-The term narrative is the process of a story which is a spoken or written account of connected events and Tordorv believed that all types of media text contain some sort of story.
-Narrative has two parts to them:
- Structure
- Elements
-The theory states there are five stages to every film:
- A state of equilibrium
- Disruption of that order by an event
- Recognition that the disorder has occurred
- Attempt to repair the damage done
- A return or restoration of new equilibrium
Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory (1975)
-This concept deals with how the audience may view the people/characters presented.
-Feminist views:
- How men look at women
- How women look at themselves
- How women look at other women
-The camera often lingers on the curves of a female and the events which may occur to women are largely presented in the context of a man's reaction the events at hand
-Relegates women to the 'status of objects' meaning the female audience must experience the narrative secondarily
-This theory discusses how media often sexualises females in a way which is unnecessary to the situation/topic at hand or even to sell the product within some advertisements, for example some perfume adverts show women in a sexualised manner so it will attract male audiences so they will purchase the perfume for their partners or even to attract the women audience, therefore, they may begin to idolise these people within the advertisement and imitate some of their behaviour
-This theory may be criticised as it can be said that some women enjoy being 'looked' at, this may be applied to the idea of a beauty pageant and that the gaze may directed towards the same gender for reasons which may not be sexual at all but purely for body image or the opposing persons clothing however it can also be argued that most women have ever or are in beauty pageants, therefore, this is more generalised statement.
-Categorising facial expressions:
Women (Marjorie Ferguson, 1980)
- Chocolate box
- Invitational
- Super-smiler
- Romantic or sexual
- Carefree
- Practical
- Seductive
- Comic
- Catalogue
-In class we watched the music video to 'Scouting For Girls - She's So Lovely' everyone watched the video thinking it was just because the main idea is that the leader singer of the band is trying to get the girl within the video, at the end of the video our teacher posed us some questions, such as 'What colour top was he and she wearing?', 'What colour shoes did he and she wear?' etc. many members of the class, including myself, struggled with some of the answers to the lead singers questions, this links in with Mulvey's study as I watched more closely to the women as it was his point of view of the girl and the audience feels the lust in which he also does. Also the girl within the music video appears to be shown in quite a sexualised manner and with the setting being in a bowling alley is it incredibly unnecessary for a women to be shown in a sexualised way and also appears to be wearing red which in general is quite a lustful colour and other bright colours which draws attention to her.
Stuart Hall's Reception Theory (1980)
-Hall's theory states that when creating media texts producers encode the texts with values and messages, these may not necessarily be decoded by the audience correctly, meaning they may in fact gain different opinions of the message in which the producer is trying to convey.
-Hall identified three types of audiences readings of the text:
- Dominant - how the producer wishes the audience to the view the media
- Negotiated - a compromise of dominant and oppositional readings, meaning the audience only accept part of the producers views but have their own views on other parts.
- Oppositional - where the audience rejects the producers readings and create their own
Dominant view
Audience gains clear understanding to the video; deals with some themes in which are relevant to the audience, therefore, it could entice and interest the audience; narrative may be easy for them to follow; relevant to modern society, therefore, the issues may be current or recent in actual society meaning they could understand it a lot easier
Oppositional view
The video contains controversial themes so they may have the complete different view to the producers intention; audience member may dislike the specific genre; complex narrative structure meaning it may be hard for them to understand all areas of the film, therefore, it could skip a key idea in which could effect the overall message the producers has tried to convey; video doesn't deal with modern society, therefore, they may not be aware of this issue and its impact
Negotiated view
Combination of both of the above meaning that they may understand some of the messages as they're of the same age and gender as you but the narrative is very complex for them to understand but they still get one of the main themes and views
Todorov’s narrative
ReplyDeleteWWW: You have written up your notes from lesson.
EBI: You had applied the various stages to a film of your choice. This would show a closer understanding of this theory.
SBT
Male Gaze:
ReplyDeleteWWW: You have clearly thought out your response to the homework task with a focus on the Souting for Girls video.
EBI: You had explained why male and female expressions are shown so differently, linking this to the Male Gaze theory.
SBT
Reception Theory
ReplyDeleteWWW: Clear interpretation of reception theory.
EBI: You had explained the different factors which could be attributed to the way a member of the audience decodes a text. Use an example that you know of- have you ever watched a film with an older/younger member of your family and taken a different meaning from it? Why do you think this is?
SBT