Narrotive Codes and Inspiration:

ROLAND BARTHES, 1990, FOUND THAT IN ORDER TO HOOK AN AUDIENCE INTO THE NARRATIVE OF A MEDIA TEXT FIVE NARRATIVE CODES ARE COMBINED. THESE CODES ALSO HELP AN AUDIENCE BRING THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING TO A MEDIA TEXT. THESE ARE: HERMENEUTIC (ENIGMA) CODE, PROAIRETIC (ACTION) CODE, SEMIC CODE, SYMBOLIC CODE AND REFERENTIAL (CULTURAL) CODE. THE TERM 'NARROTIVE CODE' CAN BE MISLEADING AS THESE CAN BE APPLIED TO NON-NARROTIVE BASED MICRO-ELEMENTS. WE COULD USE THESE IN OUR MUSIC VIDEO TO HOOK IN OUR AUDIENCE.

• The hermeneutic code simply means engaging the audience by offering a puzzle and then delaying the answer to the enigma. This delay can take place any time in the media text, some enigmas are never even answered.
• The proairetic code refers to an event that has a series of logical conciquences. This code is intended to make the audience ponder where the narrotive is going and watch the film to find out. Steriotypes are often used here to help the audience make their judgements.
• The semic code refers to connotations of characters and mise-en-scene.
• The symbolic code is about binary oppositions, good vs evil and conflict between two opposing forces. These are the protagonist and antagonist.
• The referential code refers to ideology and the knowledge the audience brings to a media text. Good examples of this are spoof films or even music videos using intertextuality.

A media text which uses all these codes is 'A Dustland Fairytale' by The Killers.  It uses the hermeneutic code by making the audience ponder upon why a man is leaning on his car in a grass less field. They then see flashbacks of a fight scene and ponder upon whether that has anything to do with it. This is the proairetic code. The cigarette he is holding and the outfit he is wearing suggests that he might be American or a farmer yet was rebelliouss as a boy. This is shown through the flashbacks. These are part of the semic code whilst the symbolic code is shown through the fight scenes although the audience does not know who is bad and who is good. It could be to do with the romance scenes as maybe both boys like the girl. However, based on morality of society the bad man is the one who killed the other accidentally or not. The villain is the protagonist. The close up shots of cloth being wrapped around hands and distance shots of the punch up connote that they are having a fight. This is the referential code and works through the use of of western films conventions which this media text is imitating.

The Killers are another Indie/Rock band that could inspire our promotional pack through Indie conventions.In this music video there are a mixture of narrotive and performance shots, this is a convention of the Indie genre which our audience will reconise and like. There are a variety of shots and the performance ones have been crosscutted with the narrotive shots. This is effective in conveying the narrotive and adding variety to the media text. I also like the dark colors and lighting used in the fight shots as it connotes negativity. This music video expresses the narrotive well by using a variety of shots to express similar emotions such as the car shot in the field and shots of him in his home. However our song does not enable us to use variety to this extent as the protagonist's life is far from varied.