NOW!
Which of your products feature an open, closed or
interactive narrative structure?

8. music video
narrative theory
•Andrew Goodwin stated that there were
three different ways in which the music
video can connect back to the song itself
•These are:
!
Illustration
Amplification
Disjuncture

9. music video
narrative theory - Illustration
Illustration is the simplest and easiest
concept to base a music video around as it
is just a literal meaning to the song’s lyrics
in visual form. This can be seen in the
actions of the people in the video ‘acting
out’ what has been sung, or the actual
lyrics being used on screen. These are
often ‘performance’ videos.
!
What examples can you think of?

10. music video
narrative theory - Amplification
Amplification is second. These type of music
videos may use both performance and narrative,
with connotations of the meanings. These are
designed to be a creative and artistic endeavour
that seeks to create a form of story or artistic
statement, informed by the lyrics or meaning
from the song. For this reason, amplification
videos often have elements of performance or
illustrative elements in them.
!
What examples can you think of?

11. music video
narrative theory - Disjuncture
Disjuncture is the final type. These videos
intentionally ignore the content of the song and
genre of the music and tries to create a whole new
set of meanings. These music videos don't tend to
make a lot of sense and can often use abstract
imagery. This is a radical technique used and
applied by arty bands in order to assert their
difference and originality. They usually contain
performance from the artist/s, but have no
recognisable link to the lyrics.
!
What examples can you think of?

12. YOUR NARRATIVE
STRUCTURES
• You can discuss the narrative structures and
theories of your own products in various ways, but
make sure it’s relevant.
• For example, your music video should broadly
adhere to Goodwin’s theory of music videos.
• Make sure you know what narrative type of
Goodwin’s theory is applicable to your products
before you go into the exam.
!
DO THIS NOW!
Your music video is what kind of music video?
Illustrative, amplification or disjuncture?

13. Task:
• find 2 examples for
each of goodwin’s
music video types.
• for each, explain what
type of video it is and
why it is that type.

14. Task 2:
• what type of music
video is your video?
!
• using a 9-still box,
explain how your video
fits one of the 3 types.

16. Basic narrative theory
• narrative structure can be split
into 3 simplified categories. these
are:
!
Linear
circular
episodic

17. Basic narrative theory -
Linear
• A linear narrative is one
that follows a ‘line’, it
starts at the beginning
and finishes at the end.
Start of story Story End of story

18. Basic narrative theory -
Linear
• A linear narrative is one that
follows a ‘line’, it starts at the
beginning and finishes at the end.
Start of story Story End of story
• What examples of linear narrative
structures can you think of in film?

19. Basic narrative theory -
episodic
• An episodic narrative is one that
follows a ‘line’, and starts at the
beginning and finishes at the end, but is
broken up into smaller episodes or
sections. These are usually clearly
marked.
Start of story Story End of story

20. Basic narrative theory -
episodic
• What examples of
episodic narrative can
you think of in film?
Start of story Story End of story

21. Basic narrative theory -
circular
• A circular narrative is one
that follows a ‘circle’; the
story finishes where it
started. Start of story
Story
End of story
Story
Story

22. Basic narrative theory -
circular
Start of story
Story
End of story
Story
Story
• You can have some element of these narrative styles being mixed
however. For example, you could have an episodic, circular narrative.

23. Basic narrative theory
• your as studies project is a small section of a
film, so does not easily ‘fit’ one of the narrative
structures.
• However, your section should be ‘part ‘ of a
bigger film.
• With this in mind, you should know both where
your section would fit within this larger project
and also, because of this, what narrative
structure your larger film would be.
• therefore, you should be able to explain what
narrative structure the overall film would be
and why.

24. YOUR NARRATIVE
STRUCTURES
• You can discuss the narrative structures and
theories of your own products in various ways, but
make sure it’s relevant.
• For example, you must know what narrative
structure is the most suitable for both products.
• Make sure you know what narrative structure or
theory is applicable to your products before you
go into the exam.
!
DO THIS NOW!
Which of your products feature a linear, circular or
episodic narrative structure?

