Todorov's Narrative Theory

This theory has a circular, sequential structure. There are five main stages that can, supposedly, be applied to any media texts. These five stages are;

Equilibrium - A state of balance and calm, usually placed at the beginning of a narrative, for example the first equilibrium in The Godfather is when he is at the top of the game and in control. This aspect of narrative usually cannot be applied to newspaper articles except in accounts of events.

Disequilibrium/ Disruption -  When the established equilibrium is disturbed in some way, usually as a result of the antagonist or 'bad guy' wanting something which clashes with the wants/needs/morals of the protagonist or 'good guy'. This stage can be applied to all media forms with a narrative: films, books, games, even newspaper articles. In fact, most newspaper articles begin with a disequilibrium, for example reporting a theft.

Recognition -  The main characters/protagonist/people recognise that there has been a disequilibrium. This can be applied in most kinds of media, although newspaper articles can be described as being mostly recognition of a disruption, as it needs to report it to the audience.

Attempt to restore equilibrium -  This one is self explanatory. The main protagonists attempt to get rid of the disruption in order for their lives to get back to relative normality. This is a common convention in most media products, for example, a movie may have a big fight scene in which the protagonists and antagonists go against each other more directly. In an article, this doesn't always happen. It only happens if the problem has a resolution to gain or if the people involved attempt to get rid of the disruption. This often doesn't happen as the people haven't yet attempted this yet, or if the newspaper gets disinterested/has other news tat takes precedence.

New Equilibrium - This is when the equilibrium is generally restored, however there may be some changes, for example, in The Godfather the son takes over as the head of the gang at the end. This again, isn't always in a newspaper article for the reasons listed above. Without going through one of the stages, the narrative cannot then progress to the next stage.

Audience

Mass Audience - Encompasses a large demographic

Niche Audience - Targeted on a particular aspect of an individual, e.g - gender. With this, the media can attract a new audience whilst still appealing to regular consumers.

Narrow Casting - Mass audience does not exist. This is commonly used in advertising to identify and target key audience subjects, for example, recommendations based on you previously viewed videos on YouTube, or recommendations for things on Facebook based on your previous 'likes'.

Stuart Hall - Reception Theory

In the 1980s and 90s lots of work was done into the way individuals received a text and interpreted it and how their individual circumstances affected this.



Stuart Hall



This theory is based on Hall's Encoding/Decoding paradigm. This model described the relationship between media producers and their audiences - the text is encoded by the producer and decoded by the reader. There may be differences between two different readings of the same code, which may have been a problem for the producers when it come to creating new texts that appeal to a target audience. Therefore, producers can stick to established codes and conventions, and by drawing upon audience expectations and what appeals to them, the producers can influence the audience and create some agreement on the meaning of the code.

For example, Apple released an iconic advert in which several silhouettes danced to music on their ipod. The producers hope that audiences would interpret that music is fun and that owning an ipod will provide the consumer with elation, perhaps even make them good at dancing or more attractive than they already are. However, the reader may take a different stance on the meaning of the advert, perhaps even were offended or irritated by it.

Preferred reading is the way the producers want the audience to view the text. Oppositional reading is when the audience rejects the preferred reading and creates their own interpretation of the text. Negotiated reading is a compromise between the dominant and opposition readings and agrees in part with the producers, but also creates their own take on the inferred meaning.

Age, gender, race, culture, financial situation and geographical location also have an impact on the audience's interpretation and on the producers' target demographic.

Taking this theory into account, I need to ask myself several questions in relation to my project;

• How am I targeting my audience?
• What kind of demographic are they - mass, niche or narrowcast?
• And how will their different situational factors affect who I target and how they will interpret my text?

Conventions and Genre

"How something is categorised is determined by who does it, for whom, where and when. The same is true for film"

Reid 2001

This basically means that genre is not fixed and is decided by the audience.

The importance of genre - The audience will have expectations about a certain product and this allows the audience to judge or decide whether to use the product, based on their previous experiences with the institution.

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I will explore which conventions I can conform to and how successful they would be in the paper that I'm planning to create.