In this post I will look at some of the conventions and key terminology associated with moving image. It would be useful to look at this post together with my post on Narrative. In this post moving image refers to Film, TV, adverts, animations, installations and other moving image products.
Moving Image Conventions
Different MEDIA FORMS have different MEDIA LANGUAGES as an introduction it is worth looking overall at what constitutes the LANGUAGE OF MOVING IMAGE – in other words, key terminology – which also suggests that there is a GRAMMAR or CONVENTION or set of rules
The following recognised conventions should help students to deconstruct key moving image media texts and will also help students to create their own moving image products, working within or against these conventions. Remember the key is to know what the rules are before trying to break them. It is also worth pointing out that when students make their own products, they often struggle with aesthetic concepts of SPACE, SIZE and SCALE and I have another post which looks at this in more detail.
As alluded to, when looking at moving image products, it is useful to make a link to NARRATIVE THEORY as most often the key ideas, codes and conventions that are put to use for moving image products, are usually put together to serve ideas around NARRATIVE. For example, character, theme, motivation, empathy, ideology and so on.
The first and most distinctive tool of a moving image product is the camera. The camera is used to create images and although I write about photography and a more detailed use of the camera in another post, I would just like to re-cap some of the key features of the camera in terms of creating a moving image product.
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology.
Binary Oppositions :
– texts can be seen to either support the dominant ideologies of a society, which would make it a reactionary text ,or to challenge, question or undermines the dominant ideologies of society, in which case it could be seen as a radical text.
–individual texts as a set of binary opposites.
CONCEPT
strongly agree
agree
neutral
agree
strongly agree
OPPOSITE CONCEPT
male
✔
female
white
✔
black
poor
✔
rich
straight
✔
gay
urban
✔
rural
mature
✔
childish
critical of government
✔
supporting of government.
educated
✔
stupid
youths
✔
old people
Seymour chatman;
kernels: key moments in the plot/narritive struchtue
This theory allows students to break down a narrative into 2 distinct elements. Those elements which are absolutely essential to the story / plot / narrative development, which are known as KERNELS and those moments that could be removed and the overall logic would not be disturbed, known as SATELLITES. Satellites can therefore be thought as useful to develop character, emotion, location, time and so on, but NOT ESSENTIAL
Roland Bathes:
Proairetic code: action, movement, causation
Hermenuetic code: reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development
Enigma code: the way in which intrigue and ideas are raised – which encourage an audience to want more information.
moving image products are either based around ‘doing’ / ‘action’ or ‘talking’ / ‘reflection’.
Linear– events of the plot unfold the way that they happen
Chronological– events are sequenced in order of time
Sequential– events which are arranged one after the other in a sequence within a narrative.
Circular structure– when a plot begins in the same place in the way it ends. Character undergoes a transformation.
Time based- continuous moving image that displays a change in time.
Narrative arc– The path the story follows- ups and downs, climax and resolution which is reflected in an arc shape.
Freytag’s Pyramid– 19th century German playwright ‘Freytag’s’ diagram of dramatic structure.
exposition- background information on the characters and setting explained at the beginning of the story. Earlier events are alluded to.
inciting incident– The hook, the event that sets the main character or characters on the journey that will occupy the narrative.
rising action– The incline of a narrative arc. Often, the events that lead up to the climax.
climax– The point of highest intensity or major conflict within in a narrative. The steepest point of a narrative arc.
falling action– The declining part of a narrative arc. Often, what happens after the climax and resolution of the major conflict.
resolution-
denouement– The final part of the narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.
Beginning / middle / end- How linear narratives are sequenced.
Equilibrium– First stage of Todorov’s theory. The situation and characters are introduced in a normal circumstance.
Disruption– Second stage of Todorov’s theory. A change takes place causing an alter in the norm.
New equilibrium– Third stage of Todorov’s theory. The change in circumstance is overcome and the situation reaches a new normal.
Peripeteia– A sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances
Anagnoresis– A character discovers their own, or another character’s true identity.
Catharsis– The process of releasing and providing relief from repressed emotions. The purging of strong emotion.
The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place– The 3 traditional unities of drama. The Aristotelian idea that a narrative should be set in once place, in one time frame, focused on one action.
flashback / flash forward-Flashback is when the current narrative is interrupted by a previous event which could provide key information about a character etc. Flash-forward is when the current narrative is interrupted by an event that is yet to take place.