25. classic narrative theories
• todorov
• Propp
• Barthes
• Levi-strauss

26. classic narrative theories
Narrative Structure
Visual texts adopt different ways of
constructing stories, called narrative
structures and these fall into five main
categories:

27. classic narrative theories
1. Open / Closed narratives
• Stories that are part of a series are open narratives (eg Soaps).
• Stories with endings are closed narratives (eg Documentaries).
!
2. Single / Multi-strand narratives
• Stories developing same plot are single strand narratives (eg Many
dramas).
• Stories with more than one plot line are multi-strand narratives (eg
Soaps).

28. classic narrative theories
3. Linear / Non-linear narratives
•Stories following chronological order are linear narratives (eg Soaps).
•Stories jumping around in time are non-linear narratives (eg Many who-
dunnits).
!
4. Investigative narratives
•Stories involving investigations of some kind are investigative narratives (eg
Who-dunnits, Documentaries).
!
5. Realist & anti-realist narratives
•Stories featuring real life situations are realist narratives (eg Soaps, The News).
•Stories that do not feature real life situations are anti-realist (eg Cartoons).

29. classic narrative theories
REVISION:
Make sure that you can clearly, easily and quickly
define what narrative type your product/s are.
THEN, you can begin to bring in a narrative
theory to IF relevant.

30. classic narrative theories
• todorov
• Propp
• Barthes
• Levi-strauss

31. TZVETAN TODOROV
• Todorov proposed that
narrative structure has 5
main stages.
• However, these can be
summarised as 3 key
points:

32. TZVETAN TODOROV
• Beginning:
A state of equilibrium
• Middle:
Disruption to the equilibrium
• End:
Reinstating of the equilibrium

33. TZVETAN TODOROV
Stage 1
A state of equilibrium is defined.
Stage 2
Disruption to the equilibrium by some action or
crisis.
Stage 3
The Character(s) recognition that there has been a
disruption, setting goals to resolve problem.

34. TZVETAN TODOROV
Stage 4
The Character(s) attempt to repair the disruption,
obstacles need to be overcome to restore order.
Stage 5
Reinstatment to the equilibrium. Situation is
resolved, a conclusion is announced.

35. TZVETAN TODOROV

36. TZVETAN TODOROV
Can you add an example of a film that suits
Todorov’s narrative structure?
!
Hint:
Make sure it’s a fairly standard Hollywood
film in order to really see the accuracy of
the theory.

37. vladimir propp
During the 1920s, Russian analyst Vladimir
Propp discovered that a story’s format was
key to its success. Basing his studies on
traditional Russian fairy tales, he argued
that a successful story had 6 stages of
narrative action:

38. vladimir propp
1.Preparation (the scene is set)
2.Complication (a problem / evil occurs)
3.Transference (hero gets help and leaves on quest)
4.Struggle (there is a fight between hero and some kind of villain)
5.Return (the hero returns, his quest fulfilled)
6.Recognition (villains punished, hero rewarded)

39. vladimir propp
• Propp also discovered that Russian
fairytales often involved much the same
stock characters.
• These are also known as the Seven
Spheres of Action.

40. vladimir propp
Hero: Individual(s) who’s quest is to restore the equilibrium.
Villain: Individual(s) who’s task is to disrupt the equilibrium.
Donor: Individual(s) who gives the hero(s) something, advice,
information or an object.
Helper: Individual(s) who aids the hero(s) with their set task.
Princess (Prince): Individual(s) which needs help, protecting and
saving.
Dispatcher: Individual(s) who send the hero(s) on their quest.
False Hero: Individual(s) who set out to undermine the hero’s quest
by pretending to aid them, often unmasked at the end of the film.
SevenSpheresofAction

41. vladimir propp
REVISION
• Using the Seven Spheres of Action, can you
attribute a character to each from a film that
already exists?
• Make sure you use a film you know really
well that has lots of characters in.
• Or just use Star Wars, like everyone does.

