narrative theory

Vladimir Propp was born on 17th april 1895 and died 22nd august 1970 - aged 75. Propp came up with the narrative theory from the russian folk tales.

Vladimir Propp extended the Russian Formalist approach to narratology (the study of narrative structure). Where, in the Formalist approach, sentence structures had been broken down into analysable elements - morphemes - Propp used this method by analogy to analyse folk tales. By breaking down a large number of Russian folk tales into their smallest narrative units - narratemes - Propp was able to arrive at a typology of narrative structures. By analysing types of characters and kinds of action, Propp was able to arrive at the conclusion that there were thirty-one generic narratemes in the Russian folk tale. While not all are present, he found that all the tales he analysed displayed the functions in unvarying sequence.

Try applying these to Star Wars or episodes of X-Files or Star Trek - It can be interesting to see how powerful are the narrative structures of folk mythology, and how they are continually reinserted into contemporary popular culture. The functions he described were as follows:

After the initial situation is depicted, the tale takes the following sequence:

1. A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced);
2. An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'go to this place');
3. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale);
4. The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc; or intended victim questions the villain);
5. The villain gains information about the victim;
6. The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim);
7. Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy;
8. Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc);
9. Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimised hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment);
10. Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action;
11. Hero leaves home;
12. Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13. Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against them);
14. Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
15. Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16. Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19. Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revivied, captive freed);
20. Hero returns;
21. Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23. Hero unrecognised, arrives home or in another country;
24. False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
26. Task is resolved;
27. Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. False hero or villain is exposed;
29. Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc);
30. Villain is punished;
31. Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

These narrative functions are also spread between the main characters. Propp also decided that a narrative needed to have:

• the villain, who struggles with the hero
• the donor, who prepares and/or provides hero with magical agent
• the helper, who assists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero
• the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain
• the dispatcher, who sends the hero off
• the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds at end
• the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)

I have put this information on my blog about Vladimir Propp as he is relevant to my advanced production as for children's TV drama - they will also have a set of characters simular - such as a 'goodie & a badie' which is the hero and villian from Propps theory.

Defining my target audience.

Within my project i had to define the audience which it would be made for. Seeing as the project itself is a children's TV drama the title makes it pretty clear who the audience is for.
To help me to decide the audience in which i wanted to study i did a small survey on younger children. The main questions i got out of this were why they liked a programme - because its funny. Many children like the entertainment factor in all programmes, something that will make them laugh or keep them interested.

Within my project there are many different things i needed to consider as it was being made for children. I needed to use the right language in the print and maybe in the video as this is being made for children. If i was to use actual children in the prints i needed to think of ethnics as i wanted my programme to seem fair.

I'd learnt that for a child to enjoy something it needs to be catchy, so for example the music needs to be short and something they can recognize. Through out my project i need to think of these things to make sure it is to the bet it can be.

Child interview.


what is your favourite TV programme?
- Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Why is it your favourite programme?
- Its Funny and its under the sea which i think is cool.

Do you read magazines?
- yes

What do you like inside the magazines?
- I like playing games and doing the puzzles.

As well as watching TV do you watch DVDs?
- Yes before bed time

What DVDs do you like to watch?
- Finding nemo and Aladdin are my favourite.

Why?
- its funny

Whats your favourite colour?
- Blue





This is my interview with a younger child, the reason why i have asked these specific questions as they are all relevant to my development in my research. For example.
The reason why i have asked the child's favourite colour is so that i know what colours children would be interested in - if they liked a colour they would be more drawn and attached to it.
The questions about the magazines and what they enjoy in them is for my own research about what to put into a magazine as i would want my magazine to be enjoyed.

Children devote much of their free time to watching television--. Although children have everyday contact with other media and many other forms of expression and communication, visual media alone are seen as speaking a "universal language," accessible regardless of age.
In the United States questions about program content and its use by children, about television's influence on children's attitudes, knowledge and behavior, and about the appropriate public policy toward children's television have been central to the discussion of this medium throughout its half century as the electronic hearth.


