Theories

Narrative Theory

Apply both Propp’s Character Types and Todorov’s Narrative Steps to a film of your choice. Some ideas might be:

·         Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

·         Shaun of the Dead

·         Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

·         Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

·         Aladdin

Film Title: Pirates of the Caribbean curse of the Black Pearl

Narrative Steps	Write a few sentences about what happens at each stage of the film:
Equilibrium	The main character is doing his normal thing which is running away and stealing stuff.
Disruption	The main character gets shot at by his own ship when he is in prison.
Realisation	Jack Sparrow realises that all the people on his ship are cursed and they are undead.
Restoring Order	Jack Sparrow kills his former friend who was taking control of his ship.
New Equilibrium	Jack goes back to stealing stuff and running away from the law.

Propp’s Character Types

Character types	Character in the film	What the character does in the film
The villain	Captain Barbosa	Puts main character on a deserted island to die slowly.
The dispatcher
The helper	Will Turner	Helps Jack throughout the film
The princess	Elizabeth	She gets kidnapped by the pirates
The donor	Gibbs	Gets Jack a crew and ship
The hero	Will Turner	He is the only one who is trying do this because he is trying to save Elizabeth
The false hero	Jack Sparrow	He is always tricking

Audience theory

Audience Theory: Media Effects

1.       In class you have been learning about the Uses and Gratifications Model. According to this theory, audience engage with media texts for the following for reasons:

o   Entertainment

o   Information

o   Social

o   Escapism

2.       What are the limitations of this theory?

It’s simplistic

Ignores the target audience. Such as the social and cultural parts.

A TV show like EastEnders may be declared entertainment, but some people may not see it as entertaining.

3.       Does it encompass all of your viewing needs? What other needs might audiences have that are not identified?

It might not involve everyones needs because everyone has different needs, some similar, but different none the less. It might miss out peoples need for social interaction because you may want to talk to someone about the ending of a famous tv, but all your friends don’t want to you to talk to them about it