Todorov Narrative Theory

Todorv suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:

1. State of equilibrium at the outset.
2. Disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
3. A recognition that there has been some disruption.
4. An attempt to repair the disruption.
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many 'mainstream' film narratives. 

In these stages, narrative is not seen as a linear structure but a circular one.  However, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story is not identical to the initial equilibrium. 

The disruption itself usually takes place outside the normal social framework, outside the 'normal' social events. 

In relation to my own product 

Equilibrium- Group of friends happily getting along

Disruption- Their innocence is found to be false, as their deep secrets come back to haunt them.

Resolution- This is recognised when one of the friends within the group is kidnapped in attempt to get the others to own up about their crime.

Restored order- Friends try to find ways to save their friend without having to reveal their secrets, such as trying to work out who the kidnapper is (this is not shown within the trailer, as it is left on a cliffhanger before this point)

New equilibrium- This is also not shown, as the cliffhanger should entice the audience to watch the film. 

From leaving it on a cliffhanger, the other stages to the theory will unfold as the audience watches the full film. 

Critical Perspectives: Themes

Need to consider academic debates; media in social and cultural contexts.
Demonstrate a personal position on the issues.
Must focus on these three areas:

Synoptic Link.
A range of examples of how your AS studies offer you important 'scaffolding; for A2 will be provided. My AS production work will have included a main task and this was either produced intentionally or accidentally. This relates to Media and Collective identity.
In critically reflecting on production work and evaluating outcomes, I will discuss myself as a producer and a consumers. When we use technology to reach audiences without needing support of media industries this is called We Media.

The focus is in how people, in cultural contexts, use the media at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Media is a popular culture- the media that ordinary people access in large numbers.

Postmodern media theory 
analyse Big Brother for this theme, but also explore the extent to which reality TV a 'fetishised hyperreality' in which simulation has defeated any notion of the objective 'real'

Strinati - Postmodernism is said to describe the mergence of social order in which importance and power of the mass media and a popular culture means that they govern and shape all forms of social relationships. The idea is that popular cultural signs and media images increasingly dominate our sense of reality and the way we define ourselves and the world around us. It tries to comes to terms with, and understand a media-saturated society. 
Society has become subsumed with the mass media. It is no longer even a question of distortion, since the term implies that there is a reality, outside the surface simulation of the media, which can be distorted, and this is precisely what is at issue according to postmodern theory. 

Toby Miller- By looking at how culture is used and transformed by social groups, cultural studies sees people not simply as consumers but as potential producers of new social values and cultural languages.

Jenks describes four definition of culture:
As a state of mind (aspiration)
As a collective pursuit of civilisation (part of progress)
As artistic and intellectual activity
As a social category- the things that people do, our ways of life.

Social groups- defines a group of people through their characteristics, interest etc.

Social values- impact of technology development in society. Distinct media institutions?
We Media- citizen journalism.
Implications of Long Tail distribution.
Web 2.0.

WE, THE MEDIA - Dan Gilmor book

Mind may of how all the critical perspective themes connect

Critical Perspective: Writing about production

• Genre
• Language
• Audience- it is getting harder to in the online age to conceive of a media audience as stable, identifiable group. How do we make sense of and relate to the audience through production? During production process we have posted blog entries and used social-networking tools in order to more generally share images and gain feedback. 
• Representation
• Narrative - what is the narrative structure of an image? 

Write about cover image by using semiotics

Makes links to synoptic ares of Critical Perspective research

Make intertextual connections to justify commercial decisions. 

Describe the postmodernism used and how this would appeal to the audience. But also describe the art behind the use of this. 

Habermas - The Public Sphere Theory

In 1981 Habermas published The Theory of Communicative Action, in which he develops on the concept of an ideal speech situation and accompanying ethics of discourse. The theory of communicative action was applied by Habermas to politics and law, advocating a "deliberative democracy" in which governmental institutions and laws would be open to free reflection and discussion by the public. A key obstacle to the institution of this forum of open policy making is the legitimacy of private property, as it divides interests and makes unequal the situations of individuals. Habermas believes that within his form of democracy, men and women aware of their interest in self-governance and responsibility would seek to adhere only to the most rational argument.

