Roland Barthes 5 Codes

Roland Barthes was born in France on 12 November 1915 and died on 26 March 1980. He was a linguistic, literary theorist and philosopher. He had five codes that have been written into narrative. These are:

1. The Hermeneutic Code (HER) or 'Enigma Code'- mystery-keeps the audience guessing up until the final scene.
2. The Proairetic Code (ACT) or 'Action Code' also builds tension by indicating that something else is going to happen, this will make the audience guess what is going to happen next. The Hermeneutic Code and the Proairetic Code work together to develop the story's tension and keep the reader interested.
3. Semantic Code (SEM). This code refers to the connotation within a story that gives additional meaning to the basic meaning.
4. Symbolic Code (SYM). Similar to Semantic Code but acts at a wider level, organising semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning. This is done by the use of opposing and conflicting ideas.
5. Cultural Code (REF). Anything that is similar to us through a culture, setting or environment. This typically involves either science or religion.

Experimenting With Narrative: Crime Story

• 1-Crime Committed-Disruption in equilibrium
• 2-Crime Discovered-Disruption recognised
• 3-Crime Investigated-Attempt to restore equilibrium
• 4-Crime Solved-Attempt to restore equilibrium
• 5-Perpetrator Caught-Equilibrium restored

For this task we used acting skills and the use of different camera angles, shots and the use of props. Our plot consisted of a character purposely littering and another character trying to arrest him of this crime; which he succeeds in doing.
Our images can be seen below:

1. Crime Committed:

2.Crime Discovered:

3. Crime Investigated:

4. Crime Solved:

5. Perpetrator Caught:

In our crime story, we chose to portray the story in chronological order, the most commonly used type of modular narrative. However, we could have chose to shown our story in another way. We could have used flashbacks or flash-forwards to show an anachronic modular narrative, which is a narrative that is not shown in the correct order; for example, Pulp Fiction. We could have used the forking-path narrative modular which shows the different possible outcomes that could have happened due to a slight change within the story; for example, Groundhog Day. Also, we could have used split-screen, which would be showing two linked scenes from different perspectives.

30 Second Bunny Task

Tzvetan Todorov:


Was born in Bulgaria in 1963, however, decided to move to France in 1963. He is an author and theorist; his media theory is well received within Media studies. It is as follows:

• 1-State of equilibrium.
• 2-Disruption of equilibrium.
• 3-Disruption has been recognised.
• 4-Attempt to repair the damage caused.
• 5-Restoration of new equilibrium-'happy ending'.

Vladimir Propp:




Was born in Russia in 1895 and was a theorist who analysed the basic plot elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest narrative components. He did this by constructing a theory, which is well known in the media world. His theory stated that pretty much all stories include 7 typical characters. These are:

• 1-The Villain.
• 2-The Donor (prepares hero or gives them a magical object)
• 3-The Helper (helps hero on their quest)
• 4-The Princess (hero's love interest, usually needs saving)
• 5-The False Hero (perceived as a good character at the start, however shows true evil side at the end)
• 6-The Dispatcher (sends the hero off on their quest)
• 7- The Hero.

The 30 second bunny film I chose to watch was Star Wars. For this film both of these theories apply well. You can find this film below:

Todorov:

• State of equilibrium- In Tatooine, nothing happening.
• Disruption of equilibrium- Alderaan destroyed by the Death Star.
• Disruption has been recognised- Obi-Wan realises 'disturbance in the force'.
• Attempt to repair the damage caused- Going inside the death star.
• Restoration of new equilibrium- Destroying the death star.

Propp:

• The Villain- Darth Vader.
• The Donor- Obi-Wan.
• The Helper- Han Solo/Chewbacca.
• The Princess- Princess Leia.
• The False Hero- Darth Vader.
• The Dispatcher- Obi-Wan.
• The Hero- Luke Skywalker.

Task 5: Film Reviews

The full length feature film I have chosen to do some research on based on different reviews is: Donnie Darko.

The reviews I have chosen to feature for this film are from IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and The Guardian.

 Firstly, one of the best websites for film info, IMDB, gave Donnie Darko an averaged out score of 8.1/10 after over 400,00 people voted and is ranked #195 in IMDB's top 250 films of all time. One of the most popular reviews out of the thousands given on IMDB is that of user 'ready__break'. They gave the film an incredible review giving it 10 stars out of 10. This user gives all positives and no negatives; as they praise the film's hybrid genre, narrative, characters and its director. Labelling it a 'thought provoking masterpiece'.

The second review I have chosen is from a well established movie review website Rotten Tomatoes. They gave the film an averaged out percentage rating of 85%. One of the users spoke mainly highly about the film; giving much praise to Jake Gyllenhaal's portrayal of Donnie Darko and the twisted plot.

Across the Hall Film Review:

If you're looking for a psychological thriller that will boggle 

your mind in under 30 minutes, then Across the Hall is definitely the short film for you. Alex Merkin tells us the deranged tale of betrayal between two friends; as paranoid Terry discuses his problems over the phone with friend, Julian. However, there is an ironic twist. The lighting complements the telephone call scene as it truly portrays Terry as the dark, disturbed character he is shown as within the short. The actors do an incredible job of convincing us that we are apart of the drama as every single one of us are on the edge of our seats as we witness this dangerously intense short film. Alex Merkin does a good job of pulling off a true 'make you think' piece of film. However, as shocking and impacting the end is, I feel as if it goes too quick due to its suddenness. As it is not the clearest of endings. Nevertheless, an all round good short. I would recommend. 8/10.

Judging the Theories

Task 4: The Outsider

Across The Hall

Today, we looked at the short, Thriller, film Across The Hall. We also, looked at how the genre, Thriller is represented within film. It is shown through the building in suspense which can be visual (low-key lighting, setting etc.) or non-visual (dramatic music etc.). It is also shown through chiaroscuro (characters silhouetted), enigma (a mystery within the plot), a shark bite (the opening of the narrative) and more. We evaluated the short Across the Hall and compared the full length film poster to the short length film's. The short film's was taken from a still of the film as this would have saved money and still makes the poster effective. As the audience immediately knows that the films genre is Thriller. As one character is shown to be hiding from another, this builds suspense. The full length film's poster had higher production values and was better quality in every aspect.

Experimenting with the use of shadows

We experimented with the lighting to add effect and genre. For example, a shadow might represent the genre of horror. Below are our pictures of the shadows.