Theory

IN THIS POST:

• Narrative theories
• Media Language theories
• Audience theories
• Representation theories
• Industry theories

NARRATIVE

VERNALLIS 

Carol Vernallis argues that music videos are too short and elliptical for a narrative. Vernallis also argues that music videos derive from the songs they set. The music comes first - the song is produced before the video has been created and the director normally designs images with the song as a guide. She also argues that music video can't be analysed in the same way as we would other audio-visual forms; the representations we might perceive are actually more polysemic than they might be if used within TV or film, as the music is the key consideration, not the image.

5-PART NARRATIVE STRUCTURE (TODOROV) 

Todorov argues that in each narrative, there will be a 5-part structure.  The 5 parts are equilibrium, disruption, recognition, repair and a new equilibrium.  Equilibrium is when everything is balanced, calm and there is no issue.  Disruption is when something happens to disrupt the balance and chaos occurs.  Recognition is when the characters realise that there is an issue and disruption.  Repair is when the characters work towards bringing the balance back to restore the equilibrium.  The new equilibrium is when there is balance again, but it isn't the same equilibrium as before.

DISEQUILIBRIUM

The period of instability and insecurity in a narrative.

EQUILIBRIUM

A state of peace and calm, which often exists at the beginning of a narrative.

PROPPIAN ARCHETYPES 

1. The Hero - reacts to the Donor, saves the day and marries the Princess/Prize.
2. The Helper - helps the Hero in the quest.
3. The Villain (antagonist) - struggles against the Hero.
4. The False Hero - takes credit for the Hero's actions or tries to marry the Princess.
5. The Donor - prepares the Hero or gives the Hero some magical object.
6. The Dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the Hero off.
7. The Princess/Prize - the Hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the Villain.  The Hero's journey is often ended when he marries the Princess, thereby beating the Villain.

8 NARRATIVE TYPES (DOMAILLE) 

1. Achilles: The Fatal Flaw that leads to the destruction of the previously flawless, or almost flawless person (Superman).
2. Candide: The indomitable hero who cannot be put down (James Bond).
3. Cinderella: The dream comes true (Pretty Woman).
4. Circe: The chase, the spider and the fly, the innocent and the victim (Terminator).
5. Faust: Selling your soul to the devil may bring riches but eventually your soul belongs to him (Wall Street).
6. Orpheus: The loss of something personal, the gift that is taken away, the tragedy or loss or the journey which follows the loss (The Sixth Sense).
7. Romeo and Juliet: The love story (Titanic).
8. Tristan and Iseult: The love triangle, man loves woman, unfortunately one or both are already spoken for, or a third party intervenes (Bridget Jones).

BINARY OPPOSITION (LEVI STRAUSS) 

When we consider the use of stereotypes, it is often evident how a binary opposition is at play.  For example, how we describe a stereotypical poor or working class person is broadly the opposite of how we'd describe a middle or upper class person.  Scenes within dramas often reflect a use of this idea, with clashing pairs (male, female; rural, urban; rich, poor; heterosexual, homosexual; good, bad; dominant, submissive etc.) of opposites, in other works binary opposites, sparking conflict or tension.

NARRATIVE ENIGMA (BARTHES) 

The audience is intrigued by the need to solve a problem.  This frequently occurs when being introduced to the Proppian archetype of the Villain, through shots where it doesn't reveal who they are or what they look like.

5 NARRATIVE CODES (BARTHES)

Barthes identifies five different kinds of semiotic elements that are common to all texts. He gathers these signifiers into five codes: Hermeneutic, Proairetic, Semantic, Symbolic and Cultural.

• Hermeneutic
• Contains anything in the text that is mysterious or unexplained, usually leading to questions which the reader needs answered.
• Proairetic
• Contains sequential elements of action in the text. Like the Hermeneutic code, Proairetic elements add suspense to the text.
• Semantic
• Refers to elements of the text that carry referential, extra-literal meaning. Elements of the Semantic Code are called Semes.
• Symbolic
• Refers to organised systems of semes. When two connotative elements are placed in opposition or brought together by the narrator, they form an element of the Symbolic Code.
• Cultural
• Refers to anything in the text which refers to an external body of knowledge such as scientific, historical, and cultural knowledge.

MONOMYTH/HERO'S JOURNEY (CAMPBELL) 

Joseph Campbell created a more detailed character arc for the hero to go on, rather than the traditional three-act structure.

PART 1 - CALL TO ADVENTURE

1. The Ordinary World
2. The Call to Adventure
3. Refusal

PART 2 - SUPREME ORDEAL/INITIATION

      4. Mentor Helper

      5. Crossing the Threshold

      6. Test/Allies/Enemies

PART 3 - UNIFICATION/TRANSFORMATION

      7. Approach

      8. Ordeal

      9. Reward

PART 4 - ROAD BACK/HERO'S RETURN

      10. Road Back

      11. Atonement

      12. Return

FAN-FICTION (BRIGID CHERRY)

Brigid Cherry argues against the producer producing and the audiences consuming and being passive.  She believes that the audience can create their own narrative, like fan-fiction & other user generated content.  These commonly explore the queer.