42. vladimir propp
REVISION
• For either of your two products (but probably the
film extract), try to ‘fit’ the 6 stages of action
around it. You may need to consider that your
extract was just the start of the narrative, so may
need to extent this to what your film could have
done.
• Using the Seven Spheres of Action, can you attribute
a character to each from a film that already exists?

43. roland barthes
Roland Barthes was a French literary
theorist, philosopher, critic and semiotician
(study of cultural signs and symbols). He
suggested that media texts with a narrative
were essentially forms of storytelling (à la
Propp).

44. roland barthes
• Barthes proposed the Open and Closed
narrative structure (Interactive came much
later and not from him, incidentally).
!
• Barthes said that all narratives share similar
structures but are moulded in different ways.
!

45. roland barthes
• He believed that a text was essentially a tangled ball of
threads that needs to be unravelled.
!
• Once unravelled, it is obvious that we can begin to look
at a text at any angle we choose.
!
• We start to look at a text in one specific way, from one
viewpoint and because of this, one meaning for a text.
!
• But this can be repeated several times. By continuing to
unravel texts, different meanings appear.

46. roland barthes
Barthes suggested that meaning is made in
fiction by the use of Five Codesc. They can be
woven into any text and they are integral to
interpreting them to create different meanings:
!
The Hermeneutic/Enigma Code (HER)
The Action/Proairetic Code (ACT)
The Semantic Code (SEM)
The Symbolic Code (SYM)
The Referential/Cultural Code (REF)

47. roland barthes
The Hermeneutic/Enigma code (HER):
!
‘The enigma code’: things within the text that
make the audience ask themselves questions
about what will happen. The answers to the
questions can be found by consuming the text.
For example, will Charlie Bucket find a golden
ticket?

48. roland barthes
The Action/Proairetic Code (ACT):
!
‘The events and actions code’: each action and event
within a text can be linked to nameable sequences
operating in the narrative. Barthes asserts that each
effect could be ‘named’ giving a series of titles to the
text. These are often made very explicit on the DVD
casing – the chapter titles are generally based on events
or actions.

49. roland barthes
The Symbolic Code (SYM):
!
Is the process of representing an object, idea or feeling
by something else. For example, a fence between two
characters may symbolise their emotional distance. Some
have suggested that the infamous ‘adrenaline shot’ in
Pulp Fiction is the symbolic penetration of Mia by Vince.

50. roland barthes
The Semantic Code (SEM):
!
This code refers to the use of connotation to give the
audience an insight into characters, objects or events. For
example, conventional car advertisements feature the car
in an open, green landscape. The connotations created by
the setting are of freedom and escape.

51. roland barthes
The Referential/Cultural Code (REF):
!
‘The cultural code’ concerns all the culturally specific
knowledge used to make meaning in a text. For example,
the Coronation Street title sequence features
stereotypically ‘northern’ streets and houses, connoting
traditional communities and family values. The audience
must be familiar with such northern typification to
associate particular meanings with the text.

52. roland barthes
REVISION:
!CODE TEXT EXPLANATION
HER
ACT
SYM
SEM
REF

53. roland barthes
REVISION:
!CODE
FILM OR
MUSIC VIDEO
EXPLANATION
HER
ACT
SYM
SEM
REF

54. claude levi-strauss
Claude Levi-Strauss is most noted for his theory
of Binary Oppositions. He observed that all
narratives are organised around the conflict
between the oppositions.
!
He used the Western genre to identify and
provide a clear example of how this works:

55. claude levi-strauss
Homesteaders - Native Americans
Christian - Pagan
Domsetic - Savage
Weak - Strong
Garden - Wilderness
Inside society - Outside society

56. claude levi-strauss
This applies to other genres of course:
Sci$Fi&
Good$ Bad$
Humans$ Aliens$
Earth$ Space$
Past$ Present$
Normal$ Strange$
Known$ Unknown$$

57. claude levi-strauss
REVISION
In either of your products, can you identify a range of
binary oppositions?
!
For your AS work, could you expand upon how there
could be binary oppositions between what you
created for your introduction and what would be
happening later in the film, for example?