UAL Media Unit 4: Structuralism - binary opposites, genre and narrative
- 1. Creative Media Production & Technology Unit 4: Critical and Contextual Awareness MEDIA LANGUAGE
- 2. MEDIA LANGUAGE RECAP TASK • Media _________ refers to the way media texts are _________ to create meaning. • Media texts are said to be made up of signs or _________ • These include elements such as camerawork, mise en scene and verbal communication (words) • The way that a code or sign creates meaning can be thought of in two parts: denotation and connotation. This process is known as _________. • _________ refers to the first level of meaning, simply describing what the code is. Eg the colour blue, a low angle camera show, a military costume. • _________ refers to the further meanings, associations and related ideas that a sign might create. For instance, for the colour red it might mean love and passion, anger or danger. Use the following words to complete the paragraph below: Codes / Connotation / Constructed / Denotation / Language / Meaning / Signification
- 3. MEDIA LANGUAGE RECAP TASK • Media _________ refers to the way media texts are _________ to create meaning. • Media texts are said to be made up of signs or _________ • These include elements such as camerawork, mise en scene and verbal communication (words) • The way that a code or sign creates meaning can be thought of in two parts: denotation and connotation. This process is known as _________. • _________ refers to the first level of meaning, simply describing what the code is. Eg the colour blue, a low angle camera shot, a military costume. • _________ refers to the further meanings, associations and related ideas that a sign might create. For instance, for the colour red it might mean love and passion, anger or danger. Use the following words to complete the paragraph below: Codes / Connotation / Constructed / Denotation / Language / Signification
- 4. MEDIA LANGUAGE RECAP • Semiotics • Structuralism • Genre • Narrative • Postmodernism
- 5. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM 1) All human organisation is determined by large social or psychological structures, independent of human will or intention. 2) Meanings can only be understood within these systematic structures
- 6. • So, to understand a media text, we have to understand the structure it exists within and the structures within it. • In other words, media texts and the ideas and meanings present within them cannot be understood in isolation and therefore need to be put into context. • As the audience, we use structures to interpret media texts. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM
- 7. Claude Levi Strauss (nothing to do with denim!) later emphasised the importance of Structuring Oppositions AKA Binary Oppositions in language. French Linguist Ferdinand De Saussure applied this to the way that language often produces meanings, by defining things in terms of being the opposite of something else: Good/Evil, Black/White, Hot/Cold, Man/Woman, etc…Can you think of any other Binary Oppositions? MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM
- 8. Binary opposites are useful when analysing the content and themes of a media text to determine how they produce meaning. Watch the trailer for the film Titanic and write down the binary oppositions you observe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUm88F3MEbQ MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: BINARY OPPOSITES
- 9. Binary opposites are useful when analysing the content and themes of a media text to determine how they produce meaning. Watch the trailer for the film Titanic and write down the binary oppositions you observe. Young/Old Upper Class/Lower Class Upper Deck/Lower Deck Past/Present Man/Woman American/European Heroes/Villains Freedom/Entrapment Day/Night Happiness/Distress MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: BINARY OPPOSITES
- 10. Binary opposites are useful when analysing the content and themes of a media text to determine how they produce meaning. Watch the trailer for the film Titanic and write down the binary oppositions you observe. Young/Old Upper Class/Lower Class Upper Deck/Lower Deck Past/Present Man/Woman American/European Heroes/Villains Freedom/Entrapment Day/Night Happiness/Distress A meaning is more easily recognised and/or understood when presented in contrast with its opposite. An elderly character’s frailty will be more apparent if presented with a young person’s vigor. A villain’s greed is more noticeable when compared with the hero’s kindness. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: BINARY OPPOSITES
- 11. Binary opposites are useful when analysing the content and themes of a media text to determine how they produce meaning. Watch the trailer for the film Titanic and write down the binary oppositions you observe. Young/Old Upper Class/Lower Class Upper Deck/Lower Deck Past/Present Man/Woman American/European Heroes/Villains Freedom/Entrapment Day/Night Happiness/Distress MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: BINARY OPPOSITES
- 12. Media producers may structure binary opposites in their media products for the following reasons • To create conflict (which then needs to be resolved). • To emphasise a certain quality by contrasting it with its opposite • To simplify the narrative for audience and make it easier to understand. Consider their use in the following examples (next slide)… MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: BINARY OPPOSITES
- 13. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: BINARY OPPOSITES
- 14. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: GENRE Texts that share similar codes can be categorised into genres. These common codes are known as genre conventions. For instance, the genre conventions of a horror film might include: • Red and black colour palette, low key lighting • Isolated location • Themes of gore and death • Sequences with fast paced editing • Classical music in a minor key – What others can you think of?
- 15. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: GENRE What genre film is this? How can you tell? What are your expectations of the film? What do you expect to happen? Is it the kind of film you think you would like to watch? Can you think of any other films like it that have already been successful?
- 16. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: GENRE Genre and Audience Genre is a useful concept because it helps audiences choose and decide what media products they want to consume It also help set up audience’s expectations of what to expect from a media text. They gain pleasure from having these expectations fulfilled and also may find it interesting when their expectations are challenged. Some texts are very conventional and easy to categorise. Others may ‘subvert’ genre conventions, or mix conventions from different genres into a hybrid.
