Media Theories

Narrative

• Todorov's Theory of Equilibrium - every play/film/trailer begins with calm (equilibrium) and will ride and fall between peaks of disequilibrium (chaos) with calm at the end

• Restricted narrative - doesn't give much away - enigmatic - shows small clips together which don't fit together and can be unclear
• Enigma - mystery, question which the audience want answered
• Propps spheres of action - common character types found within films
• Hero
• Villain
• Donor
• Dispatcher
• False Hero
• Helper
• Princess
• Princess' Father

Audience Theory - how the audience affect or are affected by the media

• Hypodermic needle theory - we are heavily influences and affected by the media we consume ie. more likely to be violent if you-play violent video games. Commonly linked to moral panics
• Uses & Gratifications - we consume media because we want to for a number of differed reasons:
• Personal Identity - relate
• Social Interaction - common interest
• Informative - learn from it
• Social Empathy - emotion
• Entertainment - excitement
• Audiences are either passive or active
• Passive - powerless to prevent the influence
• Active
• Marxism - capitalism - the bourgeoisie use their power to oppress the proletariat.
• Hegemony - how people are influences into accepting dominance of those in power
• Anchoring - fixing meaning
• Syd Field - In the first ten minutes, a film must indicate its:
• Genre
• Target Audience
• Rough Plot
• Reception Theory - Stuart Hall; (1970s) - how texts are encoded with meaning by produces then decoded by audiences