This is something i got of a American website about children's television intake. Its things like this i have to take into account while making my advanced project as i do want it to fit into every category.

Childrens Television

As back up research i have looked at children's programmes in themselves and did a bit of critical analysing of them.





I started by watching a children's television programme which was on BBC 1, and this was at about 3.20pm on Wednesday 4th November '09. This programme was on Cbeebies.. which is children's version of the adult programme's on CBBC. The programme i watched was called mister maker - this is just a children's TV programme making things. For example the episode i watched they made a toy bird in a birds nest.





Ceebies is set for children of a pre-school age so from 2-4 years old roughly, and for the older children you have CBBC which is primary school age. When it came to studding Cbeebies i had chosen to look at the 'real' programmes. When i say this i mean the programmes which aren't cartoon - and the ones who have presenters, just like mister maker did! However from all of these type of programmes i have looked at i have realised that all the programmes have something in common. This is the colour choices. All of the 'real' children's programmes are mostly set in white studios which can occasionally be dim-Ly lit - For example Mister Maker is lit on a dim blue background. I think this is because the children's eyes aren't distracted away. On the other hand there are a lot of bright coloured things around - and i think this is to contradict the white background and makes the children's focus. Even though things aren't cluttered but from what i took from mister maker it can be quite busy.The image below is a picture from Mister Maker. From this image you can see what i mean by the busy for ground and the duller background.

The first thing and the most noticeable thing is the characters. The Characters of this show are overly excited all of the time - and you can tell this from the picture its self. The characters are always very excitable and i think this is because they are from a children's show - if they show excitement the children will be excited. Just like the wall's the clothing is also very exciting and bright - this may also be to attract attention.

The next point i have to make is about the speech - and this is that the speech is clear and understandable. The speech is many of the children's programmes is slow and repetition is occasionally used. One point i have noticed about many children's TV programmes is that they don't have any people with accents - this may because younger children maybe able to understand them but at the same time I'm not sure. It may just be that the programmes i have watched don't have people with accents in. The point i made about repetition is very clear as children like repetition as it comforts them.

The last point i have to make about what i watched is the sound. This means anything from the sound effects to a theme tune. The sound effects in this programme are clear as they are very noticable. For example from the eposiode i watched - when they are sticking something down they make the sounds stronger so you would know what was happening. I think this is a good thing to do as it makes children pay more attention. There is only a small thing to say about the theme song, and its the same as many theme songs. This is that it's short yet very catchy. This is the same idea they use in TV adverts - its to keep the tune in your head - a bit like productive selling.

Telvision was developed in the 1920s, and in 1922 BBC broadcasted for the first time and in 1936 the world's first regular high-definition service hit television screens.
Recent research by the independent television commission shows the 98% of households in the UK own at least one television set, 36% of children under the age of four have a TV in their rooms and 14% also have a video recorder or DVD player. 52% of children under the age of 16 have a TV in their bedrooms.

With hundreds of digital television channels available for children to access, how safe are children in the digital age?

What are the effects of television and video and can we safeguard children from them?

Is television a useful learning tool or trigger for ADHD and child hood obesity?

This article aims to look at the positive and negative affects television can have on children, the role TV plays in education andparents worries and concerns about violent content andill effects - this small statment can be linked to that of James Bulger; the 3year old boy which was stoned to death due to the effects of a video game. For more information about this click here.

Children can be safeguarded from the ill effects of TV and whose responibility is it?


The Child:

British children between the ages of five and eleven spend and average of 2.6 Hours a day watching television according to a survey carried out by childwise (a market research agency). The survey also found that 58% of the children watch TV suring their evenining meal, 63% watch Tv regularly before bed and 83% watch TV after school.

