Barthes' 'Narrative Codes'

Barthes' Narrative Codes are five codes that are used within media to engage the audience. These include:

• Action Code - This is used in a media text to indicate what the next part will be. It advances the narrative e.g. the starting of a car engine would suggest that the car will drive away.
• Enigma (mystery) Code - This is how much information is given to the audience. It sets up a problem for the audience to solve, grabbing their attention and keeping them interested e.g. a hand opening a door but the audience not knowing whose hand it is.
• The Semic code - This is the symbols, signs and meanings within media that tells the audience about its narrative and characters e.g. films including vampires would include the garlic and the fear of it.
• Cultural Code - It is used in order for the narrative to makes sense to a socially and culturally aware audience. It references to elements in the real world that the audience will recognise e.g. Aston Martins from the James Bond films.
• Code of Oppositions - This is the use of binary opposites within media e.g. black v white.

The narrative of our preliminary task was a basic kidnap story. A young girl was attacked and tied up in a cupboard and the antagonist leaves her in the dark. Later, the protagonist saves the girl and frees her. The antagonist watches the victim and the protagonist leave. Within this, we used some of Barthes' Narrative Codes without realising.

Action Code - This was used many times within our piece. On example of this is when the protagonist enters the store room. The going through the door indicates that the protagonist will find the victim.

Enigma Code - This was used when the antagonist kidnaps the victim. The audience don't know why she has been kidnapped. This grabs their attention and will make them continue to watch to find out the answer.

Cultural Code - This was used throughout the piece. English was spoken and it was filmed inside a school suggesting to the audience that it is taking place in a well educated, western country.

Code of Oppositions - This was used within the clothing of the protagonist and antagonist. The protagonist wore light clothing and the antagonist wore darker clothing.

However,  we didn't include any of the Semic Code. This couldn't really be applied to the preliminary task as it wouldn't be appropriate. But, this could be used within our final thriller piece to inform the audience more about the characters and indicate the meaning within it.

Game of Thrones: a Media Case Study

http://www.slideshare.net/carmeldavenport/game-of-thrones-case-study

The above link, is a link to my Game Of Thrones case study. Although it is for the exam aspect of the course, many aspects are relevant to the coursework task. I could use my research on filming techniques, group representation and editing when thinking about the thriller task I will complete. The research will be useful when planning and preparing our thriller opening.

Preliminary evaluation

http://www.slideshare.net/carmeldavenport/as-preliminary-evaluation

The link above is my preliminary evaluation that I have completed.

Preliminary Task Short Film

After a lot of filming and editing we have finally completed our film. I am pleased with the results but as always, there is room for improvement.

Filming Issues...

I thought that filming part of our preliminary task would be easy. Just film what we needed and that was it. I didn't realise how many problems we would encounter...

The main problem our group encountered was the continuity of our piece. People in our group forgot to wear the same clothing which meant we couldn't film on certain days. If the clothing changed from shot to shot, the continuity would be disrupted and the piece wouldn't be realistic.

Another issue was when our teacher was out on a school trip. He accidently took the keys for the camera cupboard with him. After searching all over the place for them, we realised we couldn't film. An entire hour of filming was lost. We couldn't edit either as the footage was still on the camera.

When we finally got into the cupboard, we attempted to put the footage onto the computer. Upon putting the SD card into the computer, we discovered that the film was gone. Whether it was deleted or the SD cards were swapped, we will never know.

We have to make up for lost time and missing footage, so we better get filming...

Location of Filming

Before we start to film  our preliminary task, we need to find a place to film it in. Taking into consideration the fact that classes will take place while we film, we had to find a place that would be available when we needed it. We also had to find a place that fit in with our storyboard - corridors and a dark cupboard.

 



 

This is the English departments store room. We decided that this would be appropriate to use as the cupboard featured in our storyboard. It is largely disused and therefore we would not be disturbed while filming.

It also comes across as menacing. The area is very cramped giving a sense of claustrophobia and fear which suits our storyboard. Once the lights were turned off it created the sinister and gloomy effect we were looking for. A perfect place for our kidnapper to hide her victim!





This is the area where the store room is located (the store room is the open door). This will be the backdrop of the kidnapping. Due to it being a dead end, it suggests that the victim will not be able to escape, making the shots even more effective.

This picture depicts bright, airy corridors. This sharply contrasts with the other, much darker, locations. This will be where the victim walks along giving her a sense of vulnerability and an easy target which is exactly what we were looking for

This corridor also produces the same effects. The bright vivid colours also emphasise this.








We carefully considered our locations. Now we only need to do the filming!

 

Utopia: Case Study

Utopia: Post-production

 

 

 

An article was published on wired.com explaining how Utopia got its comic book look in the post-production stage. The article talks about how the bold colours, primarily yellows, cyan and magentas, differ from the normal greens, blues and reds used in cinematography. It also talks about the software used in the editing stages- Nucoda Film Master- and how it was applied to the shots to enhance the dull British skies.   

 

Post-production is the last stage in film making. This includes the editing of the shots and sound to create a final piece. Post-production is a chance to correct minor mistakes but if the original footage is inadequate, then post-production would be unlikely to fix this. Post-production mixes the audio, adds sound effects and non-diegetic sound, shots are improved and the shot order is established.

 

When editing my own film pieces in post-production, I need to consider the intended audience and the effect I wish to create. I will consider how the piece looks on screen and the effect it creates. I will use effects that reflect the theme of the piece - a thriller opening. I will make sure that the shots have continuity so that editing is not required to do this.

 

Many things will need to be considered when applying effects and editing a shot.