Foreshadowing– When events that take place later on in the narrative are alluded to or hinted towards.
Ellipsis– The exclusion of action from a narrative because it can be inferred from dialogue and other action.
Pathos– A quality that evokes feelings of pity and sadness.
Empathy– The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
diegetic / non-diegetic sound– Diegetic sound occurs within the context of the story and able to be heard by the characters. Non diegetic sound occurs externally to the narrative, not heard by the characters
slow motion– Visual effect created either by the actors or as a special effect in the edit. Time is slowed down.
Most stories are linear and are broken down into a beginning, middle, and end. The Bulgarian structuralist theorist, Tztevan Todorov, presents this idea as:
– Equilibrium (the story constructs a stable world at the outset of the narrative. Key characters are presented as part of that stability.) – Disruption (oppositional forces – the actions of a villain, perhaps, or some kind of calamity – destabilise the story’s equilibrium. Lead protagonists attempt to repair the disruption caused.) – New Equilibrium(disruption is repaired and stability restored. Importantly, the equilibrium achieved at the end of the story is different to that outlined at the start. The world is transformed.)
VLADIMIR PROPP
Vladimir Propp
Todorov was hugely influenced by the Russian literary theorist, Vladimir Propp, and his highly influential 1929 book, Morphology Of The Folktale, in which Propp arrived at the conclusion that folk tales drew from a highly stable list of characters whose roles and narrative functions he defined:
– The Hero(Propp identifies two significant types of hero – the seeker hero, who relies more heavily on the donor to perform their quest, and the victim hero, who needs to overcome a weakness to complete their quest.) – The Villain (fights or pursues the hero and must be defeated if the hero is to accomplish their quest.) – The Princess and the Princess’s Father (the princess usually represents the reward of the hero’s quest, while the princess’s father often sets the hero difficult tasks to prevent them from marrying the princess.) – The Donor (provides the hero with a magical agent that allows the hero to defeat the villain.) – The Helper (usually accompanies the hero on their quest, saving them from the struggles encountered on their journey, helping them to overcome the difficult tasks encountered on their quest.) – The Dispatcher (sends the hero on his or her quest, usually at the start of the story.) – The False Hero (performs a largely villainous role, usurping the true hero’s position in the course of the story. The false hero is usually unmasked in the last act of a narrative.)
CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS
Claude Levi-Strauss
Claude Levi-Strauss, a French anthropologist and ethnologist, examined the structure and narratives of myths and legends from around the world, such as the tribal stories of the Amazonian rainforest or the ancient myths of Greece). He ventured out to uncover the hidden rules of storytelling, in order to diagnose the essential nature of human experience, and believed that common themes and tropes found in these stories would reveal essential truths about the way the human mind structures the world. He suggested that myths were used to deal with the contradictions in experience, to explain the apparently inexplicable, and to justify the inevitable.
SEYMOUR CHATMAN
Seymour Chatman
The American film and literary critic, Seymour Chatman,
What is needed to create a film? (Physical elements)
Director
Actors
Camera and Microphones
Set/Scene/Location
Producer
Money
Editing software
Screenwriter/ Script
Cameraman
Script
Narrative structures and internal elements :
Chronological – Generally, films are structured in a straight line, linear narrative in which the events are sequenced in order of time.
Flashbacks/ Foreshadowing
Ellipsis
Parallel Narrative
EXPOSITION —> CLIMAX —> DENOUEMENT
Protagonist and Antagonist
Freytag :
Exposition —> The background information on the characters and setting explained at the beginning of the story. Earlier events are alluded to.
Climax —> The point of highest intensity in a narrative. A story changing event takes place.
Denouement —> The final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.
Aristotle :
Catharsis = Idea that we are freed by consuming something.
Peripetia = A change in fortune
Anagnorisis = A moment of dramatic revelation
Todrov:
Often, most stories can be easily broken down into a BEGINNING / MIDDLE / END.
Todrov breaks this into a 3-part structure:
Equilibrium
Disruption
New equilibrium
Single character transformations are pursued: Traditional Todorovian stories place one lead hero at the centre of the narrative and secondary characters help them on their quest to the new equilibrium.
