LO3 Narrative Theory

Story is the plot/ sequence of events.
Narrative is the structure/techniques used to tell the story.

In the poltergiest a normal family buy a new house unknowing of the fact it is based on a barrial ground, the 'dead' people/spirits use the little girl to try and come back to life and into the human world, the little girl gets taken away by the spirits and family have to try to get her back.

KEY THEORY ONE: Tim O'Sullivan et al. (1998):

All media texts tell us some kind of story- these are ideologies (values/beliefs in a culture)

The potergiest's wider meaning of this is good (the family) vs evil (the spirits).

KEY THEORY TWO: Pam Cook (1985)

The standard hollywood narrative structure has 'linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution'

High degree of narrative closure

A fictional world which contains verisimillitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence.

The poltergiest presents of an enigma of the girl being taken away and the puzzle of the unknown reason why she has been taken then is resolved by them getting her back.

KEY THEORY THREE: Tzvetan Todorov (1977)
4 stages:

• A point of stable equillibrium.
• Equillibrium is disrupted by some story of force,which creates a state of disequillibrium.
• Action direct against the disruption.
• Restoration of a state of new equillibium.

In the poltergiest:

    1.Normal family move into new house

    2. Maddie is taken away my the spirits

    3. They get professional people in the take control and get her back

    4.Gets Maddie back.

KEY THEORY FOUR: Claude Levi-Strauss (1958)

Binay opposites: eg.good vs evil.

The poltergiest's binary opposites are:

• antagonist (spirits) vs protagonist (family)
• human world vs spirit world
• young (Maddie) vs old (dead spirits)

KEY THEORY FIVE: Vladimir Propp (1928)

All narratives feature stock characters and that audiences understood stories because of such features

Villain/antagonist

Hero/protagonist

Helper/supporter (sidekick)

Princess (prize for the hero- not necessarily a person)resuled/helped/saved.

In the poltegiest:

Antagonist- poltergiest/spirits

Protagonist- professional spirit hunters

Supporter- family

Rescued/saved- Maddie

KEY THEORY SIX: Roland Barthes (1977)

narrative codes:

• Enigma codes: work to keep up setting problems or puzzles for the audience.
• Action codes: work to inform the audience in terms of what is happening in the next shot/scene

In the poltergiest these codes are used:

• action code: The lamp falls, the light flickers on/off (0.00-0.05)
• enigma code: They don't know where Maddie has gone (0.15-1.00)

action code: The parents walk out the door, girl closes the door.(0:00-0.05)



enigma code: They don't know what a poltergiest is/whats terrorising them.