This is where he came up with the Public Sphere Theory. He defines the public sphere as the sphere of private people who join together to form a 'public'. Habermas argues that the self-interpretation of the public sphere took shape in the concept of 'public opinion'. Jurgen Habermas concept of the public sphere is a realm within social life in which os accessible to all. The engagement within the public sphere according to Habermas is blind to class positions and the connections between activists in the public sphere are formed through a mutual will to take part in matters that have a general interest. The public sphere, according to Habermas, is a product of democracy. 

http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/public/summary.html

A public sphere began to emerhe in the 18th centurey through the growth of coffee houses, literart and other societies, voluntary associations and the growth of the press. The success of the public sphere depends upon: 

1. the extents of access 
2. The degree of autonomy
3. the rejection of hierarchy
4. the rule of law
5. the quality of participation. (Rutherford 18)

Public and Private:
The private and public spheres are featured as dual environments of a common lifeworld which are symbolically reproduced through everyday communication for the purposes of cultural reproduction, social integration and socialisation.

In my opinion the best way to emerge with public sphere would be social-media by using networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. With regards to my own product, as I am aware of how effective these media platforms are I will create these pages in order to reach my audience.

David Gauntlett + Reception Theory- Stuart Hall

The Reception Theory involves media producers encoding a text in a certain way in order to convey a particular message. The audience can then decode the meaning in three different ways...

1. Preferred or Dominant Reading; this consists of the audience perceiving the message that the producers wanted them to have. The audience will fully share the text's codes and accepts + reproduces the Preferred Reading, in such a way that the code will seem 'natural'. For example, look at the McDonald's advertisement to the right...the dominant reading of this would be that the 'Big Mac' is a delicious sandwich , of which the consumers will accept and would now want to go and buy the Big Mac.                                                                                                                      
2. Oppositional Reading; this is where some audience members will think the opposite of message, that the producer intended to encode them with. This is due to their social situation, which places them in a directly oppositional relation to the dominant code. Although they do understand the Preferred code, they do not share the same understanding and rejects this reading.  Referring to the advert once again, this time the audience will believe in the opposite meaning, which in this case would mean that the audience would feel that the image of the Big Mac looks greasy and unhealthy so would not go and purchase nor eat the product.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
3. Negotiated Reading; this is where the audience will accept part of the Preferred Reading, yet use their own experiences and opinions to refine their view. This position involves contradictions. The consumer would therefore resist and modify the text in a way which reflects their own position. This reading with regards to the Big Mac advertisement, would mean that yes the audience would agree with the message and would want to eat the food item, yet the consumers modifies the message in a way which relates to their own particular situation. For example, the Preferred Reading comes from the fact that the consumer does want the Big Mac but may rejects because they are on a diet and trying to be healthy. 

How does the reception theory relate to my film?

The audience of my film trailer would primarily be girls aged between 16-24, as I feel this group of the audience would be most suitable with regards to the narrative and genre of the film.

If my audience was passive, they would accept the meaning without thinking. However, I feel that my audience would be more active as they are older and intelligent, meaning that the message they receive through the film is likely to be negotiated, as they are older and more understanding. The message I feel which would be portrayed through my trailer is most likely to be that young girls are vulnerable/you should not tell lies or keep secrets as the consequences will show in the end. The reason I feel it would be negotiated is because my audience can base their own experiences of similar situations which will be likely to determine their viewpoint.

I also believe my secondary audience will use the same type of reading.

David Gauntlett- Making is Connecting.

In 2008, Gauntlett proposed the idea of 'Making is Connecting' which is an attempt to rethink audience studies in the context of media users as producers as well as consumers of media material. It argues that there is a change from the previous 'sit back and be told' culture, where the production of culture was dominated by professional elite producers, to a 'making and doing' culture, where consumers are able to make and share their own ideas, videos and other creative material online. 

It is thought that the 'making and doing' culture, is where people are able to engage with the World and create connections with each other. Both online and offline, people want to make their mark and make connections. People are rejecting traditional teaching and television, and making their own learning and entertainment instead.