Developed therories on character when analyising Russian folk tales in his 1929 book ‘Morphology of the Folktale’
Stock characters are used to structure stories, suggesting that the majority of stories use familiar character types to provide familiar narrative structures
These stock characters are :
Hero
Helper
Princess
Villain
Victim
Dispatcher
Father
False Hero
(not my work)
Claude Levi Strauss (binary oppositions)
This theory suggests that NARRATIVES (=myths) are STRUCTURED around BINARY OPPOSITIONS eg: good v evil; human v alien; young v old etc.
narrative as a structure of key (oppositional) themes that underpin action and dialogue to develop a set of messages that the audience are able to decode and understand.
This creates a dominant message (ideology) of a film/TV programme/advert/music video
this way audiences are encouraged to make a judgements about characters, groups, places, history, society.
Levi-Strauss examined the nature of myths and legends in ancient and primitive cultures, from this analysis he suggested that myths were used to deal with the contradictions in experience, to explain the apparently inexplicable, and to justify the inevitable’ (Turner 2000:83)
the way in which individual students / audience members decode specific texts, is also contingent on their own individual ideas, attitudes and beliefs
texts can be seen to either support the dominant ideologies of a society, which would make it a reactionary text ,or to challenge, question or undermines the dominant ideologies of society, in which case it could be seen as a radical text.
Seymour Chatman –
there are 2 parts to a story, the important things and the embellishment, the important things are called kernels, these are the key moments in the plot.
Linear/chronological – when a story is told in the order it happens
Sequential – when one event comes after the other chronologically
Circular structure – when a story ends how it begins
Time based –
Narrative arc – refers to the chronological construction of the plot in a story
flashback – when a chronological sequence is interrupted by an event that happened previous to the specific moment in a narrative
flash forward – when a chronological sequence is interrupted by an event that happens after the specific moment in a narrative
Foreshadowing – when an event that occurs in a narrative is hinted at earlier on
Ellipsis – a device which excludes a portion of the sequence of events
Pathos – when a narrative is written in order to generate and appeal to an audiences emotions
Empathy – when an audience is able to share a feeling or perspective with a character or moment
diegetic – refers to the internal world created by the story that the narrators/characters themselves experience and encounter
non-diegetic – refers to the things we see and hear in a narrative that come from the external world of a story which do not actually experience and encounter the story
slow motion – a motion picture where that action has been altered to make it appear to have occurred slower than it actually did in order to create dramatic effect
fast motion – a motion picture where that action has been altered to make it appear to have occurred faster than it actually did in order to create dramatic effect
Freytag’s Pyramid:
paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement.
exposition – the background information that is given at the beginning of a story about the characters, setting etc…
inciting incident – the narrative event which launches the main action
rising action – the bulk of the plot which builds up to the climax
climax – the turning point or crisis in a narrative which is often the highest point of interes
falling action – when the climax begins to resolve
resolution – when the climax is resolved
denouement – when conflict in a plot is resolved and the plot concludes
Tztevan Todorov – Tripartite narrative structure:
Beginning / middle / end – the most basic organisational framework of a story
Equilibrium – when all forces or moments acting upon a narrative are balanced
Disruption – when an incident or trivial story disrupts the narrative flow
New equilibrium – when order is restored
plot/sub-plot – a narrative often has as overarching master plot accompanied by a series of sub-plots
multiple equilibrium/ disruption sequences – when a narrative deploys multiple equilibrium/disruption sequences in order to produce a roller coaster effect
flexi-narrative –
condensed equilibrium – when a narrative propels a moment of immediate disruption to instantly hook the audience rather than building up to it
Aristotle:
Poetics –
Peripeteia – the turning point in a narrative after which the plot moves steadily to its denouncement
Anagnoresis – the moment in a narrative when a character makes a dramatic revelation
Catharsis – a moment of emotional release as a result of a resolution being made
The 3 Unities –
Unity of Action – a tragedy should have one principle action
Unity of Time – that action of a tragedy should occur over a period of no more than 24hours
