For this part of the unit you will be expected to explore some basic theories and apply them to some media products of your choice.
The theories we will be looking at are:
NARRATIVE
GENRE
REPRESENTATIONS
You will need to choose 3 different moving image fiction products to analyse:
A FEATURE FILM
LONG FORM TV SERIES (LFTV)
A SHORT OR MEDIUM FORM TV SHOW
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NARRATIVE THEORY
TASK 1:
For your chosen, LONG FORM TV SHOW illustrate your understanding of narrative using a diagram or infographic. You can use whatever tools/medium you like eg sketchpad, pen and paper, illustrator, photoshop. Upload it to your Unit 4 blog.
You can use some of the notes on this page along with your own research.
TASK 2:
Using the 3 act narrative template make notes on both THE APARTMENT (Wilder 1960)* and a FEATURE FILM OF YOUR CHOICE. Upload a picture of your notes to the blog.
Find help with the apartment narrative here
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Todorov:
Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.
Narrative theory in Stranger Things
Watch the first 8 minutes of Stranger Things (Series 1, Episode 1), which takes us up to the point where Will Byers disappears.
Using the clip, can you establish . . . .
Equilibrium: What does the show establish as 'normality'?
Disruption: What happens to disrupt the 'normal' situation?
If you have seen the whole series, can you work out what Todorov would argue is the resolution of the narrative and new equilibrium: What has changed at the end of the narrative?
Ideology: Todorov argues that understanding narrative helps to establish the dominant ideology being presented.
The equilibrium introduces the four boys playing inside a suburban family home – identifying the social norms suggested by the narrative. This sequence focuses on the idea of the nuclear family living in a suburban home as the norm, with responsible parents caring for their children.
The disequilibrium is Will’s disappearance – this suggests Will is more vulnerable as a latchkey kid, reinforcing social norms around the nuclear family.
There is no resolutionof the main narrative arc in episode one. Will’s disappearance is not resolved until the final episode of season one.
Applying narratologyto only the first episode suggests a different set of valuesand ideologiesthan applying it across the whole of the first season. The first episode suggests a socially conservative set of values which portrays the working class single-parent Byers family less positively than the two-parent middle class Wheeler family. However the resolution of the first season sees Joyce Byers go into the Upside Down to rescue Will, whereas the Wheelers are oblivious to what is happening to Nancy and Mike, subverting the ideology established in episode one.
Similarly in the first episode the recognition of the disequilibriumand the attempt to repair it is focused around the masculine authority of Hopper and the police. This patriarchal ideology is challenged over the course of the first season by the agencyshown by female characters such asNancy, Joyce, and Eleven.
Story Arc:
Narrative can be simplified even further using the idea of a story arc. Here is the American writer Kurt Vonnegut identifying three common story arcs. Can you apply these to your chosen products.
Three Act Structure:
The three act structure can be plotted by the tension or action that is experienced by the audience. This can be applied to all genres and relies on a conflict/conflicts, followed by numerous obstacles or complications that will lead to the character/characters overcoming these to resolve all or part of the original conflict.
List of other useful narrative terms:
restricted narrative - story usually seen from one characters perspective
omniscient narrative - audience is shown more than the character are aware of
story arc - the trajectory of thee story
rising action - events that drive the story to the climax
climax - the point or events in the narrative on which the eventual resolution hinges
falling action - events that happen after story climax
serial narrative - central sort arc happens over the wholes series and resolution is in final episode
episodic narrative - each episode has it's own narrative resolution
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