Labov's narrative

Reception Theory

Reception Theory

Stuart Hall

• Reception theory provides a means of understanding media texts by understanding how these texts are read by audiences.
• Reception theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer- they are  loaded with values and messages.
• However, the text is then decoded by spectators. However, different spectators will decode the text in different ways, perhaps not in the way the producer intended.
• According to Hall, audience members adopt one of the following three positions when they decode the text:

•Dominant, or Preferred, Reading - how the producer wants the audience to view the media text;

•Oppositional Reading - when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text;

•Negotiated Reading - a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer's views, but has their own views on parts as well. 

David Buckingham

•          genres are constantly in flux and can change
•          whilst "the good,the bad and the ugly" will always be a western,it is now a clint Eastwood film"
•          this is also dependent on who is deciding on the genre-the studio? the audience? the promoter/distributor? a uk audience or a french audience? young/old?

how do these two theories relate?

•          By having ideas repeated (neale) or identifiable conventions (chandler) producers can encourage audiences to 'understand' their products as they are intended. 

Types of blogging

Vladimir Propp’s functions of narrative

Propp’s functions of narrative

Russian Vladimir Propp analysed many of his country's folk tales and identified common themes within them. He broke down the stories into chunks and looked closely at them; he managed to identify 31 narratives that form the structure of many of the stories. He broke the stories down into four different spheres.

Can be Simplified down to 6 main functions:

·         Preparation - the scene is set

·         Complication - a problem occurs, some evil takes place

·         Transference - the hero receives help and leaves on a quest

·         Struggle - the hero is given tests or there is a fight or pursuit

·         Return - the hero attains his objective and fulfills the quest or carries out the rescue

·         Recognition - the villain is punished and the hero receives his reward.

Propp's character persona theory

      1. Hero (also the Seeker or Victim)  for example superman
2. villain- for example Dr octopus from Spiderman
3. Donor (from whom the hero gets some magical object) Lucius fox from batman
4. Magical Helper (the character that helps the hero in the quest) robin from batman
5. Dispatcher (the character that makes the lack known) nick fury from avengers
6. False Hero (the character who takes credit for hero's actions) Cinderella's stepsisters
7. Prince/princess (person the hero marries) Gwen Stacey the amazing Spiderman
8. Victim (person harmed by the villain if not the hero) Gwen Stacey
Applying to Batman:
Batman: - Hero
Alfred: - Helper
Rachel: -Princess
henri: - False Hero/Dispacher
Lucius:- The Donor
The scare crow:- The Villian

Applying Propp's character persona theory to my coursework:

Film Franchises

Film Franchises

• A media franchise is a collection of media for which components exist in multiple forms of media, generally fiction, such as film, literature, television, or video games, involving a story, characters, and setting. Generally, a media franchise means that a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with licensing to others for merchandising and endorsements. This licensing may involve trademarked characters and settings.
• An example of franchises star wars, star trek, marvel, transformers, lord of the rings, spy kids, drake and josh, james bond, indiana jones, batman, terminator, back to the future, men in black

Steve Neale

• Steve Neale believes that pleasure of the wiener derives from repetition and difference. Steve Neale believes that there would not be pleasure without difference. For this reason its important films to fit into different genres and franchises feature repetition.

Genre Theory

Multiple Genres Of Film

Daniel Chandler is a British visual semiotician based in the field of Theatre, Film and Television Studies. he is also a lecturer in Media and Communication Studies and webmaster of the Media and Communication Studies Site. He's also a member of the Virtual Faculty and the Advertising Education Forum. he has released a book called Semiotics: The Basics was published by Routledge in January 2007. 

My film was a psychological thriller. Psychological thriller is a sub genre of the horror and thriller genre of media. It can even incorporate elements of characteristics from genres such as crime and mystery.