Media productions generally rely heavily on the narrative (movement of plot), and this is especially the case in the film industry. Films are pretty much always used to tell a story (whether fictional or factual) and so the plot is pretty much the spine of how the film is presented.
Over time the narratives which have been employed have been analysed and it is becoming clearer that there are some plot attributes which can be observed in multiple productions.
One piece of work which this concept can be related to are the findings of Vladimir Propp, who, from studies of Russian folk stories, suggested that there are 31 functions which a narrative may make use of.
As we haven't extended our coursework film's story beyond the first two and a half minutes we haven't introduced any major plot devices, however we can still see examples of a few of the functions in what we have --
- Abstentation: This states that "One member of family absents himself or herself". Whilst this appears pretty vague, we can see that our leads - Luke, Oliver & Samir - have removed themselves from the conformity which is expected in school, and have decided to skip lesson.
- Interdiction: Interdiction states that "An interdiction is addressed to the Hero--a command, request, suggestion, etc.". This is not explicitly stated in the piece, but is instead implied; we know Oliver has been kicked out of the lesson, but something must have made Luke and Samir feel the need to meet up with him. Chances are Oliver's character had rung them to meet up; thus meeting the "request" part of the function.
- Lack: "Some tales may initiate complication through lack or insufficiency rather than villainy .The family may desire something or lack something" - Again meeting in with the "not being in lesson" thing, it's clear that the characters lack the previously mentioned norm of conformity to the school's system. This is later exaggerated further when they start drinking in the street, now subverting the norms and values of society as a whole, rather than just the school's culture.
Source of information
-HM.
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Monday, 30 April 2012
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Ideology pt. 2
This is the long awaited follow-up to the previous thing...
Althusser
Louis Althusser was a French Marxist sociologist who explored the concept of ideology. Ideology refers to the theory that social institutions (such as religion, the education system, and of course - the media) take control of people's thoughts and beliefs, thus overriding their individuality.
As the media is generally controlled by the bourgeoisie, it transmits 'ideals' which conveniently reinforce the class inequalities seen throughout society. This can be seen from media bias which can act as propaganda (Chomsky, 1992) and through class representation (below).
Representation
One of the most obvious examples of how the media can transmit 'ideals' is through the way the media represents different groups of people [LINK]. Mentioning the ideology theory and Barthe's mythologies theory will inevitably end up in a "chicken or the egg" argument - whilst Barthe says that the stereotype based representations are given to satisfy the audience's expectations, Althusser's ideology argument would suggest that those expectations only exist because the media has presented them to the audience previously.
The Marxist belief that the ruling class have control over the proletariat is heavily supported by this idea of ideology; the media presents the audience with plenty of justification as to why they should live their lives in a certain way. For example, if we go with the way that pretty much every programme ever made in the history of television has at some point had a romance based storyline, we can see that the media promotes having a partner to settle down as being an 'ideal' lifestyle. In actuality, this could be seen as taking advantage of how people are more inclined to aim for a good job if they have a partner (and eventually children) to look after, thus motivating the workforce.
Audiences & Institutions
I did previously touch on this in the previous post but it is somewhat relevant to mention again the way in which institutions make use of ideology to sell their products.
Institutions who have a product to sell need to convince the potential audience that it is worth buying - this is done through marketing. Successful marketing revolves around ensuring that as many people as possible buy the product; thus it is important to ensure that the marketing appeals to the masses.
This can be done by first spreading 'ideal' beliefs, then ensuring the product being sold meets the ideals. This is an example of institutional power; once they have created a desired ideal, they are free to market as many products as they feel the need towards this ideal, hence why sequels and spin-offs are usually commercially successful.
Criticism
Post-modern/social action (interactionalist) theorists oppose the idea of ideology brainwashing the population on the basis that they feel that society is instead run on the actions of individuals; and that although the media as an institution may have the potential to promote certain beliefs, it is ultimately up to the individual as to whether they take on those communicated or not.
-HM
Althusser
Louis Althusser was a French Marxist sociologist who explored the concept of ideology. Ideology refers to the theory that social institutions (such as religion, the education system, and of course - the media) take control of people's thoughts and beliefs, thus overriding their individuality.
