Narrative and Story

A narrative is a sequence of events organised into a story with a particular structure whereas a story consists of all the events in a narrative that are presented directly to an audience and which might be inferred.

For my AS Production I was given the task of creating a 3 minute opening scene to a film. The genre of my AS Production was a a thriller whereas the storyline was that when a 20 year old man named Michael Blakewood gets unknowingly involved in a murder, he is told he has two days to prove his innocence before he is framed by an assailant of which he has no idea has a grudge against him.

Roland Barthes (Semiotician)

Roland Barthes was a French theorist and Semiotician (study of cultural signs and symbols).

He described text as: "a galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of signifieds; it has no beginning; it is reversible; we gain access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one; the codes it mobilizes extend as far as the eye can read, they are indeterminable...the systems of meaning can take over this absolutely plural text, but their number is never closed, based as it is on the infinity of language..."

Barthes stated that text can be either 'open' or 'closed', in my case my text would be open as the whole production would tend to leave audiences asking questions as opposed to being given a conclusion.

Linguist Roland Barthes narrowed down the action of a text in to Five Codes which are woven into any narrative:

• The Hermeneutic Code (HER) - Is the way the story avoids telling the truth or revealing all the facts, in order to drop clues in through out to help create mystery.

• The Enigma/ Proairetic Code (ACT) - The way the tension is built up and the audience is left guessing what happens next.

• The Symbolic Code (SYM) - This is very similar to the Semantic Code, but acts at a wider level, organizing semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning. This is typically done in the use of antithesis, where new meaning arises out of opposing and conflict ideas.

• The Cultural Code (REF) - Looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology.

• The Semantic Code (SEM) - The semantic code points to any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotation which the story suggests.

PC vs. Mac:

Narrative - Closed

Action Code - Wanting to see PC's movie after seeing Mac's

Enigma Code - What the 'movies' will look like

Semantic - Clothes giving additional meaning

Cultural - What IT males and models are seen as 

Symbolic - Models and Macs top of the tree

Binary opposities - Young vs. Old, Trendy vs. Smarter

Audience - Young people and visual things

Codes that connect to my AS Production:

Firstly, my production's narrative would be open as he whole production would tend to leave audiences asking questions as opposed to being given a conclusion. Secondly, cultural codes would be involved in my movie from a religious perspective as some religions such as Islam look down on factors such as suicide and the consumption of drugs. An action code could also be seen as the whole movie keeps the audience questioning who was really behind the murder and who's framing the main character.

My Media AS Production's Equilibrium

1. Equilibrium

Michael Blakewood is on the brink of suicide after the consumption of pills and alcohol while also pointing a loaded gun to his head.

2. Disruption Of Equilibrium

A gunshot from elsewhere is heard where Blakewood finds a dead body and then passes out due to his previous consumption of drugs. Blakewood is found by authorities and assumed to have been involved.

3. Recognition Of The Disruption

Blakewood awakens in a holding cell and demands to be released immediately. He is then questioned by the police for the murder of a male named "Alex Wilson", claiming to not have had any part he is released with his possessions returned to him but finds a note in his clothing instructing him to clear his name within 48 hours otherwise he will go down.

4. Attempt To Repair Disruption

Blakewood travels through various relevant locations that could have been linked with the murder although the individual framing him is setting him up every step along and practically being taunted. Police again bring Blakewood back to the station.

5. Restoration Of New Equilibrium

Blakewood is informed that forensically it seems he could not have been the one responsible for the death after the police find it difficult to believe he would have committed two crimes that could have given him imprisonment for a long time. He is then released where a man across the street is staring at him, signalling that Blakewood will continue to be harassed.

A music video I like

Bassline Junkie - Dizzee Rascal: Bassline Junkie

One example of a music video that I like is Bassline Junkie performed by Dizzee Rascal as the video is presented in an enjoyable way through multiple formats of humour and choreography. It isn't necessarily presented in a typical rap genre format which would traditionally or stereo-typically show the main subject (rapper) as a rich man living a great life in America but instead it is set in London in the UK and is not performed in a serious manner at all as the whole idea of the song is that Dizzee Rascal doesn't drugs such as Heroine or Cocaine because he is a "bass line junkie" which is one example of the factors that make it comical to me. 




Costumes in addition to locations are constantly changed in order to keep the audience engaged and avoid the event of viewers getting bored as the exact same costume and location could eventually lead to boredom. The song is introduced by the subject shouting and swearing at a child for turning off his speakers and then the child's mother giving him a disapproving look which introduces the song as interesting or funny as a proportion of people tend to find foul language funny if used in a sensible way.