Narrative theory

Walter Fisher introduced the concept on Narrative theory in 1960 and it explored how humans communicate and then receive.

He believed that everything could be divided into two universal paradigms, which are particular arrangments of related elements. The first categorization was:

Rational World Paradigm:

• People are rational
• People make decisions based on arguments
• Rationality is determined by how much we know and how well we argue
• The world is a set of puzzles that we can solve through rational analysis

The second paradigm was:

Narrative Paradigm

• People are essentially storytellers
• Stories are found on history, biography, culture and character
• Narrative rationality is determined by the coherence and fidelity of our stories

This model of human communication within which human beings as individuals take complex information and establish it into a form of narrative categorizes humans as what Fisher believes to be "Storytelling animals" exchanging messages with each other which are then judged and exchanged by others depending on their values and beliefs.

This is a very complex way to look at narrative theory and Fishers theory goes into extreme depth which I believed to be less important for a short film because very complex narrative structure cannot be established within the five minutes that our film lasts. I also thought that a more classical narrative system did not apply to our film due to the fact that our structure is not in chronological order which means it doesn't fit in with the conventions of a, equilibrium, disequilibrium and a resolution/equilibrium narrative structure which was introduced by Tzvetan Torodov which suggests that the story starts with a status quo and then there is an event that disrupts order, and then moral order is restored.

Certain Narrative theorists have argued that all stories fit into at least one of the following story types. Most movies use a combination of these plots:

Achilles: The fatal flaw that leads to the destruction of the previously flawless individual heroine. This plot line is also the basis of most whodunit flicks with the fatal flaw belonging to a criminal, not the cop.

Candide: The indomitable hero who cannot be put down, this narrative structure is often found in franchise flicks.

Cinderella: The dream-come-true scenario where virtue is rewarded in the end. some examples of these could be shrek, my big fat greek wedding.

Faust: The selling-your-soul-to-the-devil motif where fate eventually catches up with you.

Orpheus: The gift that is taken away - this could take the form of the tragedy of the loss, or journey that follows the loss.

Romeo and Juliet: Self-explanatory. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy finds girl again, or doesn't.

Circe: The spider and the fly, the innocent and the victim.

Tristan: Triangles - Man loves women but third party intervenes.

In my opinion our film fits into three of these story types: Faust, he takes on other people pain but this eventually become his own downfall. Orpheus, we follow his journey of selflessness which results in the tragedy of the loss of himself. Circe, he is both the innocent and the victim as his selflessness makes him the victim of others pain.

Our narrative is very post-modern with the story originating from a video game, it not being in chronological order and it leaves lots to the imagination of the consumers making the connections right or wrong. Lots of shots are used that are inspired from many different films and some of our visual effects are also inspired by certain directors such as david lynch and shane Meadows. But overall we are creating this film in the way that we want to make it using our own creative talents.

To view a very detailed presentation on many different Narrative theorists follow the link below:

Narrative theories

Representation theory, analyzed by Blaine Kenneally

Representation can dramatically affect a person's interpretation of a film, the filmmaker is in control of the representation of the characters by choosing: what they wear, their personality, their hobbies, their lifestyle and the events that they participate in within the film. All these aspects contribute to the audiences interpretation of these characters and how they are judged by the viewer. The producer does not have full control over the viewers judgement because their cultural background will have an effect upon their overall judgement. This however does not effect the implied representation of certain characters that the producers portrays, for example women as inferior to men as this will not be welcomed by the viewers as it is insulting but in some circumstances is necessary within the narrative. ill either fall in love with or feel indebted to the male hero; in fact, she is somewhat repulsed by his actions.

To view my co-directors detailed post on representation with reference to a critical theorist Laura Mulveyn, who we can learn from and then apply our own knowledge and hers to our short film to make sure that characters are represented the way that we want them to be and nothing else.

