Media Theory - Narrative

Jack Stevens
Definition of Narrative

Narrative has many meaning; could be a The role of narrative is to; reveal the
story or a plot, chain of events, means of events which make up the story,
providing order to a media text, a way of
mediate those events for the audience,
making sense of information or a means of
text.
evaluate those events for the
audience, the narrator also tends to
A narrative structure is a plan/ plot of a film
position the audience into a particular
an example of a narrative structure would
be: relationship between characters.
Exposition
Narrative is different to a plot or story
Development because narrative is the choice of
Complication which events to relate and in what
Climax order to relate them so it is a
representation or specific
Resolution
manifestation of the story, rather than
the story itself. The plot is the main
events in the story.
Characters: definitions & example

Types of characters
Protagonist - the leading character or one of the major characters in a play, film, novel. E.g. Batman.
Antagonist - is a character, group of characters or concept that stands in or represents opposition against which
the protagonist(s). Egg The Joker.
Batman is a good protagonist because he is a world known super hero and has be a protagonist since he first
appearance in Detective Comics #27 (1939). Batman can be seen being the leading character in The Batman
Begins "and other Bateman motion pictures.
The Joker is one of the biggest antagonist ever in cinema history, the Joker is Batman is villainess rival and has
been since comic book Batman (April 25, 1940), published by DC Comics. The Joker and Batman's rivalry can
be seen in the movie "The Dark Knight.
Characters: The thing that makes a protagonist
Has so m e thing to do
T he pro tago nis t is the o ne with the
pro ble m that has to be s o lve d. No o ne
e ls e c an s o lve this pro ble m (o r s o lve it
as we ll) and the y are c e ntral to the
e ntire is s ue .
Has so m e thing to los e and gain
J us t having a re as o n to ac t is n't e no ugh. Lo s ing s o m e thing that
m atte rs is a po we rful m o tivating to o l and will forc e yo ur pro tago nis t
to do what he no rm ally wo uldn't. He 'll take ris ks he 'd ne ve r take if he
didn't have this c o ns e que nc e hanging o ve r his he ad.
T his is an im po rtant as pe c t o f the s to ry's s take s that's s o m e tim e s
forgo tte n o r no t tho ught thro ugh we ll e no ugh. Watc hing a
pro tago nis t no t lo s e has its m e rits , but whe n was the las t tim e yo u
we nt to a s po rting e ve nt to s e e if yo ur te am didn't lo s e ? R e ade rs
want to s e e a pro tago nis t re warde d for all he r hard wo rk and
s ac rific e .
C harac te rs : T he thing that m ake s a
pro tago nis t
A n inte re s ting flaw
P e rfe c t pe o ple are bo ring its the flaws
that m ake the m inte re s ting. Flaws als o
give yo u an o ppo rtunity to s ho w
c harac te r gro wth and give the
pro tago nis t a way to im pro ve the m s e lf.
C o m pe lling quality
S o m e thing abo ut the pe rs o n is
inte re s ting. Maybe the ir funny and
likable . Maybe the ir twis te d and
fas c inating. Whate ve r it is , the re 's a
quality that m ake s a re ade r c urio us to
kno w m o re abo ut the m .
C apac ity to c hange
C harac te r gro wth fe e ds the
s o ul to the s to ry. Its what turns
it fro m a s e rie s o f plo t e ve nts to
a tale wo rth te lling. A gre at
pro tago nis t has the ability to
le arn fro m the ir e xpe rie nc e s
and be c o m e a be tte r pe rs o n.
Characters: The thing that makes a antagonist

T rying to ac c o m plish so m e thing T rying to gain so m e thing

T he antago nis t has a plan, an e vil plan No o ne go e s to as m uc h tro uble as a
in m o s t c as e s . T he ir ac ting be c aus e go o d antago nis t do e s witho ut a prize in
s o m e thing is driving the m and the y want the e nd.
to ac c o m plis h s o m e thing in partic ular.
T his is o fte n the e ve nt that trigge rs the
pro tago nis t to ac t.
C harac te rs : T he thing that m ake s a
antago nis t

