Telling Stories

Zoë Freeman

• Fiske et al (1998) defines a story as an “irreducible substance”

• Story = what it’s about• Narrative = way it’s told

• Open text• Closed text

• Barthes argues that there is many meanings to text, more than the director intended and expected, this is due to audiences having different experiences/expectations

• Hermeneutic/enigma code – element of mystery to entice the audience, is a concealed image, asks ambiguous/philosophical questions, persuasion to watch film often comes from feeling of uncertainty of characters fate

Todorov’s Theory of Narrative

• Equilibrium – start of every story, balance and harmony

• Moment of disequilibrium – something happens, shatter of equilibrium

• Disequilibrium – hero(es) struggle to fix the wrongs and return to equilibrium

• New equilibrium – villain is defeated peace is restored at a cost/loss, new equilibrium is tainted by the experience

(Example shown through ‘The Descent’ (2003) Trailer)

E

MOD

D

D

NE