Follow the link below:

http://blainekenneallya2media.blogspot.com/2010/12/representation-laura-mulvey-vs-us.html

Target audience for our short film poster

CAP- Committee of advertising practice helps to regulate advertising codes which are set to protect consumers against advertisers that do not comply with the rules. This is the overall message that can see above their mission statment.

"The Advertising Codes contain wide-ranging rules designed to ensure that advertising does not mislead, harm or offend. Ads must also be socially responsible and prepared in line with the principles of fair competition. These broad principles apply regardless of the product being advertised.

In addition, the Codes contain specific rules for certain products and marketing techniques. These include rules for alcoholic drinks, health and beauty claims, children, medicines, financial products, environmental claims, gambling, direct marketing and prize promotions. These rules add an extra layer of consumer protection on top of consumer protection law and aim to ensure that UK advertising is responsible.

The ASA administers the rules in the spirit as well as the letter, making it almost impossible for advertisers to find loopholes or ‘get off on a technicality’. This common sense approach takes into account the nature of the product being advertised, the media used, and the audience being targeted."

For our poster advertisment we will have to abide by these rules and regulations that are set by the comittee of advertising practice. I have thouraghly read through the codes on their website and here are some examples of the general sections. Each one has its principle outlined a definition of its meaning and the rules that are set under the specific heading.
There are also specific category sections that also have many rules within them, many sections relate to other sections and have links to other regulatory websites with their rules which you also have to abide by like the National lottery if you are advertising gambling.

When creating our poster we will have to make sure that we do not break any codes set by the comittee of advertising practice because consumer legislation has to be thought of and kept to a high priority. The content within the poster will have to mimic the target audience that we are advertising towards, but must not offend potential consumers of the advertisment.

For detailed information of on the codes set by CAP follow the link below to their website were downlodable version of the regulations are avalible:
http://www.cap.org.uk/

Now that we have the codes and conducts to follow, we can start to focus on the content of our poster and who the poster will be predominantly aimed at.Blaine has already constructed a post about semiotics within taditional film posters
and he is going to construct a post on the visual content that we want to include as well as some example texts that we may want our film title to be as well as some different texts for some credits. Above is a picture of the Psychologist Abraham Maslow's 'heirachy of needs' this motivationall theory wich was included within his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” the theory is based upon the basic human needs that then build up to more complex needs such as self actulisation this motivational theory structure is used within many business corporations. However John Antonios has applied this theory to social media and the way that audiences have responded it is Similar to Maslow’s pyramid, in the social media counterpart we have to complete our “basic needs” before moving up to our “social needs” ultimately reaching our social optimization. This can conseqently help us to distribute our poster on various social networking sites and this use of Wee media proves how the heirachy of needs works.

Abraham Maslow also constructed a theory of 'how advertisements use human needs' This theory looks at where companies place their television and print adverts to make the maximum impact upon their audience and how adverts work to attract the audience to the product. The theory is based on typical human behavior that focuses on satisfying Certain basic types of needs.
The advertisements may address the consumer directly: for example 'Do you like watching great films, well watch this one' or you can advertise in-directly to your consumers for example making a situation in your advert that people can see themselves in or by creating an ambiguous and intriguing poster which will respond to their need for fulfilment, and consequently will make them want to find out more about the poster and overall the film it is advertising. This then links to the 'reception theory'/active consumer under the effects model.


Below are the nine most common basic human needs that occur most frequently within advertising.

Need to survive- Used by advetisments for food, drink, housing etc.


Need to feel safe- Advertisments for insurance, loans and banks promise security and freeedom from threats.


Need for affiliation or friendship- Adverts that focus on lifestyle choices like diet and fashion use people's desire to be popular. They may also threaten them with failure to be liked or fit in.


Need to nurture or care for something- Advertising which shows cute animal and small children brings this out in the viewer.


Need to achieve- Advertisments that are linked with winning, often promoted by sports personalities, tap into the need to succed at difficult tasks.