A c ting on pe rs o nal de s ires Trying to avoid something Flawe d in relatable ways

Gre e d, an e njo ym e nt o f vio le nc e , a T he antago nis t has things at s take at If yo ur antago nis t has flaws
pe rs o nal de m o n. T he antago nis t do e s n't we ll, jus t like the pro tago nis t. Failure that tap into the hum an s ide o f
jus t wake up o ne m o rning and de c ide s s ho uld m e an m o re than jus t no t the m , the n the y be c o m e s
to be e vil fo r the he c k o f it. T he y want s uc c e e ding in the plan. T he re will be m o re re al and re ade rs c an
s o m e thing. c o ns e que nc e s if the y do e s n't s uc c e e d, s e e the ir s ide o f the s to ry.
nas ty o ne s .
Characters: protagonist & antagonist role in the
film
T he pro tago nis t do e s nt always have to be the m ain c harac te r. T he m ain c harac te r
s ho ws the s to ry fro m the ir e ye s to the audie nc e while the pro tago nis t purs e s the
go al o f the s to ry. A n e xam ple o f this is R e d fro m S haws hank R e de m ptio n he is the
m ain c harac te r while A ndy D ufre s ne is the pro tago nis t be c aus e the film is s e e n
thro ugh R e ds e ye s but A ndy purs e s the s to ry. T he antago nis t has the o ppo s ite
o bje c tive o f the pro tago nis t and the y are no rm al o ne o f the m ain c harac te rs
ho we ve r ne ve r as im po rtant as the pro tago nis t. T he ir ro le in the film is to c aus e
tro uble and dis turbe d the pro tago nis t like the J o ke r Vs B atm an. Witho ut a
pro tago nis t and an antago nis t in a film the plo t line will have no m e aning o r
e xc ite m e nt, e s pe c ially if its a s upe r he ro m o vie .
T o do ro vs the o ry

T o dorov tho ught of a the o ry whic h he be lieve d was applic able to all films . He be lieve d
that all films follow the sam e narrative patte rn going through 5 stage s . T he s e are the
E quilibrium , dise quilibrium , ac knowledge m e nt, solving and again the equilibrium .
E quilibrium - T he first part of the story will display a happy start, whe re the m ajority of
c harac te r are c o nte nt and eve rything is ho w it sho uld be .
D isruption - T he se c o nd part of the story will feature a problem or so m e thing will disrupt
the happine s s .
R e alization - T his part of the plot is whe n eve ryo ne realizes the problem s and c hao s .
R e s tore d orde r - T his part of the plot is whe n the c harac te rs atte m pt to res olve the
dam age and res tore the problem .
E quilibrium again - T his is the final part of the plot whe re the problem is res o lve d and
norm ality c an res um e again like it onc e did.
E xam ple o f T o do ro vs the o ry

T he S im ps o n Mo vie
E quilibrium - E ve rything is no rm al in S pringfie ld and Hom e r and B art c arry
o ut c ho re s .
D is ruptio n - Ho m e r s ave s S pide r-pig and his was te c aus e s po llutio n to
S pringfie ld, s o bad the go ve rnm e nt dro p a do m e o n the to wn.
R e alizatio n - T he S im ps o ns le ave S pringfie ld and fle e to A las ka.
R e s to re d o rde r - T he S im ps o ns go bac k to S pringfie ld and Ho m e r and B art
s ave the to wn.
E quilibrium again - T he do m e is blo w up and e ve ryo ne is fre e and no rm ality
happe ns o nc e again.
S te re o type s

its e as y to think Ho llywo o d are m o ving pas t s te re o type s . B lac k wo m an c o ntro l the
narrative in Hidde n Figure s and Girls T rip als o Wo nde r Wo m an allo ws wo m an
o ve r 40 (R o bin Wright and C o nnie Nie ls e n) kic k as m uc h as s as A rno ld
S c hwarze ne gge r. Le s s s te re o type s are be ing us e d no w in Ho llywo o d 2017, be c aus e
o f the inte rne t e ve ryo ne has a vo ic e and s te re o type s c an be s e e n to be o ffe ns ive
and no t e nte rtaining.
C o m m o n s te re o type s that are s till us e d in 2017; T he s as s y blac k wo m an, T he e vil
R us s ian, T he P s yc ho e x- girlfrie nd and the hands o m e he ro . S te re o type s are us e d in
film s for a c o m e dic e ffe c t o r an ins tanc e o pinio n o n a c harac te r for the audie nc e .
N arrative S truc ture

