Blog 2. Media Theorists and Theories.
In
this blog I will be speaking about the theories that media theorists had about
how movies are made. There five types of theories and these theories are traditional
Hollywood narrative structure, Todorov – narrative theory, Roland Barthes – enigmas,
Levi Strauss – binary opposites and Propp – character types.
Traditional Hollywood Narrative Structure
Traditional
Hollywood narrative structure is based on a three-act format.
The
first act is based on the setup of the movie and what happens is that main
characters are introduced and may hint on what may happen in the rest of the
movie. The act of the movie is about 25% of the start of the start of the movie.
The
second act is where the film starts developing. This is the development of the
movie. This is where there is a plot complication is added to the story of the
movie. It could sometimes be false resolution to the main conflict or even the
first act. This is about 50% of the movie in the center.
The
third and final act is where the film comes to a climax and is resolved. This
is the resolution act. This is what they would call a “Hollywood ending”. This
is the last 25% of the movie.
Todorov – narrative theory
Todorov
in 1969 had a theory which was that every film has 5 stages.
The
first stage is a state of equilibrium and this is where everything is normal
like everyday life.
The
second stage is a disruption of that order an event and what this is that there
is a problem and that something has happened.
The
third stage is recognition that the disorder has occurred and what this is, is
recognising that there is a problem.
The
fourth stage is an attempt repair the damage and this when the problem is
trying to be fixed.
The
fifth and final stage is a return or restoration of a new equilibrium and this
is when everything goes back to how it was but in a new way.
Roland Barthes – Enigmas
Enigmas
codes means that problems have been introduced, this is usually in the
disruption stage of the movie.
All
text are made complex and have bundles of meanings. Open text is not resolved
at the end, closed text are resolved at the end and polysomic texts have lots
of different meanings.
Levi Straws – Binary Opposites
What
Levi Straws said was that narratives can be organised through binary
oppositions. What he meant was that two things that opposed. This is often dominant
vs subordinate for example a male vs a female or hero vs a villain.
Propp – Character types
Vladimir Propp believed that character
types should be like people from traditional folk stories. In this there are 8
key character roles.
The 8 key
character roles are hero, villain, helper, donor (provider), farther,
dispatcher, princess, false hero. One character can perform more than one role.
In a movie you
don’t need all 8 characters, you could have 3 key characters like a hero,
villain and a princess that the hero saves from the villain.
Mulvey - Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze was that the Camera was representing a man looking at a woman in a sexual and erotic way. What she said was "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema".
What she said about the male gaze is that a woman is viewed as the objects of a male erotic desire for a movie audience, she said that men are more active than women and women tend to be passive. She also believed that woman never moved the plot forward, the audience is forced to identify with the male gaze. In cinema she believed that it was always male dominated. She also believed things like guns represented the male penis, this was a symbol of power.
The male gaze leads to Hegemonic ideologies within our society. What hegemonic means is ruling or dominant in political or social context.
Women as the audience are left to the gaze at other woman as in the same way a male would, and this ends up objectifying other women.
Mulvey states that the role if a woman character in a narrative has two purposes. The fist purpose is that they are seen as an erotic object for characters within the narrative to view, the second is a erotic object for the spectators within the cinema to view.
Mulvey has also discussed the term Scopophilia. What this means is "Love of Watching". When we watch a movie, we observe the activities of people on the screen who are unaware that they are being watched.
This image is Laura Mulveys summary. This is what she believe men gaze at, at a woman, this is the definition of the male gaze.
What she said about the male gaze is that a woman is viewed as the objects of a male erotic desire for a movie audience, she said that men are more active than women and women tend to be passive. She also believed that woman never moved the plot forward, the audience is forced to identify with the male gaze. In cinema she believed that it was always male dominated. She also believed things like guns represented the male penis, this was a symbol of power.
The male gaze leads to Hegemonic ideologies within our society. What hegemonic means is ruling or dominant in political or social context.
Women as the audience are left to the gaze at other woman as in the same way a male would, and this ends up objectifying other women.
Mulvey states that the role if a woman character in a narrative has two purposes. The fist purpose is that they are seen as an erotic object for characters within the narrative to view, the second is a erotic object for the spectators within the cinema to view.
Mulvey has also discussed the term Scopophilia. What this means is "Love of Watching". When we watch a movie, we observe the activities of people on the screen who are unaware that they are being watched.
