Narrative: blog task

 1) Give an example from film or television that uses Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. 

Wallace and Gromit in the curse of the Werewolf-Rabbit:

Equilibrium: Before the rabbits ate the vegetables for the  Giant Vegetable competition 

Disequilibrium: Having to solve the problem of rabbits eating the vegetables and then Wallace turns into a man-rabbit

New Equilibrium: The rabbit problem is solved and Gromit saves Wallace

2) Complete the activity on page 1 of the Factsheet: find a clip on YouTube of the opening of a new TV drama series (season 1, episode 1). Embed the clip in your blog and write an analysis of the narrative markers that help establish setting, character and plot.

We see people socialising in day light after leaving their home, signalling to us that it’s morning (temporal marker). The show looks like it was set in England as the architecture is the same to English buildings (geographical marker). Their classical and elegant outfits signify that the plot takes place in 1830 (historical marker). We can tell that these characters are of high class and are important to daily life here as again seen by their outfits. The grouping of characters and spying as well as romance tells us that this show is about romance and gossip (generic marker).

3) Provide three different examples from film or television of characters that fit Propp's hero character role.

Lord of the Rings:

Frodo - hero

Sauron - villain

Same and Merry - helpers

4) Give an example of a binary opposition.

Old versus young.

5) What example is provided in the Factsheet for the way narratives can emphasise dominant ideologies and values?

A police man catching a criminal emphasises the ideology of the value of law and order.

6) Why do enigma and action codes (Barthes) offer gratifications for audiences?

Action codes promise action and enigma codes create curiosity on the questions made.

7) Write a one-sentence summary of the four different types of TV narrative:

• Episodic narrative (the series) Family guy is a type of episodic narrative as their is always a problem to begin with which ends with a resolution. 
• Overarching narrative (the serial) Desperate house wives is a type of overarching narrative as a problem goes over a number of episodes
• Mixed narrative Friends is a type of mixed narrative as there is an episodic narrative each episode but also an overarching narrative.
• Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative) One example are soap shoes as they have multiple narratives.

8) How does the Factsheet suggest adverts use narrative? 

 It sets up a problem which results in the product being promoted being the solution.

A/A* extension task

Use our brilliant Media Magazine archive to read Narratology: Todorov, Propp and Freytag from MM70 (page 24). This applies some of our narrative theories (and one new one) to Star Wars, Avengers and more. Which of these theories do you find most useful when applying to media texts? Why? 

I think Propp’s is the most useful as it allows us to understand characters deeply where as Todorov’s and Fretag’s theories are about the actual tension of the plot, which can be useful for getting audiences to enjoy a media texts, but doesn’t really get us to bond with the characters and understand them.