Ope n narrative - having an ope n ending whic h is inc o nc lus ive and allows progre s s. T his allows the
audienc e to gue s s whic h c o uld engage the m or anno y the m it de pe nds on the pe rso n. An exam ple
of this struc ture is S o ap Ope ra.
C los e d narrative - having a de c isive ending with no que s tione d as ke d. T his give s the audienc e
satisfac tion ho we ve r it my not be a po s itive satisfac tion. An exam ple of this is the T itanic Jac k
dies .
S ingle strand narrative - this is whe n the re s only one narrative , only one plot. T his is c an c aus e the
audienc e to form a c o nne c tion with the c harac te rs ho we ve r it may be c o m e boring. An exam ple of
this is T he B lair Witc h P rojec t.
Multi-strand narrative - this is whe n lots of narrative s ove r-lap. Lots of store s will ke e p the audienc e
engage d ho we ve r may be c o m e c o nfe s s ion. An exam ple of this is Love ac tually.
R e alist narrative - this is whe n the narrative is real life situations . T his narrative is more be lieve d for
the audienc e ho we ve r les s imaginative . an exam ple of this is so ap ope ras .
A nti-realist narrative s - this is whe n the narrative isn't realistic . this c o uld anno y the audienc e or
engage the m . an exam ple of this wo uld be the mighty bo o s h.
C laude Le vi S traus s binary o ppo s itio n

A binary oppos ition is a pair of relate d term s or

c onc e pts that are the oppos ite in me aning. Levi
found out that narrative s are arrange d around
the c o nflic t of binary oppo s ites . E xam ples of
binary oppo s ites ;
Good vs E vil
B lac k vs White
B o y vs Girl
Young vs Old
D ark vs Light
A mo vie that us e s this is B atm an vs S upe rm an,
the binary oppo s ition in this narrative is D ark
(B ate m an) vs Light (S upe rm an)
 Vladim ir P ro pps the o ry o f c harac te rs
He obs e rve d that narrative s are struc ture d by c e rtain type s of c harac te rs, he be lieve s the re are 31 differe nt type s of stage s in any narrative and
he be lieve s the re are eight roles in eve ry narrative struc ture .
T he Villain - struggles with the he ro
T he D onor - offe rs a gift to he ro
Hero - de parts on a se arc h reac ts to the do nor
D ispatc he r - se nds he ro on the miss ion
False he ro - c laims to be he ro but isn't
T he he lpe r - aids he ro
T he princ e s s - the go als/ reward
T he fathe r - rewards the he ro
T he Villain - T he Jo ke r who provide s an evil pre s e nc e in the movie. T he dark knight
T he D onor - Luc ius Fox in batm an be gins , he provide s batm an with we apons and arm ory
T he Hero - B atm an de fe ats the evil
T he dispatc he r - Nic k Fury from Ave nge rs As s e m ble, he c ollec ts the he ro and se nds the m to fight evil
False he ro -
T he he lpe r - R obin from batm an and robin he he lps by providing a phys ic al pre s e nc e
T he princ e s s - Gwe n S tac e y in the am azing S pide rm an, she s take n by the villain and mus t be res c ue d
T he fathe r -
R o land B arthe s e nigm a

A c tio n - a narrative de vic e by whic h a re s o lutio n is pro duc e d thro ugh ac tio n.
E nigm a - a narrative de vic e that te as e s the audie nc e by pre s e nting a puzzle o r
riddle to be s o lve d.
S ym bo lic - (c o nno tatio n)
S e m antic (de no tatio n)
C ultural - a narrative de vic e whic h the audie nc e c an re c o gnize as be ing part o f a
c ulture .