The four main concerns about the affects of TV on children are:-

• Watching too much TV in early years can course ADHD. The NHS website suggest that allowing children to watch TV for hours a day could possibly contribute to ADHD in later life.
• Watching too much TV can core obesity in adulthood. The national institue for clinical excllence (NICE) nadvice that although watching vast amounts of TV doesn't directly link to obesity it can be contributing factor and advice it should be limited.
• Watching TV take away children's language skills and ability to play. Limitv believe that increased time spent in front of the TV draws time away from the traditional forms of hand centered play, which can directly affect children's ability to hold a pen.
  

• Watching violence on TV can lead to actual physical violence, the findings of browne and hamilton (2005) suggest that there is consisten evidence that violent imagery in TV and film may have substantial short-term effects such as arousal, thoughts and emotions, increasing the likelihood of aggressive behaviour especially in boys however they also say there is only weak evidence that links media directly to crime.

As i mentioned early on this theroy was famously debated in the media during the trial of James Bugler in may 1993 report. In trutv liberty writes that one of his killers had been given the chance and opportunity to wach Childs play3 = a film that has similarities to the way in which to boys killed James. From looking at the link i have pasted in futher up in this post by the way the Guardian has said - the murder of James was very brutal and unfair.

this image below is a picture of the two boys who killed James Bugler in 1993, at this age they were only 10 years old.

When looking into the positive effects of TV, i found that although parents and child care professionals like Dr Tanya Bryon and TV programs such as Super Nanny believe that limited and supervised TV watching can help children's imagination, since of worth and knowledge of other cultures and religions. It is also widely known that children learn though play and things they enjoy so limited TV could also help teach numeracy and literacy skills. However i found no soild research to this affect, it all seemed to be focused on the negatives.

The Parent:

According to feeview viewtrition (independent report written by DR Tanya Byron and freeview in which 1,880 parents and online focus group with mumsnet.com where surveyed.)

• 80% of parents surveyed believe TV has positive effects on children (e.g Extended imagination, better vocabulary and numeracy skills)
• 67% believe that TV can have negative effects but are not clear on what these might be.

The national family and parenting institue also carried out two surveys on Parents general worries and concerns (listening to parents and listening minority ethnic parent) they reported that although TV watching was not on the top of the list of worries both sets of parents ranked it as 7 on their list with just 8 and 9% saying it was their main concern.

The Schools:

Whilst looking into the role TV plays in school and children's learning, i stabled across teacher TV a channel and website for teachers. This tool is fully funded by the department for children, schiols and families (DCSF) and provides teachers with information about topic of learning up to date reports on software and teaching materials as well as porgrammes that can be used on white boards as part of lessons.

This resorce has been regularly reviewed since its launch in February 2005. Regular research into viewing of teachers TV was conducted by ipsos MORI and they found that the:

• Measure of TV viewing satisfaction with programmes was 7.03 out of 10 for the third year of broadcasts.
  
• Just over one third of teachers and teaching assistants reported that the channel has had a positive effect on learning in the classroom.
• The same number aslo stating it has had a genrerally good effect on school standards.
  

Another example of Teaching TV is during the week - monday to friday during school hours for some of the day are certain programs such as educational programs. I think this is because if children are off of school ill these programs can help them learn as well as have fun.

The conclusion:

In summery TV is a big part of children's lives and although there is some evidence that TV can contribute to ADHD, obesity and have a short term affect of violent behaviour, from excessive watching. Tv itself is not the sole contributor to these childhood disorders. Parents them self's are aware of the negative effectsof the TV and the importance of limitations and supervision. Schools have used TV in their teaching methods since i was a child - and possibly even before i was born and seem to be developing this tool in alliance with the digital age. In responce to the evidence coleected and the advice given to use by various guides e.g Freeview viewtrition and tisscali's guide to safety tip for audiences. I believe the key to safeguarding children from the negative effects of the television is supervision and limitation.

For background reading towards my project i came across information from Talk to your baby. This information just states that children just like adults can sometimes feel tired or stressed and want to relax by watching television. Used in the right way television can be beneficial - but too much can be harmful especially to anyone of a young age.

