Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp identified 8 key character roles in these stories:
1. The Protagonist (hero)
2. The Antagonist (villain)
3.The Donor (provider)
4.The Helper
5.The Father
6.The Dispatcher
7.The Princess
8.The False Hero
Propp argued that characters could fulfill more than one of these roles and that there can be more than one of each character type.

Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes described all texts as complex 'bundles' of meaning which can be unraveled to create a whole range of different meanings. According to Barthes texts can be OPEN with 'numerous threads to pull' and CLOSED with only one obvious thread to the grasp, texts can be read in a number of ways which are known as POLYSEMIC texts. These 'threads' that Barthes referred to are known as narrative codes, the most significant of these codes is the enigma code, this is constructed to attract and hold the attention of the audience normally by creating a mystery or puzzle that the audience want to see solved. The enigma code is usually introduced in the disruption phase of Todorov's model. Enigma codes are designed to attract audiences and hold their attention e,g, consider how they are used in reality tv such as X-Factor.

Narrative

Narrative is telling a story and the way the story is organised. Elements of narrative are time,closure and enigma's which is the mystery behind everything. Classical Hollywood narratives are that it could be linear which means it follows a story,few if any subplots and tendency towards closure. One theory of narrative is Tzvetan Todorov's theory, this theory means that films include an equilibrium, disruption, resolution and a new equilibrium which means the characters have learnt something and changed. A good example of this is the film called the outlaw Josey Wales which starts off with a father bonding with his son by working together on a horse and then his son gets called in for lunch and after that you see horses panicking and running all over the place and then we see a fire has broke out and many enigma's are created such as why the people have done it, who are they and where did they come from. but throughout the film Josey Wales gets his revenge so the problem is solved because he made them pay for killing his son and kidnapping his wife.

Modernism

Modernism,in its broadest definition,is modern thought,character or practice. Appeared in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, this covers the activities and ideas of those who felt the"traditional" forms of "art" the intention was to "make it new!". It sees the past as different to modern age which means it is a recognition that the world was becoming more complex and that the old "final authorities" were subject to intense critical scrutiny but has big ideas to explain the world such as God,Science, and reason. Modernism is the new way of thinking and rejects perfection as it challenged accepted ideas about God and Science and was separate to the past

Post-Modernism

Post-Modern artists took parts of the classical and parts of the modern and called it "Post-Modernism". There are many forms of postmodernism and many different postmodern characters.
PM Characteristic = Bricolage.
Bricolage is a french term that is used to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available,or a work created by such a process. From what we learned on the last side why do you think Bricolage is seen as a characteristic? Post-Modern films are sometimes referred to as a "cultural pick and mix" experience. This often includes in: pop music & videos, advertising elements associate with computer games, classical music and literature and references to other films or TV.
Jacques Derrida extends this notion to any discourse by saying "if one call Bricolage the necessary of borrowing one's concept from the text of heritage which is more or less coherent or... Post-Modern film and TV show examples are:


                                                              Disaster Movie

                                                                          Glee

                                                                     Kill Bill

Agency

In the Classical Hollywood cinema the male protagonist has agency- he is active and powerful.He is the agent around whom the dramatic action unfolds. The female character is passive and powerless-she is the object of desire for the protagonist and audience. Mulvey argues that women have two roles in a film and these roles are as an object of erotic desire for the characters and as an object of erotic desire for the audience.

Feminist Film Theory and Audiences

The feminist i am going to be talking about is Laura Mulvey who's ideas were based on Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, cinema reflects society so therefore cinema reflects a patriarchal society which means a male dominated society. How does a patriarchal society manifest itself in cinema?. One of the ways it does this is by the male gaze. The gaze of the cinema is the male gaze, the male gaze is active,the female is passive. Within the narrative male characters direct their gaze towards the female characters, the spectator is made to identify with the male gaze because the camera films from the optical as well as libidinal, point of view of the male character. Thus three levels of the cinematic gaze-camera,character and spectator-that objectify the female character (the triple gaze) 

Camera, audience,male,female(object) So therefore the audience is constructed as though everyone was male,women are forced to look at the text as though they were a male member of the audience, this occurs through the process of suture.

Audiences and Audience Theory

We have so far studied 3 theories of audience and these are 

The Effects Model, 

The Uses and Gratifications Model, 

Reception Theory 

Suture 

feminist film theory and audiences

Suture is a classical Hollywood narrative, editing, sound and mise en scene 'Sutures' or positions the audience in certain ways making only one preferred reading possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position.