Preferred reading is when the reader fully shares the text's codes and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading i.e. the most dominant reading.
Negotiated reading is when the reader partly shares the text's codes and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests - this position involves contradictions.
Oppositional reading is when the reader, whose social situation places them in a directly oppositional relation to the dominant code, understands the preferred reading but does not share the text's code and rejects this reading, bringing to bear an alternative frame of reference (radical, feminist etc.).
In this instance a 'code' can be interpreted as what a text says.
Roland Barthes:
Roland Barthes concentrated some of his work on a discussion of how myth operates in society and he discussed this in the context of denotation and connotation.
Connotation and denotation are often described in terms of levels of representation or levels of meaning.
Denotation - the literal, 'obvious' or 'commonsense' meaning of an image.
Connotation - is used to refer to the socio-cultural and 'personal' associations (ideological, emotional etc.) of the image. These are typically related to the interpreter's class, age, gender, ethnicity and so on. Images are more open to interpretation - in their connotations than their denotations.
Ferdinand de Saussure:
Semiotics is the study of the social production of meaning from sign systems. A sign could be made up of something which physically resembles the object in some way (icon), or has a direct link between it and its object, it is somehow connected i.e. smoke indicates fire (index) or it can be something with no resemblance at all and it communicates only because people agree that it shall stand for what it does (symbol).
The reading of a sign is determined by cultural experience of the reader. Semiotics pays great attention to the role of the reader in realising and producing meanings out of texts.
Useful web link:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem01.htmlNarrative Structure
On a very basic level, all films have the same narrative pattern. Stories move through the following stages: exposition, development, complication, climax, resolution.
Exposition
The exposition part of a film’s narrative introduces the setting and the characters to the viewer.
Exposition sequences usually present the viewer with a situation which is calm, safe or at least predictable for the characters involved. You will need to identify not only the information which is given in your exposition sequence, but how it is presented to the viewer. Your film might present a setting which appears tranquil. It might create a positive mood through mise--en-scene. It may show characters involved in the day to day workings of the normal life. The equilibrium ( safe, calm, predictable situation ) of your exposition scene, can be created through dialogue, setting, mise-en-scene and sound elements.
Development
This is the stage of a film where the storyline is developed and we are introduced to more characters.
Consider how and why new characters are being presented to the audience and what the impact is of new information given in this section. If a character is introduced conflicting with the main character in some way ( through an argument, for example ), then this character may present a disruptive force within the remainder of the film. If problematic information is given in this section regarding the main protagonist within your film, then one of the functions of the narrative elements within your sequence might be to introduce a ‘flaw’ in your central character which will have an impact on later actions and events.
Complication
During this stage of the film’s narrative, we are presented with a complicating event which will affect the lives of the main characters.
Identify how your central character responds to the complication, the role of any disruptive characters within the complication and the response the viewer might have to the complicating elements. You could discuss how the complicating factor is shown, whether it is within a parallel scene showing the planning of the disruptive character or introduced to the audience via a point of view shot, which lets us experience the complication as if we were the main character. Don’t forget that camerawork and editing, along with mise-en-scene and sound contribute to our understanding of narrative events.
Climax
This is the point within a film where dramatic tension is at its height and we uncover the mystery of the story or have our questions about the film’s story answered.
Identify the means by which the answers to the film’s narrative questions are given. Does the protagonist have a revelatory conversation with another character ? Is this a character who has previously been position within the film as trustworthy ? Are the answers given within an action sequence, where the protagonist eventually kills the character who has provided the threat and complication within the story ? Narrative ‘answers’ do not have to come in the form of information, they may be events which halt the complicating factors within a film.
Resolution
The end of a film usually holds its resolution; the sequence where stability is re-established and a form of calm has been restored.