MEDIA LANGUAGE

POSTMODERNISM 

Deconstructionism - use or highlight conventions in an ironic way (eg. Depeche Mode's It's No Good), intertextuality another eg. linking to simulacrum - blurring of lines

SIMULACRA (BAUDRILLARD) 

Playfulness - enhanced intertextuality - endless signifiers 

INTERTEXTUALITY (KRISTEVA) 

The meaning of one text being tied to another, earlier text.  For example, the movie, 'Scary Movie' intertextualises the movie 'Scream'. 

DECONSTRUCTIONISM 

Highlights conventions in an ironic way.  For example, It's No Good by Depeche Mode has close up shots of a woman's breast to highlight the convention of male gaze.

6 CONVENTIONS (GOODWIN) 

Goodwin argues that there are 6 defining, common characteristics of music videos which mark them out as a distinctive format.  

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradictory).  The lyrics are represented with images. 
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradictory).  The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to film, TV programmes, other music videos, etc.)

SHOT TYPES

MISE-EN-SCENE

A french term, which literally means 'put into the frame'.  When analysing a sequence the term refers to everything you see in the frame (props, costume, lighting, colour, makeup, etc.).

SEMIOTICS (POLYSEMY/ANCHORAGE) 

Semiotics are signs and symbols that give a suggestion.  They could be polysemic, meaning that they have numerous meanings, or anchoring, meaning that they confirm the meaning.

SIGNIFIER/CONNOTATION

When we pick out a detail which we think has a symbolic meaning.  For example, the colour pink signifies the female gender.

DENOTATION

Is the specific detail we pick out.

FREUDIAN PSYCHOANALYSIS (eg PHALLIC IMAGERY) 

Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior is the result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and superego.  Phallic imagery is when something is shaped in a way to represent a male's genitals.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

When a source of lighting is from equipment and can be manipulated, rather than natural lighting from the sun.

CONVENTION

A frequently used element which becomes standard.

GENRE

A system of film or music identification, in which films or music that have the same elements are grouped together.

HYBRIDITY 

Hybridity is when, for example, two genres are combined, like a Rom-Com.

ICONOGRAPHY

The objects within a text that are used to evoke particular meanings.

AUDIENCE

FOUR-QUADRANT AUDIENCE

A four-quadrant text is one which appeals to the four major demographic "quadrants" - female and male, under and over 25 year olds.

USES & GRATIFICATIONS

The Uses and Gratifications Theory suggests there are certain reasons why an audience responds to different media texts:

• Entertainment and diversion:
• Audiences consume media texts to escape from their everyday lives. They choose entertaining texts that allow them to divert their attention from the real world, perhaps by watching a fantasy film like Harry Potter or reading a fashion magazine like Vogue.
• Information and education:
• Some media texts are consumed by audiences when they want to be informed and educated. Newspapers, news programmes and current affairs documentaries educate and inform. They help the audience to find out what is happening in the world.
• Social interaction
• Some media texts like The X Factor or I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here provoke interaction with the audience. Social media can now spark an immediate reaction and get people talking while the action is still happening.
• Personal identity:
• Some audiences like to watch or read media texts because they can compare their life experiences with those represented in it. Audience pleasure comes from empathising and identifying with characters or content represented in them. Soap operas or lifestyle magazines can offer audiences this kind of enjoyment.

SUBCULTURE (HEBDIGE) 

Recognisable social groups, most often linked to musical genres (eg. punk), notably distinctive visual styles.

CULTURAL CAPITAL (BOURDIEU)

There is a type of wealth, privilege and power gained from cultural knowledge.  Knowledge and awareness on "high" culture, e.g. jazz, theatre, literature, opera, is held higher than knowledge on pop culture.  He believes there are different levels in each subculture, for example, if someone talks about reality TV in a reality TV convention, they'd have cultural capital.  

THEORY OF READINGS (HALL) 

Reception theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience.

REPRESENTATION

IDENTITIES CONSTRUCTED (GAUNTLETT) 

"Identities are not 'given' but are constructed and negotiated".  Negotiated because identities partially depend on how others react to us (and how we think others think about us).  We construct identities for ourselves through choices with hair, clothing, the media (music, TV, social media, etc.) we consume.  "Identity is complicated. Everybody thinks they've got one. Artists play with the idea of identity in modern society."

