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Narrative

How does the mise-en-scene add to the narrative? Apply at least two relevant theories to your work ( Propp , Barthes , Levi-Strauss )

Vladimir Propp

- films

Heroperson on a quest

Princessprize for the hero

Helperhelps the hero on his quest

False Herosomebody who believes they are the hero

Dispatchersends the hero on their quest

Fatherrewards the hero

Villainattempts to stop the hero on his quest

Donor

provides objects to help the hero on his quest

Roland Barthes

- films

5 different codes that the narrative engages audiences:

Enigma Codeto be intrigued by the need to solve a problem

Action Codeto be excited by the need to resolve a problem

Semantic Codeto be directed towards an additional meaning

Symbolic Codeto form expectations based on pre-existing concepts

Cultural Codeto derive meaning from shared cultural knowledge

Levi-Strauss

- music videos

- films

Binary oppositions, e.g.:

Good and Bad

Rich and Poor

Eastern and Western

Love and Hate

Todorov

- music videos

- films

Five stages to any media text:

Original Equilibrium

Disruption

Recognition

Attempt to Restore Equilibrium

New Equilibrium

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Propp

In my AS film opening, Propps concept of the false hero (someone who incorrectly sees himself as

the hero) was used with the main character, a serial killer who sees no issue with the murders he

commits and thus sees his own actions as justifiable. He believes that hes doing the right thing, at

least for himself. With this theory, the victim of the main character takes on the role helper ordonor, providing the false hero with someone to kill and thus aiding him.

Barthes

The film opening also takes on several of Barthes film codes, specifically the enigma code,

semantic code, symbolic code and cultural code.

The enigma code is where the film makes the audience intrigued by the need to solve a problem,

which the opening does by hiding the identity and motivation of the killer from them - by hiding his

face for the entire video and simply showing him through blurry vision and close up shots, the

audience begins to wonder who the killer is and wants his identity to be revealed. It also helps to

create a very sinister atmosphere thanks to the contrapuntal music used and the actions he

performs.

The semantic code is where the audience is directed towards additional meaning by the imagery

used, which I think the opening did pretty well. The costume choice of the main character, bright

colour scheme and contrapuntal music combined with the close shots and sinister action references

the opening and style of the film American Psycho, where those things are used to great effect. The

contrapuntal music throughout along with the man tied to the chair also reminds the audience of

the film Pulp Fiction, which has a very famous scene where a cop is tortured whilst tied to a chair

with upbeat music playing in the background (Stuck in the Middle With You). The openings close

ups also links to the opening of the show Dexter, which uses very similar shots and atmosphere to

make the audience intrigued.

The symbolic code is where the audience expects certain things based on their past experiences

with similar texts, for example expecting films within a genre to stick to certain conventions. The

opening sticks to many of these conventions in an attempt to build the same expectations that

audiences expect from horror films, using a large number of close shots combined with the sinister

undertones of the action and the contrapuntal music, building an atmosphere that fans of the genreare used to

The cultural code is where the audience derives meaning from what they see based on shared

cultural knowledge. The opening does this by implying the death and cutting-apart of the victim

whilst never actually showing it, instead showing the things around it. For example, there are shots

of him tied up, with a bag over his head, shots of the killer picking up a knife from a selection of

them, and then a shot of an eye on the floor being picked up followed by the main character

dragging a bag out of the door it never actually shows the man being killed, but the audience

understands pretty easily that he clearly has.

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Levi-Strauss

Levi-Strausss theory is that films tend to use the idea of binary opposites to form plots and

character dynamics, which the opening does do to some extent but deviates slightly from being too

static a relationship between the two characters.

The idea behind the plot is that the main character would avoid the police, with them taking on

opposite roles than what is stereotypical of them as the film is from the protagonists perspective

the cops would take on the role of the bad guys, whilst the killer takes on the role of the hero.

However, in the opening itself its left unclear whether the victim has in some way deserved whats

happening to him, or whether the killer is satiating a thirst for blood or dealing out his own form of

justice some people though think that murder is in fact never justified, so it could be argued that

the roles of good and bad are taken by the killer and victim respectively despite ambiguity to the

backstory of the scene.

The binary opposition of rich and poor is also implied by the fairly upper class representation of

both the victim and the killer through the music used and costume choices of the two, that creates a

sort of disconnection from the audience of the film (estimated to be working class) who play the role

of the poor whilst the characters take on the role of the rich. Figuratively, at least.

Todorov

Non applicable to the opening.