"Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily make sense of narratives". Explain how you used conventional and/ or experimental approaches in one of your coursework productions (25 marks)
The concept of narrative can be described as constructing a plot (story line). My production group took this into account when creating a film opening at AS level. Our film opening was called 'Impact' this was of the drama genre and about a female young teenager suffering from depression. It could be argued that media texts rely on cultural experiences for audiences to easily make sense of narratives as it is dependent what type of person you are to what narrative you understand and/ or watch.
Strauss devised a theory stating that there are binary opposites in media texts that help to convey the narrative (storyline). This can be applied to my production groups film opening 'Impact' about narratives of film openings. In relation to my film opening, there is a binary opposite between the teacher 'Mr Fussey' and 'Sophia' the student suffering from depression. This opposition of adult vs teenager implies that adults may cause mental health due to them not understanding the tough life of a teenager and being too harsh on them. This results in the audience feeling empathy for the teenager. This highlights mental health in adolescents for viewers, a real-life media text example can be seen in the film 'Girl, interrupted' which my production group researched greatly when developing ideas for our film opening. Another example of a binary opposite would be tall and small, in relation to my film opening - the teacher is tall and the student is smaller. It could be argued that this height difference could make the student 'Sophia' feel intimidated resulting in her feeling like she cant take to her teacher about her problems. This could be reflective on how students feel at school nowadays, so this can be relatable to teenagers.
A second theorist we considered when creating our film opening was Todorov, his theory was centred around equilibrium. Stating that in every film there is a equilibrium and then a disruption which causes a new equilibrium to occur at the end of the production. My production group disregarded his theory for our film opening as there is constant disruption mirroring the lives of teenagers with mental illnesses throughout of 'Sophia' having problems at school and struggling at home. The effect of constant disruption shows that life is one continuous struggle for some people - this can be relatable for some of the audience. But it does result in a new equilibrium at the end of the opening of another girl offering her help. This applies to most drama films for example it would apply to the film 'Southpaw', as well as 'Room'. It could be argued that there is continuous disruption in the film 'Room'. - Not sure how to improve this paragraph!!!
We also researched Propp and his approach to narrative. He argued that there are typical characters in a film that help to devise the narrative. These typical characters consist of a hero, villain, damsel in distress, side kick, dispatcher and many others. In my production 'Impact' we conformed to the damsel in distress character in our main character 'Sophia' the depressed teenager. 'Mr Fussey' the teacher could be seen as the villain in the film opening. We also conformed to the Hero character, however we challenged the stereotype of the hero being a male, by having a female at the end of the film opening offering help to the distressed character 'Sophia'. My production group disregarded Propp's theory as it is typical of Disney films, for example 'Sleeping Beauty', but not necessarily relevant for teen drama films that are more realistic than cartoons. It could be argued that the mean girls picking on main character Sophia in the film opening 'Impact' could symbolise the ugly sisters in Cinderella which is another animated Disney film. But my production group didn't want to create a film opening involving all the typical characters as it wouldn't be original and would be similar to many other films. Can't think of any more examples??
The final theory we researched when devising our film opening 'Impact' was Barthes this focused on the codes, action, symbols and enigma that create the narrative. Also about exploring the way that institutions embed questions into film openings and films. In relation to my film opening there are many questions raised, for example why is Sophia depressed? Why is the teacher, Mr Fussey really angry with her, Why does she not get any support from anyone until the end of the opening? These questions engage the audience to want to continue watching the film, and possible by the sequel. For example the film 'Fifty shades of grey' would have viewers questioning the relationship between the two main characters and engage them to want to know more, so when 'Fifty shades darker' came out the same audience were interested in finding out more. Drama films also raise serious issues, for example my production 'Impact' raises the issue of mental health. My production group wanted to emphasis that teenagers need more support than they get.
To conclude narrative was taken under crucial consideration when constructing my production, as it was a driving force within the film opening. The most influential theorist for my production group was Barthes, as we found it to be true in many films especially dramas that questions are raised, more than the other theorist named above. We thought that it was a more realistic theory and complex theory to follow - but complexity makes for more interesting stories.
This is a reasonable start Maisie; I know you understand the theory. Lots more variey of examples needed.
ReplyDeleteIntro - good. Clear and focussed. Perhaps explore the quote in the question?
P1 - Strauss' theory doesn't only apply to film, and isn't only about narrative. Don't be too specific. What you say is good, but you need more examples of binary opposites.
P2 - Don't repeat the theory. Again, good exemplification, but be clearer. You assume the examiner knows the film. What is the effect of the constant disruption?
P3 - Develop - WHY didn't you use Propp so much? Also, you're just using the same example over and over. Vary this.
P4 - This is your weaker paragraph - it doesn't really say anything new. If you're going to say he was your most influential theorist, then you need to explore in much more depth.