Unity of Place – a tragedy should exist in a single physical location
Seymour Chatman – Satellites & Kernels
Kernels – key moments in the plot/narrative structure – the narrative would not work without them
Satellites – embellishments, aesthetics, and developments in the plot/narrative structure – the narrative would be able to work without them
Roland Bathes – Proairetic and Hermenuetic Codes
Proairetic code: action, movement, causation
Hermenuetic code: reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development
Enigma code: the way in which intrigue and ideas are raised – which encourage an audience to want more information
Vladimir Propp – Stock Characters
Villain – causes some form of misfortune, damage or harm, their evil action will, of course, lead to a fight or another form of struggle with the hero
Victim/Victim Hero – the character who is taken, harmed, injured, or killed by the villain
Hero – the major character who is the person around which the story is told. There are two types of hero’s: the seeker hero relies agrees to liquidate the misfortune suffered by another character, the victim, and so heavily on the donor to perform there quest, whereas the victim-hero directly suffers from the action of the villain and therefore needs to overcome a weakness to complete their quest
Helper – usually accompanies hero on the quest and aids them in struggles encountered on their journey
Dispatcher – Sends the hero on the quest
Donor – provides hero with with a magical agent or advise to help him defeat the villain
Princess – usually represents the reward of the hero’s quest
Princess’s Father – often set’s the hero difficult tasks to prevent them from marrying the princess
False Hero – a character who appears to be good but it quickly becomes obvious they are corrupt once they are unmasked (usually towards the end of the narrative)
Claude Levi-Strauss – Binary Opposites
The idea that we need binary opposition to create drama and interest in a narrative structure
This creates a dominant message (ideology) – So in this way audiences are encouraged to make a judgements about characters, groups, places, history, society etc.
texts can be seen to either support the dominant ideologies of a society, which would make it a reactionary text ,or to challenge, question or undermines the dominant ideologies of society, in which case it could be seen as a radical text.
Ok in this section of the course, we will look at the way in which media productions are structured internally, for example, looking at narrative structures, themes, characters, motivations, genre etc. We will try to centre our conceptual approach towards moving image products (film, TV, music video, adverts, radio etc)
To get going . . . WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS THAT YOU NEED TO MAKE A MOVING IMAGE PRODUCT (FILM, TV DRAMA, MUSIC VIDEO etc).
Task 1
CREATE A NEW POST CALLED ‘MOVING IMAGE NEA’ categories NEA, PRODUCTION, THEORY
As a starting point for theory, let’s have a look at the Ancients with a brief look at Aristotle’s Poetics (see from 3:20 – 4:51)
Think about:
What is the point of art / aesthetics?
What are the key elements?
Define these words and apply to Blinded by the Light, your Xmas Film, your own film idea.
Peripeteia
Anagnoresis
Catharsis
Make notes on ‘The 3 Unities’
Action
Place
Time
Use the video above from about 9:46 and use the following bullet points to help you.
plot vs character
arrangement of incidences (how do you arrange events in a story?)
Aiming towards a goal
complication and unravelling (peripeteia)
Recognition (anagnoresis)
Pathos (agony of recognition)
Catharsis (knowledge through purge)
Key Terminology (ie Kahoot test!)
Linear
Chronological
Sequential
Circular structure
Time based
Narrative arc
Freytag’s Pyramid
exposition,
inciting incident,
rising action,
climax,
falling action,
resolution,
denouement
Beginning / middle / end
Equilibrium
Disruption
Transgression – often disequilibrium is caused by societal / moral / ethical transgression (ie challenging Aristotelian virtues)
New equilibrium
Peripeteia
Anagnoresis
Catharsis
The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place
flashback / flash forward
Foreshadowing
Ellipsis
Pathos
Empathy
diegetic / non-diegetic
slow motion
In Media Res – starting in mid-action
Metanarratives – drawing attention to the process of storytelling
Quest narratives
Task 2: statement of intent (400 words)
Write up a synopsis (50-150 words?) of a new film that you think you could make (2 x posters, a couple of sequences or even a trailer and a few web pages).
The synopsis should aim to communicate the ideas as well as the techniques that you are aiming to use in your production(ie the ideas and key words that we identified yesterday in class discussion).
To help you why not build your story / character around either Blinded by the Light and/or the Xmas film that you saw.
USE AS MUCH KEY LANGUAGE TO MAKE SURE YOUR STATEMENT OF INTENT IS 400 WORDS AND TALKS ABOUT