For example, take the film 'Life In A Day', this is a film which has been created by members of the audience, all of whom are filming a day in their life (24th July 2010), of which contributed to the narrative of the film.
The media producer received 4,500 hours of video from 192 different countries.
This is an example of how consumers have become producers of media.
Click here to view the trailer.

How does this theory relate to my film?
As the consumers of my film could also potentially be producers, I may consider introducing a feature where my consumers can get involved. This could involve using social networking sites whereby they could post videos/short clips of their ideas or remakes of similar situation.
Furthermore, the consumers could produce different types of media platforms which was act towards promoting my product, introducing the brand to further members of the audience.

Audience Theory

Hypodermic Syringe Theory.

This audience theory is dated from the 1920s, it suggests that the media 'inject' meaning into the audience. It is under assumption that the audience is passive and that the experience, intelligence and opinions of each individual is not relevant.

An example of this would be the Jamie Bulger case.
Jamie Bulger was a two-year old toddler who was abducted and murdered by two 10 year old boys.
The boys had apparently watched 'Childs Play 3' before they killed the toddler. As Bulger's death was very similar to a death in the film, newspapers such as 'The Sun' grabbed on to the story to speculate the debate as to whether such violence in media should be accepted.

The Bobo doll experiment. 
Albert Bandura conducted a film where a young girl was acting violently towards the doll, after showing this film to groups of small children he began to see a change in their behaviour. The children were given a replica of the Bobo doll and acted in exactly the same way as what the young girl in the film did. Bandura concluded that violent media content could lead to imitation or copycat violence.

With regards to my own film trailer, as the content is action thriller it is likely that there would be some violence, however firstly the audience of my film would not be young children so therefore these circumstances are unlikely to happen, as my audience will be intelligent so therefore will understand that it is just for entertainment. Secondly, the theory has become a little outdated, and only causes moral panic when the tabloid press elaborate on certain cases.

Two Step Flow- Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet.
This is another audience theory, however is seen as more sophisticated than the one previously mentioned. The theory works like this..

1. The media message is transmitted to the audience via a small group of 'opinion leaders'. These opinion leaders will have an influence over the general audience. 
2. The general audience will receive the media message, filtered the thoughts and opinions of the opinion leaders. 

An example of this theory would be social networking sites such as Twitter, if an idol or celebrity 'tweets' their opinion on a certain subject, the followers of that person will see the tweet and are likely to agree with the comment (especially if they are a fan of that person). 

This could relate to my own product, as if I created a Twitter/Facebook page for my trailer, in order to promote and advertise, then when I write a status or tweet, the people which follow are likely to have an influence on their own opinion because what I have said. 

Uses and Gratifications.

This theory states the the audience choose their media text to fulfil the different needs that they have. Blumler and Katz (1974) suggested the following reasons to choose a text: 

• Diversion- escape from everyday problems and routine.
• Personal Relationships- using the media for emotion and interaction.
• Personal Identity- finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts.
• Surveillance- information which could be useful for living.

In 1948 Lasswell expanded their theory and suggested that Surveillance, Correlation, Entertainment and Cultural Transmission are the functions for the audience. Since then the list of uses and Gratifications has been extended, particularly as new form of media have developed eg. video games, Internet. 

The introduction of the Internet and social media has provided another platform for the audience to seek the gratification theory. However the technological advancement of the Internet has meant that it is now a digital library full of different media resources. 

Social networking sites can also relate to this theory, therefore the audience can seek their gratification through the same process that I stated before. 

The possible gratification which can be received throughthe use of a Facebook page could be Socialising, Entertainment,  Self-seeking and information. 

Furthermore, another form of media which can be linked to my own product could be a advert in a film magazine such as TotalFilm. 

The ways in which my audience could be applied to this theory could be firstly, diversion; magazines is a way for the audience to relax and divert themselves from their everyday routines, they will feed the information they see about my film. Personal relationships; reading yhe magazing will allow the audience to identify new films for release, which can allow them to keep up to date with the film industry, which they can then interact the information with peers. Personal indentity, magazines allow areas for the audience to comment in to gain feedback, this allows readers to get involved. Lastly, Surveillance it allows readers to engross themselves with the film industry and learn about my film!