Narrative

Narrative in the media is the way in which a story is presented to the audience. The main use of the narrative, much like the opening, is to hook the audience but to continue doing so throughout the movie. To put it simply, the narrative is the plot and it is structured in a way that makes the audience follow along.

Theory Model:

In Tzvetan Todorov's theory of narrative, he suggested that the narrative of a media piece was split into 5 stages:

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset;
2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action;
3. The recognition that there has been a disruption;
4. An attempt to repair the disruption;
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

To shorten it down, Todorov's theory model consisted of a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is an equilibrium where everything in the narrative is at piece and balanced. The middle of the structure is a disequilibrium where something happens to the narrative that disrupts the original equilibrium, this creates the bulk of the story. An finally, the end of the narrative structure is a new equilibrium when everything is returned to normality. This is a closure or resolution to the story.

Narrative Codes:

Narrative codes are another form of narrative structure. There are two main types, enigma codes and action codes and they are the codes that keep the audience hooked by posing quesitons about the narrative. These two codes make you ask questions without giving away too much of the narrative and by keeping a lot of suspense.

Enigma Codes:

An enigma code is when you are watching a film and question something that should be fairly obvious. This type of code is used a lot in horror movies when someone/thing is round the corner or behind a door. Sometimes, enigma codes can't always meet your expectations and you something very unexpected will happen. The use of enigma codes is to capture further attention of the audience and keep them hooked and interested even more. However, sometimes enigma codes are answered straight away and in some cases you can be waiting until the end of the movie to find out the answer.

Action Codes:

An action code is sometimes the answer to a previous enigma code.The answer often helps the audience to find out something new about the the narrative or it could be something simple like a small detail about a main charatcter that is infact very important. In some circumstances, an action code could lead onto a further enigma code therefore creating a continuous cycle of questions and answers throughout the entire film/tv show.