MIGRAIN: Narrative

MIGRAIN: Narrative

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

The movie Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Parks and Box: 2005) is a great example of Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium.  A problem is repeatedly occurring from Wallace and Gromit are catching rabbits and further makes complications continuously until Gromit realises Wallace has turned into a man-rabbit because of the mind control device. This therefore creates an exposition and an on going cycle until Gromit battles to save Wallace before it is too late and this provides the climax to the film as a result creating a new equilibrium at the the end of the movie.

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.

Imagine you are planning the opening shot of a film or TV

programme.

1. How could you show that the scene was taking place early

in the morning? You can show that the scene is talking place early in the morning by showing the sun and slowly zooming out into the location, putting bird chipping sound effects

2. How would you show your film was set in London? You can show the main character getting on a red TFL bus going to school or work.

3. What methods could you use to make it clear the text is set

in the 1960s? To make the scene seem like it was set in 1960s the colour of the scene should be black and white to create the film Noir effect and make the actors dress in costumes that are formal and classy.

4. How could you make it clear one of the characters is a

married policeman? Make the character male and have a moustache with a wedding ring which the police uniform.

5. What could you do to show the audience they are watching

a thriller? You could add a lot of silence and suspense to build tension and make the audience feeling constantly nervous.

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

• Vin Diesel: who is the most appropriate action hero.
• Zach Braff: known as the best romantic hero.

Give an example of a binary opposition.

When the female protagonist captures the male protagonists heart in a romantic way. This is usually this never happens as it is the opposite.

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

Conventional narrative offers gratification for audiences. Problems and their complications creates an enigma code for the audience. The audience is interested as to what action is be seen in the film.

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

• Episodic narrative (the series) Episodic story telling is a genre of narrative that is divide into a set of episodes.
• Overarching narrative (the serial) indicates that you are talking about something that includes everything or everyone
• Mixed narrative is when both episodic and overarching narratives are used
• Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative) continuous narrative that’s tells multiple different stories. Each narrative strand involves a different character.

How does the Factsheet suggest adverts use narrative?  

A newspaper: maybe part a larger narrative arc which is in the complication stage

Documentaries: uses the same structure to construct their stories

Paper: advertising that often provides the solution and a problem understood by the audience.

Broadcast news: uses narrative structure and character roles in its bulletins