Sequences from the resolution part of a film provide a new situation of calm for both the characters and the audience. They present situations where the chaos and drama which existed thoughout much of the film are gone and what is left is not the same situation which existed at the beginning of a film, but a new situation and a new type of calm. Your sequence may use mise-en-scene to present this calm. You might find that the colours and setting in which you find your characters at the end of the film, are those you associate with safety and peace. You could discuss audience expectations of resolved endings. If viewers are given resolution, they are left with a sense of their expectations having been met.
Narrative Function
1. To organise groups of events into a pattern of cause and effect.
We see something happening and are then given information about the effect of what has happened. This allows the audience to see the consequences of action which occur in the film’s story and feel that their expectations of the film’s narrative have been met. If we were not shown the effect of a crime or a character’s actions, then we might feel cheated of information. The viewer might be shown the consequences of an event through a close-up of a character’s reactions, for example, or through a conversation between two characters.
2. To organise time and space.
Within a three hour film, years of story may have been compressed. Part of the function of narrative is to make this compression of time invisible to the viewer. If the narrative omitted significant events within a compressed time structure, then the viewer would question the sense of the film and the artificiality of ‘film time’ would become more noticeable. Look out for any points within the sequence you have chosen where there are leaps of time. Why does your film allow this time to be jumped over ? Why do we not need to see what happened in the time period which has been lost ? The ‘squashing’ of time to fit a 2-3 hour period requires the audience to take a leap of faith and trust that the film is giving them all of the information they need. Within the type of film you chose for the macro study, you will probably not find any complex time structures, but you might find time compression which you will need to discuss. You may also identify a flashback or flashforward element within your sequence. These are also narrative strategies which organise time. Try to identify the function of the flashback or flashforward. What information is given within it and what impact does this have on characters and audience ?
Mise-en Scene
Mise-en scene is a French term which literally means “putting into the scene”. Imagine that you have freeze-framed a film. All of the elements in that freeze-frame which have been placed infront of the camera can be discussed as elements of mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene includes:
* settings
* decor
* props
* lighting
* costume
* make-up
* colour
* character body language and movement
The use of mise-en-scene elements by a filmmaker helps to encourage the viewer to ‘read’ a scene in a particular way. Mise-en-scene can offer the viewer information and meanings connected to character, genre, atmosphere, mood, place, space and time. Elements of mise-en-scene may be repeated within a film and they may also change. You should carefully identify the elements which are constant and those which change and consider why this difference occurs.
Settings
Settings within a film have the ability to evoke many kinds of responses in the audience. They can mirror the emotions of a character, establish place and time, and offer information about themes within a film. Consider the snowbound, bleak landscape of the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo, for example. From the opening shots which are almost completely filled with snow, we have a sense of a place which is isolating and isolated. The monotony of the snowy landscape and its monotone colour palette act as a counterpoint to the dramatic and violent events which unfold in the film. The white picket fences, perfect lawns and houses of the setting for Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, for example, are too perfect and provide a picture-box surface for the the dissatisfaction which exists within the characters.
Decor
The rooms in which the action of a scene occurs can add meaning to add meaning to the event shown. The decor of a room ( wallpaper, furniture and layout ) can also mirror a character’s psychological state. Norman Bates’s study in Hitchcock’s Psycho, is full of old furniture and and stuffed birds. This is a room in which the decor has no vitality. The room is almost mummified and the stuffed birds are devoid of life. The rooms on different decks in James Cameron’s Titanic, present the class differences between the passengers. The upper decks are opulent and expensively furnished. The rooms of the lower class passengers are simple and without luxury.
Props
The objects included in a scene are also essential in the generation of meaning. They could give information about genre or historical period or character. One of the ways in which we can identify the genre of a film such as The Matrix ( Wachowski Brothers ), would be through the props it uses. Space ships, futuristic weaponry and advanced computer systems all indicate that the genre of the film is Science Fiction. The puppets used by the central character in Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, indicate a man whose dissatisfaction with his own life leads him to play out his fantasies through these wooden characters. Think about which props are evident in the scene you have chosen and analyse what information you can deduce from them.