Need for attention- Advertisments for beauty products often play the need to be noticed and admired.


Need for prominence- Advertisements for expensive furniture and diamonds may use people's need to be respected and to have high social status.


Need to dominate- Advertisments for products like fast cars offer the possibility of being in control through the product.


Need to find meaning in life- Advertisments for travel or music may appeal to people's need for fulfilment.


When constructing our poster we will need to take into account both the demographics' of potential consumers as well as the psycho graphics. These two prominent categorization methods will be vital in making sure that our poster reaches the largest possible range of potential consumers, in order to make them aware of our film. Maslow's theory of targeting basic human needs will also come into consideration when drawing up some plans for potential posters and getting feedback for them.

Analysing and choosing a target audience for our short film

First of all what is a target audience? My understanding of a target audience is that it is a specific group of people that have been identified as an intended consumer of your product, advertisement or message.

There are many different ways that people within society are stereotypically categorized. The grouping of these people is a tool used by many corporations to gather basic information about this 'group' of people and the best way to make them aware of your product.
I am studying business studies so I would like to think that I am educated within this area.
There are two prominent ways to categorize your target audience. One is called, demographic; this describes the person's sex, age, family size, education, income, and social class. The audience's demographic can be learned through a populous or another survey.

The next category is the psycho graphics of a potential audience. This information is based upon lifestyle and/or personality. This may be more difficult to then deconstruct because the information is not black and white but this information is easier gauged in analysis of activities, interests and opinions.

After you retrieve the information needed regarding your audience, you will have a better idea who will want your product but equally important, who can afford it.
This then makes it easier to advertise your product or create a product that a specific target audience want due to a niche in the market. If you know your audience then it is easier to create your marketing strategy or product to cater for their direct needs.

We had to do extensive research into target audience for our 'film noir' production that we created last year. For our Short film we need more up to date analysis of peoples personal preferences as a target audience theory so we have looked at some updated theories that we will be using to categorise our target audience. The quantitative or demographic method will still be used as the acorn system is still a very effective way to group people based upon their income.

To view my A.s blog post for the Qualitative method of grouping a target follow the link bellow:

http://tompalmerasmedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/target-audience-qualitative-measurment.html

To view my A.s blog post for a Quantitative method follow the link bellow:

http://tompalmerasmedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/target-audience-acorn-system-research.html

Media analysts have developed several effects models which can be seen as 'theoretical explanations of how humans ingest the information transmitted by media texts and how this might influence (or not) their behaviour.'

Effects models are still not a 'sure thing' because indisputable evidence that audiences will always react to media texts in the same way has not been found but the effects models are a new detailed categorization method that myself and Blaine can use to establish our type of potential consumer and the relationship between audience and text.

-The hypodermic needle model:
The intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.
-Two-step flow:
The people with most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model.
-Uses and gratification:
People are not helpless victims of mass media, but use the media to get specific gratifications.
-Reception theory:
The meaning of a “text” is not inherent within the text itself, but the audience must elicit meaning based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.
-Obstinate audience theory:
This theory assumes that there is a transactional communication between the audience and the media. The audience actively selects what messages to pay attention to. The Zimmerman-Bauer study found that the audience also participate in the communication by influencing the message.

Both of these theories help myself and Blaine to then come to a conclusion about our type of target audience. The acorn system helping use work on the demographics and the effects model giving us an idea of our audiences psychological needs. We can then use this information to develop our understanding about our target audience and what they expect to see within a film and what would blow them away.

Blaine has found a great way we can acquire this information via
primary research, Google provides online questionnaire software called 'Google forms' which you can use to create,view and analyse your questionnaires for some more information on Google forms follow the link bellow:

http://ncmstech.pbworks.com/w/page/30753446/GForms

We can both now acquire relevant information that can be used to establish our target audience which is the next step to creating our short film.