As the media is generally controlled by the bourgeoisie, it transmits 'ideals' which conveniently reinforce the class inequalities seen throughout society. This can be seen from media bias which can act as propaganda (Chomsky, 1992) and through class representation (below).
Representation
One of the most obvious examples of how the media can transmit 'ideals' is through the way the media represents different groups of people [LINK]. Mentioning the ideology theory and Barthe's mythologies theory will inevitably end up in a "chicken or the egg" argument - whilst Barthe says that the stereotype based representations are given to satisfy the audience's expectations, Althusser's ideology argument would suggest that those expectations only exist because the media has presented them to the audience previously.
The Marxist belief that the ruling class have control over the proletariat is heavily supported by this idea of ideology; the media presents the audience with plenty of justification as to why they should live their lives in a certain way. For example, if we go with the way that pretty much every programme ever made in the history of television has at some point had a romance based storyline, we can see that the media promotes having a partner to settle down as being an 'ideal' lifestyle. In actuality, this could be seen as taking advantage of how people are more inclined to aim for a good job if they have a partner (and eventually children) to look after, thus motivating the workforce.
Audiences & Institutions
I did previously touch on this in the previous post but it is somewhat relevant to mention again the way in which institutions make use of ideology to sell their products.
Institutions who have a product to sell need to convince the potential audience that it is worth buying - this is done through marketing. Successful marketing revolves around ensuring that as many people as possible buy the product; thus it is important to ensure that the marketing appeals to the masses.
This can be done by first spreading 'ideal' beliefs, then ensuring the product being sold meets the ideals. This is an example of institutional power; once they have created a desired ideal, they are free to market as many products as they feel the need towards this ideal, hence why sequels and spin-offs are usually commercially successful.
Criticism
Post-modern/social action (interactionalist) theorists oppose the idea of ideology brainwashing the population on the basis that they feel that society is instead run on the actions of individuals; and that although the media as an institution may have the potential to promote certain beliefs, it is ultimately up to the individual as to whether they take on those communicated or not.
-HM
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Ideology
This relates to the theory of ideology being communicated through the media. Sir mentioned a while back that it is a good idea to make the blog a bit more interesting, so I tried using one of these SlideShare embed things.
As I am particularly terrible at communicating through every medium of the "not writing" variety, I should clarify some of the points I've made here:
The ideology theory says that certain ideals are transmitted from the institution (the media product's creator) to the audience, which can influence the audience's thoughts and beliefs.
The institution can also take advantage of the audience's views of 'ideals', by creating products which appeal to those beliefs.
---
On another note, I am aware I have unacceptable lack of reference to Althusser's theories; this is because I have found little information about them that I can fully understand. As I find more relevant information I will post it.
-HM.
As I am particularly terrible at communicating through every medium of the "not writing" variety, I should clarify some of the points I've made here:
The ideology theory says that certain ideals are transmitted from the institution (the media product's creator) to the audience, which can influence the audience's thoughts and beliefs.
The institution can also take advantage of the audience's views of 'ideals', by creating products which appeal to those beliefs.
---
On another note, I am aware I have unacceptable lack of reference to Althusser's theories; this is because I have found little information about them that I can fully understand. As I find more relevant information I will post it.
-HM.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Roland Barthes: Enigma code/Mythologies Concepts
Here I will be exploring two of Roland Barthes' media concept theories - namely, the idea of the "enigma code" within presented media, and the idea of mythologies.
Enigma Code
Barthe's enigma code concept is when forms of media (such as television programs, novels etc.) presents the audience with a mystery within the story, which triggers a reaction with the audience by posing questions to them. This draws in their interest about the storyline of the particular piece of media, which makes them feel more involved with what is going on. An example of this use is in crime dramas where the idea of a crime having been committed is presented to us a long way before we know who the criminal is.
Mythologies
The mythologies media concept covers the idea that within the media things which are usually associated together are often presented this way to satisfy the viewers expectations. This tends to fit in with the idea of stereotypical media representation in the way that someone from a particular group is often shown with something their group is stereotypically associated with, such as an older teenager being shown with an alcoholic drink.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)