There are many different theories in media, it is essential for there to be different theories as you get a different outlook. Todorov and Barthes are the most well known media theories about the construction of media.
Barthes believes that there are 5 rules which need to be followed in order to enjoy a film. He made this into the Enigma Code
- The proairetic code
- The semantic code
- The symbolic code
- The cultural code
- The hermeneutic code
The proairectic code - this is the way that suspense builds up and leaves the audience in anticipation as to what is going to happen next
The semantic code - this is means a text having an ambiguous meaning, this means that it is interpreted in different ways, this means that the audience view things different to one another.
The symbolic code - The symbolic code comes under things such as clothimg and colours in the film.
The cultural code - This looks at the audiences cultural knowlege, ideology and morality. This is used frequently by the director to know how to effect the audience or how to give them an emotion.
The hermeneutic code- This is the way that the avoids to let the whole storyline out and stops it from revealing all details, this means that only small clues are dropped throughout the film to create a mystery scene. Majority thriller and crime films use this
The binary opposites can be found in any movie, this comes under two things opposing eachother e.g dominant vs subordinate, hero/villain. In most films, the characters consist of a good guy and a bad guy but any characters that are considered opposite to eachother can also be reffered to as binary opposites.
Examples of binary opposites
Batman and the Joker
Spiderman and the Goblin
Bugsy Malone and Fat Sam
Todorov Narrative Theory - Todorov's theory consists of a belief that every movie in every genre followed a pattern. This pattern is known as the narrative theory, there are 5 steps which present diffeent stages of the movie.
These 5 stages include:
A state of equilibrium - This focuses on the main introduction of the characters in the movie, this means getting an insight of their normal daily lives.
A disruption - This state of equilibrium will be distrupted by an event which majority of the time causes problems in the characters daily life, this change usually causes a large dilemma.
Recognition - This is where the audience are expecting the character to come up with a peaceful plan to solve the problem. Repair - This is where the character tries to find a solution to the dilemma which has been caused e.g the goodguy comes up with a plan to overcome the bad guy. An attempt to repair the damage - This happens mainly towards the end of the movie, the character who had the dilemma and tried to solve the dilemma attemps to repair the damage and usually ends up at some risk. A resoration of a new equilibrium - In majority of the movies the problem always gets solved in the end and the attemp to repair the damage usually works, good always overcomes bad.
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