Cinematography within our film presented by Blaine Kenneally

Cinematography is the art of making sure lighting and camera angles, shots and movement all portray the same feeling within the audience that the director wants and when recording photographic images for the cinema perfect continuty is present.
My self and Blaine want to have a minimalistic style of cinematography within our short film this is because we want our audience to feel that they are watching a real story and inorder to create this feeling or to at least help emphasise it we will use simple camera shots, movement to creat the realsim within tghe audience that we want.
For more information on the cinematography within our film and some inspirational film directors with their own distinct cinematic style follow the link below:

http://blainekenneallya2media.blogspot.com/2010/11/cinematography-look-of-our-film.html

"poster for a short film: Semiotics" - Blaine Kenneally

The preparatory research for both of our ancillary products is under way, I have done some research into three different film magazines that we could aim our film review to be a feature in. All three film magazines have different tones to their reviews so I will be analysing them in a future post to then decide the writing style of our review. follow the link here to view this post: Film review analysis

Blaine Kenneally has done some great intial research into film poster's as this is the other ancillary product that we chose to create. To view his post follow the link below:
http://blainekenneallya2media.blogspot.com/2010/11/poster-for-short-film-semiotics.html
After reading his post, we talked together and came up with a couple of initial ideas for a poster but we need to do more research into the target audience of our short film first because then we can carry out some primary research but at the correct target audience. We could construct a questionnaire or carry out some face to face interviews asking the potential consumers some questions and oppinions on some existing posters to find out what they would expect to see on a poster aswell as what they would find interesting and eye catching.

Genre theory or Auter theory? That is the question

'Genres create order to simplify the mass of available information. Creating categories promotes organisation instead of chaos'

The quote above is written by Daniel Chandler-British visual semiotician based (since 2001) at the department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University.
I have chosen this Semiotician because I believe that his definition is the closest to defining genre.

Genres are broad enough to accommodate basically any film ever made, although film categories can never be precise. By categorizing various elements within a film into genres, it is possible to easily evaluate a film within its specific genre. As well as this, it also allows for meaningful comparisons on overall ratings from consumers and film journalists around the world. A film doesn't have to pick a genre and then stick to this category though. Overlapping genres or creating sub-genres within a category, is a major part of creating an epic film. These types of films could then be categorized as a hybrid or cross bread film, but this is done so much within the film industry it is seen as the norm and no categorization takes place.

The Auteur theory can be contrasted to the genre theory, in which films are rated on the basis of the expression of one person, their own creativity becomes individual to them. This is usually applied to the director for their unique style, vision or signature narrative structures, witty dialogue, camera angles, transitions anything which dictates their personal, look, and feel to the film and therefore become distinctive to them. Certain directors are known for certain types of films, for example, Woody Allen and comedy, Alfred Hitchcock for suspense and thrillers, as well as quentin tarantino for graphic thrillers and artistic dialogue.

Some of my favorite films nearly all fall into the same genre but have some different sub genres:
-Dead Man's Shoes/psychological thriller
-Phone Booth/ psychological thriller
-Memento/psychological thriller
-Lucky Number Slevin/Crime thriller
-Donnie Darko/psychological thriller-fantasy
-Inception/Science fiction thriller

The correlation between them all is that they all fall into the thriller category. This is my favorite genre of film as well as Blaine's and this is why we want to make a thriller. But we would also like to incorporate sub genres making our short film a psychological thriller, which matches many of my favorite films above.

Both myself and Blaine will categorize our film as a 'psychological thriller' and this will provide some basic conventions that make up the thriller genre but we are both very imaginative,intellectual and artistic young directors, so having total creative freedom and control over our film is vital in making our film to an industry standard as well as consequently giving us the chance to express our artistic visions and possibly make consumers think about the message within the narrative. Which would give me great pleasure in achieving.

If you want to read more into the historical context of Genre theory as well as many different philosophers views on genre and auteur theory then take a look at my co-directors blog and his post:
Genre Theory Vs. Auteur Theory