Narrative: blog task

1) Give an example from film or television that uses Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. 

Part one of Arcane (2021) starts off with the main characters Violet and Powder in a state of disequilibrium after potentially witnessing their parents die, they are then picked up by Vander who takes them in and adopts them along with two other boys named Mylo and Claggor thus entering a state of new equilibrium where they would go on adventures to the city of Piltover and steal from the rich in order to make a living. On one of these trips powder comes across some blue orbs that turn out to be extremely explosive. After a while Vander is kidnapped by the villain Silco and his men sending the story into another state of disequilibrium, Violet, Mylo and Claggor go after him in an attempt to save him, leaving powder behind as they believe she won't be able to help. They are almost successful in saving him when powder uses the blue orbs she stole earlier which end up killing all of her family other than violet who gets arrested leaving powder alone with Silco putting the story into a state of new equilibrium.

2) Complete the activity on page 1 of the Factsheet: find a clip on YouTube of the opening of a new TV drama series (season 1, episode 1). Embed the clip in your blog and write an analysis of the narrative markers that help establish setting, character and plot.

• Temporal: It is set later during the morning as we can see the sun when she opens the blinds and when she rushes into the hotel we can see many people in the hotel cafe 

• Geographical: The word Paris is displayed on the screen telling us where they are, we can also tell that they are in France as the people there are speaking French and dressed in clothes that were typically seen in France during the time period that this show takes place.

• Historical marker: The date of 1967 is displayed on the screen telling the audience exactly which year this takes place however the costume designs could also help inform the audience that this show takes place in the 1960's.

• Character: We learn that the main character takes a pill in the morning but we don't know what for we also learn that she might have a partner as someone else is seen sleeping in her bed, additionally we learn that she might be a bit famous as when she enters the room with the other chess player waiting for her there are multiple journalists trying to get a photo of her.

• Generic: The opening scene uses a lot of enigma codes making the audience think about why different things are happening like why shes running late what shes running late to, who's in her bed, what's the pill she's taking and more which is a very common thing for drama's as they need to hook the audience by making them interested in the lives of the characters and how they got to this point of their lives.

3) Provide three different examples from film or television of characters that fit Propp's hero character role.

Puss in boots - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Shrek - Shrek (2001)

Miles Morales - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

4) Give an example of a binary opposition.

Rich and Poor

5) What example is provided in the Fact sheet for the way narratives can emphasise dominant ideologies and values?

• When the police officer captures the criminal, the value of upholding law and justice is emphasised
• When the girl wins the heart of a guy she likes in a romantic comedy, the ideas of a heterosexual relationship and monogamy are emphasised 

6) Why do enigma and action codes (Barthes) offer gratifications for audiences?

Problems and their complications are introduced into the plot creating enigma for the audience making them curious as to what actions will be taken in order to resolve the problem.

7) Write a one-sentence summary of the four different types of TV narrative:

• Episodic narrative (the series) -  Fiction with many parts but the narrative arc is usually resolved at the end of each episode.

• Overarching narrative (the serial) - Uses the conventional arc over a number of episodes with each episode not tending to have a resolution with that instead coming at the end of the serial.

• Mixed narrative - A combination of both episodic and overarching narrative with each episode usually having its own conclusion while still having a couple of overarching narratives that are concluded over multiple episodes.

• Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative) - A continuous narrative that tells multiple different stories at the same time.

8) How does the Fact sheet suggest adverts use narrative? 

Adverts set up an issue that many people face like a cold and then immediately offer a solution (their product) which creates a swift resolution