Barthes Five Codes

Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist who explored a diverse range of fields and influenced the development of schools.

The five codes are;

• The Hermeneutic/ Enigma Code (HER)
The purpose of his is to keep the audience guessing until the final scenes when all is revealed and closure is achieved.
• The  Proairetic/ Action Code (ACT)
Also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen. the hermeneutic and proairetic codes work together to develop the stories tensions and keeps the reader interested.

• The Semantic Code (SEM)
This code refers to the connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word. It is by the use of extended meaning that can be applied to words that authors can paint rich pictures with relatively limited text and the way they do this is a common indication of their writing skills

• The Symbolic Code (SYM)
This is very similar to the sematic code but acts at a wider level, organising semantic meaning into broader and deeper sets of meaning. This is typically done in the use of antithesis, where new meaning arises out of opposing and conflict ideas

• The Referential/ Cultural Code (REF)
This code refers to anything that is founded on some kind of canonical works that cannot be challenged and is assumed to be a foundation for truth. Typically this involves either science or religion, although other canons such as magical truths may be used in fantasy stories. The gnomic code is a cultural code  that particularly refers to sayings, proverbs, clichés, and other common meaning giving words sets.

Saving Private Ryan

The Hermeneutic/ Enigma Code  (HER)

Where are they going?Who are they?

What do the flags signify?

Was he an ex solider?

Is he related to the deceased?

What's happening?

The Proairetic/ Action Code (ACT)

drums added to non diegetic music

close up of his eyes  music intensifies as he walks up to the grave

The Semantic Code (SEM)

change to higher diegetic soundslows down the pace of the music

The Symbolic Code (SYM)

flags cemetery music - violins, drums, trumpets

The Referential/ Cultural Code (REF)

both flags 

Using Barthes Codes

Using Barthes narrative codes, in a group, we applied these to a film and also our own story based on the outsider. We chose the rom com genre as this I think would be the most different as the outsider includes gangs and ambushes in which we were able to apply to ours in a unique way.

Fistful Of Dollars 

Hermeneutic codes- Which is the good team?

                                 Who's going to die?

                                 Who's going to shoot first?

Proairetic codes - Music intensifies 

                            Reaches for their guns 

Semantic codes - Laughing 

Symbolic codes - Clothing 

                            Scenery

Referential codes - Gun fight

Our Rom Com

Hermeneutic codes - How far will they go to win the guy?

                                  What does he think of it all?

Proairetic codes- Setting traps for each other 

                            Revenge 

Semantic codes - Laughing

                            Overheard Conversations 

Symbolic codes - The guy 

                            The two opposite girl clichés 

Referential codes - Girly fights 

                              Dumb blonde characters 

Image Narratives

As a group we were given a task to create a story board to represent a crime scene. Our crime scene creates a Sence of unknown as you can't see either faces and you don't know what has happened before as such. We used the thought of post-it notes as a warning to create suspence within our images, another factor for suspence is the face that you again can't see their faces. These images are shown below.

60 Second Bunny Task

Propps Theory - Character Theory

Vladimir Propp developed a character theory, which indicates that there were 7 broad characters. The 7 characters are:

1. The villain


2. The donor


3. The helper


4. The princess


5. The false hero


6. The dispatcher


7. The hero

Todrovs Theory - Narrative Theory

Tzvetan Todorov developed a narrative theory which states that there is a pattern in the narratives of films and there are 5 steps in this pattern.

1. The Equilibrium


2. A Disruption


3. Realisation


4. Restored Order


5. A New Equilibrium

Below are slideshares I found whilst researching both theorists they give a brief description of what both theories are. Vladimir Propp analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest narrative elements. Tzvetan Todorov is a  historian and essayist and is the author of books and essays about literary theory, thought history and culture theory.

These theories are easily applied to almost any film/story. The clip below takes a film and uses the theories in order to easily show the storyline in 30 seconds. You can see clearly how these theories have been applied, especially Propps theory as the characters are very distinctive and relatively easy to spot. Todorovs theory is slightly more difficult to spot in a film as some change the order of this.

Shadow Task

For this task we were put into groups to produce an image each of shadows creating a meaning of meeting. In our group we ended with a range of different images including the one below and the reason behind this is meeting someone you know only to be held at gun point. To create this image we used a flash light, digital camera and a dark room as this produced just the right light and contrast we needed.