The various Narrative theories

One of the first things we did during early group discussion was to look at the different narrative theories around and which would suit our proposed video idea;

Propp

A theory developed by Propp after analyzing folk tales.  The theory is that there are stock characters which re-appear in every story-line.

These roles include;

• Hero - Person on the quest 
• Princess - Prize for the hero
• Helper - Helps the hero on his quest
• False hero - Somebody who believes they are the hero
• Dispatcher - Sends the hero on their quest
• Father - Rewards the hero
• Villain - Attempts to stop the hero on his quest
• Donor - Provides objects to help the hero on his quest

This theory of Propp's is not compatible with advanced ideas for our video.  Although the original idea featured Hero and Princess figures, we decided to go against this idea and just feature one character/actor throughout the entire video. His role is not clear - It is almost clouded - hence, disposing of the 'quest' idea.  For all the audience know, the character in our video could be a villain - his past is unknown. Also, the action is not resolved like in fairy-tales, it is on going. In fact, who's to say that the action ever really happened at all?

Levi-Strauss 

This theory dictated that there are binary opposites in every media text, or a conflict between two opposites.  The audience are therefore aware of who they should side with; this technique can create a political theme within a text.  For example:

• Good & Bad 
• Rich & Poor
• Eastern & Western World 
• Love & Hate

The only binary opposite featured in our video is Light & Dark, represented through costuming, scenery/environment, the music & lyrics and general character mood.  This is as far as our video relates to the Levi-Strauss theory however, as only one character is featured in the video but an we present the idea that routinic society can drain the creativity and life out of people.

Barthes 

A french semiologist who identified 5 different codes by which a narrative engages the attention of the audience.  In order of importance, these are;

• The enigma code - The audience is intrigued by the need to solve a problem
• The action code - The audience is excited by the need to solve a problem
• The semantic code - The audience is directed to an additional meaning by way of connotation
• The symbolic code - The audience assumes that character dressed in black is evil or menacing and from their behavior, forms certain expectations.
• The cultural code - The audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultural knowledge about the way the world works

Barthes theory is one that could easily applied to our music video idea.  There is no clear problem presented in our video, but the audience will certainly be intruiged (The enigma code) by the need to find out what is troubling the male character.  Additional meaning will be gained (The semantic code) by the lyrics, which - when adding the acting and music into the mix - will give the audience an insight to the characters problem. The costume also plays a role - a black hoody worn by the character doesn't neccessarily mean that he is a bad person, although for all we know he could be, it gives the audience the impression of negativity and darkness looming in the mind of that character: adding an air of mystery.