Lighting
Lighting is essential in conveying the mood or atmosphere of a scene. The viewer can be drawn to objects or characters which are brightly lit or can be made nervous by shadows and obscured parts of the film frame. The three main types of light used in film are:
1. The key light. This is usually the brightest light.
2. The back light. This is often used behind characters to make them seem more rounded and less one dimensional.
3. The filler light. This helps to soften harsh shadows which might be thrown because of the key light or back light.
These three types of light can be directed from different angles in order to produce different effects. ‘Underlighting’ describes and effect where the main source of light within a scene comes from below. This often has a distorting effect on the object or character being lit and can be used to make make the character or object seem threatening. Horror films often use underlighting in order to make the audience feel scared of a character or fearful of an object. ‘Top lighting’ describes light which comes from above. This is often used to highlight the features of a character and make them appear more glamorous. ‘Back lighting’ is when the light source comes from behind a character. If the only lighting in a scene is backlighting, then silhouettes can be created. This could be used to create mystery around a character and tension in the audience.
Some genres of film use specific types of lighting to create effects. Scenes in examples of Film Noir often use pools of light rather than full lighting. This is to generate the mystery and suspense which is at the heart of all Film Noir examples. Identify what the dominant type of lighting is in the sequence you have chosen and then consider what meanings it is helping to generate.
Costume
The costumes used in a film are important in the creation of historical time, character state of mind and status, and in the generation of place. The differing clothes worn in each of the three time periods within Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, for example, define the time periods very clearly as the 1920s, the 1940s and the 1990s. Changes in costume for a particular character during a film can indicate anything from a change in fortunes to a shift in political affiliations. Julia Roberts’s costume shift in Pretty Woman, for example, carries particular meaning and signals the movement of her character from street hustling prostitute to girlfriend of a tycoon. Within this kind of Cinderella story the shedding of one set of clothes and the adoption of another signals a change in social status.
Make-up
Make-up is obviously an essential tool for all actors within a film, but can also be used to generate particular meanings. Tom Hanks’ make-up in the film Philadelphia, allows us to see the physical ravages of AIDS and adds to our identification with, and empathy for, his plight. The make-up and prosthetics worn by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, are grotesque and frightening. We are left in no doubt that the Green Goblin is the villain within this narrative. Subtle differences in the use of make-up can also indicate historical period. The 1960s scenes in the Austin Powers films, for example, are given more realism by the heavy eye-liner and bright lipstick shaded from that period.
Colour
Colours which appear dominant in scenes or those attached to people and objects can be used to great effect within films. The sequence you have chosen may seem bled of colour, featuring only dull or neutral colours and this may have been used to indicate a depressed situation or character. On the other hand, your scene may be brimming with colours and this may indicate a positive atmosphere and state of mind of the characters. Consider the startling colour change when Dorothy enters the land of Oz, in The Wizard of Oz. Her ‘real’ life is depicted in black and white, but her fantasy world is technicoloured. The escapism and dream quality of Oz is clear to see. The colour red, for example, becomes significant in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, as the red of a young girls coat is highlighted against the black and white of the rest of the scene. When we see a flash of red within a mound of bodies, the plight of the girl under the Nazi regime is horribly evoked.
Character body language and movement
The way a character moves, sits or stands can transmit much information concerning their feelings and attitudes. The aimless wandering through the streets of New York, of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, for example, is symptomatic of his state of mind. He feels alienated and isolated and this is translated into his purposeless walking. ‘Blocking’ is a term which you will need to be aware of in your discussions concerning character. If a character is partially hidden from view by a wall or a tree or another character, then they are ‘blocked’. If the viewer is not able to see what a character is doing, this this may create a response of concern or fear. Imagine if you watching a horror film and the actions of the killer are obscured from view. Your imagination will create the worst reading of that character’ actions.
