Research & Planning:narrative theory

Any discussion of the way a story is told is considered narrative ‘theory’

Roland Barthes theory is that there are narrative codes. The codes are combinations of technical features that are meant to have a specific meaning.

The hermeneutic code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained. This therefore created a mystery code and makes the audience start asking questions. The purpose of this is to keep the audience guising till the end then closure is achieved. Dexter uses this as they do not show the character until the end of the title sequence so throughout the audience is kept guessing.

The proairetic code also builds up tension, referring to an action or event that indicates something else is going to happen. It makes the audience start guessing. Dexter is simply a man getting ready but the way objects are shown close up before zooming out they can look threatening.

The semantic code refers to the way images and music is used in addition to what is being shown. The music sounds quite sinister in Dexter, this builds up some tension

Levi Strauss introduced the idea of binary oppositions as a useful way to consider the production of meaning within narratives. He worked out that taht things were paired but they were opposites of each other.

For example:

Good v evil

Rich v poor

Male v female

You can see binary oppositions in individual film and in film genres. In the Dexter film titles it is not as clear what the binary opposition is. The opposition for Dexter could be his world v the normal/ordinary world.