- 17. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: GENRE What kind of film is this? Is it more than one genre? How can you tell? What are your expectations of the film? What do you expect to happen? Is it the kind of film you think you would like to watch? Can you think of any other films like it that have already been successful?
- 18. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: GENRE Genre and Industry Genre is useful to media industries too as it helps them market media products by knowing who to aim them at. It also helps them know what kind of media products are likely to be successful, but looking at what genres have already been successful and replicating their conventions. What genres can you think of that are popular at the moment? Mainstream products that are expected to reach large audiences and make lots of money tend to be very conventional. Niche/Independent media products are more likely to be experimental and subvert/challenge genre conventions. They are often harder to categorise.
- 19. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: GENRE What genre films are these?
- 20. AND THIS?
- 21. MEDIA LANGUAGE STRUCTURALISM: GENRE Summary (No Voiceover. Read through and check your understanding) Media Products that share common characteristics are categorized into genres These common characteristics are called genre conventions Audiences will have expectations of a media product based upon its genre Audiences use genre as an indicator of what media products they might like to consume Media Industries use genre as a way of marketing media products to audiences Media Industries use genre as a way of minimizing risk , by imitating the features of products already known to be successful Media products that share elements from different genres are called genre hybrids Categories of texts within a genre might be called sub genres Mainstream media products are usually more conventional and easier to categorise into genres.
- 23. MEDIA LANGUAGE NARRATIVE • Write down a one sentence definition of what you think it means.
- 24. MEDIA LANGUAGE NARRATIVE • Write down a one sentence definition of what you think it means. • While the term ‘narrative’ certainly is not used as commonly as ‘story’, most people know that it refers, in some way, to stories; in fact stories are endemic to our lives.
- 25. WHERE DO WE FIND NARRATIVES? Task: Make a list of what stories/narratives you have engaged with today. • TV Programmes • Novels or short stories • Films • Advertisements • News stories in papers or on TV and radio • Via the internet • Through talk, ‘gossip’ and chat.
- 26. DEFINING NARRATIVE • All media texts, fictional and non-fictional, moving image and still image contain narratives. All media texts tell stories. • Narratives – in any medium or genre, are ways of structuring and representing • Narrative is a temporal and spatial mode. In other words, a way of organising both time and space in relation to each other. • Narrative is defined as “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time” (Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art, 1980). ADD TO GLOSSARY • Narrative is ‘a way of organising spatial and temporal events into a cause-effect chain of events with a beginning, a middle, and end that embodies a judgement about the nature of events’ (Branigan, 1992).
- 27. What’s the Story? What’s happening? Who is involved? Where? When? How can you tell? What might have happened before? What might happen next? WHAT’S THE STORY?
- 28. What’s the Story? What’s happening? Who is involved? Where? When? How can you tell? What might have happened before? What might happen next? WHAT’S THE STORY?
- 29. WHAT’S THE STORY? What’s happening? Who is involved? Where? When? How can you tell? What might have happened before? What might happen next?
- 30. WHAT’S THE STORY? What’s happening? Who is involved? Where? When? How can you tell? What might have happened before? What might happen next?
- 31. STORY? NARRATIVE? PLOT? • In Media, NARRATIVE is the coherence/organisation given to a series of pieces of information • We need narrative to make sense of things and we connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. • In everything we seek a beginning, a middle and an end. • We understand and construct meaning using our experience of reality and of previous texts.
- 32. STORY VS NARRATIVE Story is the irreducible substance of a story A meets B, something happens, order returns …while narrative is the way that the story is told to the audience Once upon a time, there was a princess… • Key Concepts in Communication – Fiske et al (1983)
- 33. STORY VS NARRATIVE Or.. THE STORY a) Crime conceived b) Crime planned c) Crime committed d) Crime discovered e) Detective investigates f) Detective identifies criminals
- 34. STORY VS NARRATIVE Or.. THE STORY a) Crime conceived b) Crime planned c) Crime committed d) Crime discovered e) Detective investigates f) Detective identifies criminals …may be told as THE NARRATIVE d) Crime discovered e) Detective investigates f) Detective identifies criminals a) Crime conceived b) Crime planned c) Crime committed
- 35. STORY VS NARRATIVE Or.. THE STORY • Orphaned boy grows up in Indian slums, enduring hardship and poverty. • He meets and is separated from the love of his life • When older he decides to try and contact her by appearing on a TV quiz show • His success on the show leads authorities to believe he is cheating. • Boy is interrogated and tortured • Boy tells police officer his back story, explaining how he knew answers and his motive for appearing on the show • Boy returns to show where he is successful and makes telephone contact with his sweetheart …may be told as
