Narrative

In the lesson today we learnt about different theories about narrative.

The first theory is Barthes' code.
He came up with the idea with the ideas of signs and tell us that can mean a lot of different things. He also says that text is like a ball of thread and needs to be broken down and looked at in more detail. It also says that everything has multiple meanings.

The second theory we learnt was Props theory.
He says that every film has the same characters.
There are hero, villain, donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father.
He believes that every film will have these characters in some form or another.
In the lesson today we learnt about different theories about narrative.

Today we learnt about the theories of narrative.
The first theory is Barthes' code.
He came up with the idea with the ideas of signs and tell us that can mean a lot of different things. He also says that text is like a ball of thread and needs to be broken down and looked at in more detail. It also says that everything has multiple meanings.

Another theory is Aristotle theory.
This a very simple theory that very production has to have a beginning, middle and a end.

Another theory is Todorov theory.
This is every production has 5 stages. It starts with a equilibrium (a state of normality). This is then disrupted. Then the main character is helped out in somewhere. The main character then tries to restore the equilibrium from the beginning. The final stage is that a equilibrium is restored however it is different to the equilibrium at the start.

The final theory is Levi-Strauss theory.
This is the theory of opposites for example day and night. He believes that films use binary opposites.


To show these theories we used the opening of The Prestige.


Using Barthes theory we could used the birds as they started off in a cage. Then are then let out of the cage. This could represent that a person that was once trapped by something has been freed. Also the lighting starts as a very normal and calm however when the magician disappears the lighting become like strobe lighting which creates panic and chaos. However this only creates this atmosphere because of Barthes theory of signs. The lighting as it is like strobe lighting which can create a very panicked and disorganised scene. This using Barthes theory will show that the scene is chaotic which makes the audience worried and waiting for the problem to be solved.    Using Enigma we could show the opposites of on stage and off stage. On stage it is all very composed and everything seems normal. However behind the stage everything is chaotic and messy. These are complete opposites and could represent the emotion of the magician who on the outside is very calm and collected but on the inside is very busy and worried about everything happening to him. Todorov theory could be beginning to show as the narrative of the old man is very calm until everything starts to go wrong on behind the stage. Propps theory was harder to find in this opening however the magician seemed to be the hero of the scene and the guy that trapped him in the water was the villan. Levi-Strauss theory are the opposite one of the most obvious was the old man telling the young girl how to do magic. This is an opposite in itself as he s old and she is young. However it also shows wisdom and innocence. This is because the old man is presumably wise and the girl because of her age shows innocence.