Media Theorists and theories.

1.Barthes-enigma Codes.
Enigma=Mystery.
Roland Barthes: all texts are complex bundles of meaning.
Enigma Codes (problem introduced)-usually in 'disruption' stage.
Open texts-Not resolved at the end.
Closed texts-resolved at the end.
Polysemic Texts-lots of different meanings.

2.levi Strauss-Binary opposites.
Levi Strauss said that Narratives can be organised through binary opposition - two things opposed  - often dominant vs subordinate - e.g: male/female, hero/villain.

3.Traditional Hollywood Narrative Structure-3 acts (linear)
Three act structure- the typical Hollywood narrative = set up (25%)/ confrontation (50%)/ climax (final 25% of film time).
Linear (chronological), few, if any, sub-plots, tendency towards closure at the end of the film.

4.Todorov-narrative theory-5 stages.
In 1969 Todorov produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film.
Todorov believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern through various different stages.
Todorov's five stages:
1-A state of Equilibrium(all is as it should be).
2-A disruption of that order by an event.
3-A recognition that the disorder has occurred.
4-An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5-A return, or restoration, of a new Equilibrium.


5.Propp-Character types.
Vladimir propp analysed traditional folk stories and discovered that there are eight main character types: Hero/Villain/Helper/Donor(Provider)/Father/Dispatcher/Princess/False Hero. One character can perform more than one role.

6.Laura Mulvey-visual pleasure and narrative cinema.
Theory of the male gaze=
Women are viewed as objects of male erotic desire-in film and audience.
Men active/Women passive.
Women do not have agency-they do not move the plot forward.
the audience is forced to identify with the male gaze.
Cinema reflects patriarchal (male dominated) society.
Patriarchy and phallocentrism linked-phallus(penis) a symbol of power e.g. in cinema guns=phallus=power.