Narrative Theory Narrative theory is the way a story is told in both fiction and non fiction media texts.

Freytag's Pyramid The structure of a media text can be explained through Freytag’s Pyramid, this is a diagram on the story line of most media texts, however some take a different form depending on the content and storyline Freytag states a drama has five stages (sometimes known as a dramatic arc): exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.

Freytag’s Pyramid in our production We used this theory in our production by beginning with Denouement in the first scene when “Jack” is in a settled location, then moving to Rising Action in the flashback of the chase, then the Climax of the murder, then back down to Falling Action at the bar where “Jack” and the Femme Fatale meet, then Rising Action as she drugs him and he awakens from his drug induced sleep. Our media text does not follow the typical pyramid structure but still contains the stages included in it to create the “dramatic arc”.

Propp Propp looked at folk tales and found structures they shared in common. He found 8 character roles and 31 functions that move the story along. The 8 character roles can also be types of action because they are not the sort of roles which appear in the cast list. One character in the film or play can occupy several of his character roles or types of action. They are: The villain The hero (not always “good” but always carries the story along, the central character and not always male) The donor (who provides an object with some special property) The helper (who helps the hero) The princess (the reward for the hero and object of the villain’s schemes) Her father (who rewards the hero) The dispatcher (who sends the hero on his way) The false hero Out of the 8 character roles Propp identified, our production had

Propp’s Theory in our production Out of the 8 character roles Propp identified, our production had the two “main” characters, the “hero” our main protagonist “Jack” as he carries the story along & is the central character as it is his story our text is telling, and the “villain” our Femme Fatale. The action the Femme Fatale framing “Jack” with the knife also contributes to the role of “The Donor”. The Femme Fatale could also be considered as the “False Hero”, as she is seen as innocent and loving in the Bar scene until the framing of “Jack”.

Todorov Todorov states that most narratives start with life being normal and the main characters are happy; this is an equilibrium This is then disrupted by a non-protagonist character, this must be fought against to gain the state of equilibrium back This theory can be applied to a wide range of films, usually they have a “happy ending” Equilibrium Disequilibrium New Equilibrium

Todorov’s Theory in our production Our production contrasts this theory as it begins with a sad ending, the opposite of an equilibrium. However, his theory of a non-protagonist character ruining normality is accurate for our media text as our Femme Fatale disrupts “Jack’s” normal life. As our production is only a two minute clip there is not a large amount of narrative to explain, but we know it does not have the typical “happy ending” as the outcome is shown at the beginning.

Barthes Suggests that narrative works with five codes, these “activate” the audience to make sense of it:

Barthes’ theory in our production Our production uses the “Enigma” code as the mystery of why our “victim” was killed and the identity of our Femme Fatale is still hidden. The “Cultural” code is also present in the media text we created as the audience can recognise “Jack” as being part of just an “average guy” culture, alongside the Femme Fatale as the typical “bad girl” from modern days’ society.

Levi-Strauss This social anthropologist examined how stories subconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture, and how they are normally shown in the state of binary opposites. Media theorists have adapted this to reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts

Levi-Strauss’s theory in our production Our production subconsciously reflects our beliefs of the “darker” side of life. The themes of our media text are danger and betrayal, this context could be applied to modern life as there are far too many more dangerous elements such as ‘scams’ and catfishing etc. It also portrays our beliefs on drug use, we portray it as a negative commodity by showing the effects it has upon the main protagonist “Jack”, despite our target audience showing interest towards this topic as drugs are commonly seen as a positive thing in todays’ modern society.