- 36. STORY VS NARRATIVE Or.. THE STORY • Orphaned boy grows up in Indian slums, enduring hardship and poverty. • He meets and is separated from the love of his life • When older he decides to try and contact her by appearing on a TV quiz show • His success on the show leads authorities to believe he is cheating. • Boy is interrogated and tortured • Boy tells police officer his back story, explaining how he knew answers and his motive for appearing on the show • Boy returns to show where he is successful and makes telephone contact with his sweetheart …may be told as THE NARRATIVE • Boy is interrogated and tortured • Boy tells police officer his back story, explaining how he knew answers and his motive for appearing on the show • His time growing up is shown through a series of flashback sequences depicting his childhood and adolescence. In doing so, his experiences that lead him to know the answers are revealed in parallel with his appearance on the show. • Boy returns to show where he is successful and makes telephone contact with his sweetheart
- 37. STORY VS NARRATIVE Or.. THE STORY • Orphaned boy grows up in Indian slums, enduring hardship and poverty. • He meets and is separated from the love of his life • When older he decides to try and contact her by appearing on a TV quiz show • His success on the show leads authorities to believe he is cheating. • Boy is interrogated and tortured • Boy tells police officer his back story, explaining how he knew answers and his motive for appearing on the show • Boy returns to show where he is successful and makes telephone contact with his sweetheart …may be told as THE NARRATIVE • Boy is interrogated and tortured • Boy tells police officer his back story, explaining how he knew answers and his motive for appearing on the show • His time growing up is shown through a series of flashback sequences depicting his childhood and adolescence. In doing so, his experiences that lead him to no the answers are revealed in parallel with his appearance omn the show. • Boy returns to show where he is successful and makes telephone contact with his sweetheart
- 38. WHERE DO WE SEE/HEAR NARRATIVES? Task: In pairs, pick an event that has happened to one of you today. How could you tell this story differently for 1) An Action Film? 2) A News Report? 3) An E4 Reality TV Show?
- 39. WHERE DO WE SEE/HEAR NARRATIVES? Task: In pairs, pick an event that has happened to one of you today. How could you tell this story differently for 1) An Action Film? 2) A News Report? 3) An E4 Reality TV Show?
- 40. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE When we look at narrative and narrative structure we can start to see patterns that repeat. When location and character names are removed, many stories begin to look the same…
- 43. NARRATIVE STRUCTURES: TODOROV Franco-Bulgarian philosopher Tsvetan Todorov observed that conventional stories start in a state of equilibrium, which is then disrupted, setting in a motion a chain of events. The resolution of the story is the creation of a new/different equilibrium. Disequilibrium Equilibrium New Equilibrium
- 44. NARRATIVE STRUCTURES: TODOROV Tsvetan Todorov suggested that narratives are led by events in a ‘cause and effect’ format. The narrative starts with an equilibrium An action / character disrupts the equilibrium A quest to restore the equilibrium ensues The narrative moves to a confrontation/climax Resolution / equilibrium is restored
- 45. Can you apply this theory to 2-3 films you have watched Film Name How it applies to Todorov’s theory Titanic Rose is engaged Rose then leaves her fiancee for Jack; Jack then dies Rose continues her life as an independent woman
- 46. NARRATIVE STRUCTURES: TODOROV Texts that conform the audience’s expectations by following this pattern can be described as ‘ideologically conservative’. They are ‘safe’, do not challenge the audience and are ‘comforting’. Most mainstream texts are like this. Other texts may challenge the viewer by not ending with a ‘return to equilibrium’ and end with the characters in a different, possibly worse situation situation than the start. These may be described as ‘ideologically progressive’. as they promote a change in attitudes. Some media texts seek to challenge audience expectations by leaving open- ended or ambiguous narratives that leave the audience to interpret what they understand by the ending. Narratives that only have one possible interpretation are said to be ‘closed’.
- 47. LINEAR VS NON LINEAR NARRATIVES Narratives that ‘go in a straight line’ from beginning to end are said to be linear. However, many films play with this and jumble the order of events into a non-linear structure. e.g.: Can you think of any examples? A B C D A BC D
- 48. NON-LINEAR NARRATIVES: PULP FICTION If the seven sequences were ordered chronologically, they would run: 4a, 2, 6, 1, 7, 3, 4b, 5. Sequences 1 and 7 partially overlap and are presented from different points of view; the same is true of sequences 2 and 6. 1.Prologue—The Diner (i) 2.Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife" 3."Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife" 4.Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a—flashback, b—present) 5."The Gold Watch" 6."The Bonnie Situation" 7.Epilogue—The Diner (ii)
- 49. CIRCULAR NARRATIVES Narratives that begin and end at the same point are said to be circular narratives. Beginning Middle End These are often used in films/programmes that start at a climactic event then flashback to the events building up to it. It is also common in sitcoms and TV series where stories do not continue through an entire series so that audiences can ‘join in’ at any point (e.g. The Simpsons).
- 50. NARRATIVES AND MANIPULATING TIME In the case of Pulp fiction and other similar texts, the chronology of the story has been reordered to make the film more interesting and stimulating for the audience – like a puzzle. There are several other ways, besides reordering, that narrative manipulates time. •Flashbacks show events from the past •Flash-forwards show events from the future •Ellipsis An ellipsis in media narrative leaves out a portion of the story. This can be used to condense time, or as a stylistic method to allow the reader to fill in the missing portions of the narrative with their imagination