Narrative: blog tasks

 Read Media Factsheet 14 - Telling Stories: The Media's Use of Narrative and answer the following questions:

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

Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Parks and Box: 2005)

2) 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.

location (geographical marker),

 the time or era the text is set in (temporal or historical marker),

 the genre of the text (generic marker)

 information about the characters (character marker).

The opening scene to Attack on titan does a great job of using narrative markers to establish the main premsise of the show through its choice in how the markers are represented. Within the opening shot the camera follows the seagulls through the blue sky provding a temporal marker allowing viewers to pick up on the fact that this is taking place most likely during miday before being focused on them through a childs eyes which i would view as a character marker as this characters eye (who we later find out is the main character) helps emphasise hs importance within the story subtly whilst also highlighting the shock of whatever hes witnessing establishing the plot as serious in nature he knows something that we dont at this current moment. The next scene that follows is a quick second long shot of the locals also staring in the same direction as the child, speechless, this helps establish a historical marker as the clothes theyre wearing are reminiscient of the medieval era which is further exemplified by the design of the buildings behind them. As the camera follows the seagulls further a wall is put into view before swiftly revealing a large hand made entirely out of muscle without skin gripping onto the edge of it, The use of the wall and the hand as generic markers allows he viewers to belive this anime to be more of a fantasy/horror as the people inside were trying to hide from whatever remains outside the shock on their fces indicating the confusion at how this could have been made possible.As we gain a slow shot from behind the locals we are given more medieval houses in sight cementing the idea that this takes place in the medieval period

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

• Jotaro 
• Sinbad
• Simba

4) Give an example of a binary opposition.

Batman vs Joker

5) What example is provided in the Factsheet for the way narratives can emphasise dominant ideologies and values?
Superman II (1980)
6) Why do enigma and action codes (Barthes) offer gratifications for audiences?

by engaging their curiosity and desire for resolution and by providing excitement or suspense through dynamic sequences, keeping viewers invested and emotionally involved in the unfolding narrative.

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

• Episodic narrative (the series)

feature self-contained stories within each episode

• Overarching narrative (the serial)

focus on a continuous storyline across episodes

• Mixed narrative

combine episodic and overarching elements

• Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative)

interweave multiple ongoing storylines over a long period.

8) How does the Factsheet suggest adverts use narrative?  

Often adverts set up a problem (bad breath) and then immediately

offer the solution (buy their toothpaste) to create a swift resolution

(fresh breath)