MALE GAZE (MULVEY: FEMINIST) 

Laura Mulvey is a British, feminist, film theorist.  In her 1975 essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", she created the 'Male Gaze Theory'.  Mulvey argues that 'male gaze' consists of three perspectives; the person behind the camera, the characters within the representation or film itself and the spectator.  Mulvey believes that gender power asymmetry is a controlling force in cinema and constructed for the pleasure of the male viewer, which is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideologies.  The 'male gaze theory' occurs when the camera puts the audience into the perspective of a heterosexual man.  These shots are typically close-ups on specific body parts to connote women as an erotic object.

FINAL GIRL (CAROL CLOVER) 

Clover argued Mulvey focused on "scream queens" but ignored "final girl" character who is actually the central protagonist in Slasher genre.  She, therefore ignored the scope for agency and the specific non-sexualised nature of the final girl.

BECHDEL TEST

Movies have to follow three rules to pass the Bechdel Test.  This shows how women are secondary characters in the film industry.

1. 2 Female characters
2. Both named
3. Having a conversation together about something other than men

It seems like most movies would be able to pass this test but it's extremely surprising how few movies pass.

FEMINISM 

Argues that there is an inequality in the sexes.  Feminist Sinead O'Connor tried to combat the inequality by rejecting the gender norms and male gaze.

POST-FEMINISM

Argues that feminism disregards women having agency.  For example, if a woman wants to dress in a way that could also be argued for the male gaze theory, they have the agency to do so themselves.  Sinead O'Connor sent a letter to Miley Cyrus about her Wrecking Ball music video, feeling bad for her because she was 'being manipulated by men'.  Miley Cyrus snapped back at Sinead O'Connor and explained that she created the music video in the way that she wanted and didn't listen to a man.

AGENCY 

Having power and control.

HETERONORMATIVE

Frequent exposure to heterosexuality in media, to the point where it's "normal".  For example, we see straight couples and women with long hair and men with short hair.

STEREOTYPE 

A stereotype is a fixed, over-generalised belief about a particular group or class of people. By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have.

COUNTERTYPE

A countertype is the opposite of a stereotype.  The audience would expect to see something, which may be the opposite.

INDUSTRY

WEB 2.0 (O'REILLY) 

In traditional media, media companies would produce and audiences would consume and be passive.  Web 2.0 mean that audiences would be producing and interacting as much as consuming.  The blurring of the lines.

WEB 3.0 (KEEN)

The notion that we have moved further from 2.0 [where top-down, companies to consumers model became two-way (convergence) to an era where the previous consumer essentially is the producer (eg Facebook, Twitter)].

UGC (GILLMOR, GAUNTLETT) 

Web 2.0; convergence, user generates content.

DIGITISATION 

Well-established but deepening process of shifting from analogue media forms and production equipment to digital forms (including modes of distribution).  This causes disruption.

DISRUPTION

Massive changes and challenges to the traditional ways industries functioned and generated revenues especially with the shift to online distribution.

CONVERGENCE (JENKINS)

A basic part of web 2.0 theory (there's a famous book called Convergence Culture) with a 2-fold meaning: the divide between industries is blurring (newspapers, web, radio, TV) as the same time as the gap between producers and consumer/prosumer production and editing technologies is dramatically narrowing (eg. smartphone 4k cameras, FCPX)

VERTICAL INTEGRATION 

When a conglomerate has subsidiaries operating in the same industry, in the production, distribution and exchange spheres. 

HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION 

When a conglomerate controls companies in different media industries that can work together to create synergy.  E.g. Disney have their own music label and Baby Driver has its OST.  

GLOBALISATION 

Globalisation did originally refer to the hegemony American culture has over the world, for example, seeing a McDonald's or a Starbucks on every street.  This is still very prevalent but now online services like Spotify, Instagram and Netflix are allowing non-American culture to break through globally.  An example of this is Spotify's new charts feature.  

PROPAGANDA MODEL (CHOMSKY) 

Gramsci links naturally with Noam Chomsky, whose 'propaganda model' argues that the media do not seek to accurately represent the world around us, or to fulfil the democratic function of providing information that enables us to make informed democratic choices and scrutinising the powerful - instead they exist to encourage support for the dominant elites at any given time.  He argues that any counter-hegemonic content tends to be marginalised or excluded from most media, particularly the mainstream, mass media, through five 'filters':

1. Source strategy (Who do you give prominence to?)
2. Anti-communism (Anti-left-wing)
3. Flak (consistently and routinely attack and undermine the source of hegemonic ideas)
4. Advertiser power (main model of monetisation - advertisers choose who will thrive and fail)
5. Concentration of ownership 

HEGEMONY (GRAMSCI)

Gramsci was a 1930s Italian Marxist; his analysis remains highly influential in Media academia today.  Like Marxists generally he believed there is an elite which dominates wealth and power, and exploits the 'masses' to create this wealth.  He argued that power is achieved and exercised not just through brute force (police, army, etc.) but as much through culture.  He contends that the ideas which become seen as 'common sense' tend to reflect the views and strategies of the elite, although hegemony is always unstable and open to counter-hegemonic challenge.