This website refers to what i have just researched about the Australian government. They say that you should limit your child's daily TV time to no more than half an hour for under twos and an hour for three to five year old's. They also say this gives you time for the important activities like playing.

A interesting fact which is on this website is already one i have considered with my project task; is repetition. The website suggests that you should allow your child to watch the same video or DVD again and again. This can be better than television as the repetition and familiarity of words and phrases make it easier for children to learn from them. Children feel more comforted with familiarly things. A example of this is Teletubies; Not many episodes of the Teletubies were made and this is because children like repetition.

One statement on this website which only provides to the older scale of children is about how you shouldn't put a television in your child's bedroom. This gives you less control over what or how much television your child can watch. From this statement though i have realised that many children can have televisions in there room for purposes such as watching a video or DVD, but this can be more closely monitored.


From this article have now taken note about the time length of my project - as children are only allowed to watch a certain amount of viewing time. However this article contradicts with the other research i did about the Australian government. This article states that children should have less time and more play that what the Australian government recommends.

When looking for reasearch which is related towards my starting project which is a childrens television opening scene, i came across a news paper article from the guardian which is outlining that children in this century compared to any other watch to much television:

'The Outrage that has greeted reports that the Australian government is to issue cautious guidelines advising parents and carers to prevent children under two from watching television seems remarkably acerbic. Across the world, however, the same debates flare up every time it is tentatively suggested that the electronic screens we began by placing in one room at home and now carry everywhere in our pockets may not be good for the development of children's brains.'

This is a short part of the passage from this article, this article is saying that the Australian goverment thinks parents and carers to young children should prevent them from watching television if they are under two, as children who do watch television 'display more aggressive behaviour and have poor attention spans.'

'A draft of the Australian government's guidelines says that screen time for young children "may reduce the amount of time they have for active play, social contact with others and chances for language development", and may also "affect the development of a full range of eye movement [and] . . . reduce the length of time they can stay focused". Jo Salmon, associate professor of epidemiology at Deakin University, was one of the researchers who informed the Australian government's draft guidelines. "Children aged six to 30 months who are watching television have less developed vocabulary, display more aggressive behaviour and have poor attention spans," she says. "Parents and childcare centres are not justified in encouraging children, under the age of two, to watch television." While there is no evidence that so-called educational programming is harmful, she would discourage under twos from watching it. "I really would not put my young one under two in front of a television. Generally, the evidence that's out there says it could be detrimental," she says.'

This article is very relivent towards my project as i am making a childrens open scene of a drama. I have to take into note about what the Australian goverment has said, as if this project was actually going to be broadcasted i would like it to be productive - and this would mean having to take into account about what the goverment have said.

link : Get up and grow report.

DRAFT TIMELINE.

OCTOBER '09
- research what stimulates children
- research childrens programes - what do childrens programes contain?
NOVEMBER '09
- begin the childresns TV drama title sequence
- to research into correct lighting, camera angles, props etc.
DECEMBER '09
- continue editing of title sequence
- begin production of magazine front cover and to contiue to reasearch such factors that are needed - such as lighting, props, and camera angles.
JANUARY '10
- research Childrens DVD covers - what do they need?
- finish title sequence
- finish magazine front cover- begin DVD cover

For my Media Studies A2 Advanced Production Portfolio I have decided to follow brief number 6:
A selection of materials related to an original children's TV drama, to include the title sequence of the programme, together with two of the following three options:
- the front cover to a magazine for the series;
- a DVD cover for the series;
- a radio advertisement for the magazines.

For this i have choosen to do the small title sequence in animation and to do the frount cover to a magazine, and a DVD cover. The reason why i have choosen to do the magazine cover for my TV drama series over the radio advertisement, is because for my AS i had to design a range of magazine frount covers, so for this i will be able to apply my knowlage about how to make a magazine frount cover to the new A2 course.
To start with i will create ideas for my childrens TV drama, as i feel this will take the longest to create - this is mainly because i am planning to do animation. For this i will have to research what stimulates children as i want my show to be interesting.