MIGRAIN: Narrative


Media Factsheet 14 - Telling Stories: The Media's Use of Narrative

1) Give an example from film or television that uses Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. 

The equilibrium is he gives permission for his daughter to travel to Paris with her best friend, after refusing her request. The disequilibrium is his the two girls are kidnapped. The new equilibrium  is when the father goes on a mission to find his daughter and her friend, and brings them back home safe and sound.


2) Complete the activity on page 1 of the Factsheet: find a clip on YouTube of the opening of a new TV drama series (season 1, episode 1). Embed the clip in your blog and write an analysis of the narrative markers that help establish setting, character and plot.






As you can see in the clip, the TV programme is set in a jail, where there are 5 main characters (Michael, Lincoln, Sara, Sucre and Brad). The main plot of the series is Michael tattoos his body with the blue print of the jail that his brother was admitted to after being wrongly convicted of a crime. Michael gets himself arrested and admitted to the same jail, where the blue prints will help him to break himself and his brother out of prison. He seeks the help of other inmates along the way, whereby they are also promised freedom. 

3) Provide three different examples from film or television of characters that fit Propp's hero character role.
Spider-Man, Batman, Captain America.

 4) Give an example of a binary opposition.
Wonder Woman.

 6) Why do enigma and action codes (Barthes) offer gratifications for audiences?
Enigma codes invite the audience to ask questions and think about the narrative - which engages the audience and makes the text appeal to them more. This is because the audience would be intrigued to know how any dilemmas/ complications will be resolved. Action codes can create different emotions within the audience, depending on the type of text and its genre. For example, a gun being picked up in an action narrative may indicate that a scene of violence/ conflict is about to follow. In a horror narrative, lights flickering may signify the presence of a ghost.


 7) Write a one-sentence summary of the four different types of TV narrative:
  • Episodic narrative (the series) - fiction texts that have a different narrative for each episode: the narrative arc is resolved at the end of each episode.
  • Overarching narrative (the serial) - Individual episodes do not have a resolution as this usually comes at the end of the series; utilises 'cliff hangers'.
  • Mixed narrative - A combination of episodic and overarching narratives; dilemmas can be resolved each episode but longer arcs take longer (more episodes) to conclude.
  • Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative) - A continuous narrative that tells many stories at a time and focuses on different characters.


8) How does the Factsheet suggest adverts use narrative?  
In advertising the idea of the problem and resolution is crucial. Often adverts set up a problem (bad breath) and then immediately offer the solution (buy their toothpaste) to create a swift resolution (fresh breath).

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